Audio Branding for @nothin.last4ever - Case Study

A couple of weeks ago, while I was scrolling through Instagram, I came across a graphic designer called Marcello whose account was called "nothing lasts 4ever." He was already doing some of the good stuff that usually gets my attention: brutal, dark-atmosphere-type art. I knew immediately that I had to email him to express my honest opinion, hoping to have a small chat with him over something that could potentially make him stand out.

So without any further hesitation, when we got to talk about his work, brand, and future plans, I entertained him with the idea of having a unique Audio Branding so he could easily stand out in the industry, which did not take him too long to give the green light for.

So to kick off, I found myself a huge collection of his work to pick from and form my solid base..

When I first looked them up after I gathered them together, I did not take long to have some ideas in mind, but I did not bother to consider them because what is important here is not the cool ideas that I may get but rather the initial impression and the staying emotion that will be felt once I incorporate them with the music.

At first, I felt confused about the emotions I got while looking at them, but some of them were too obvious to ignore. I got a lasting feeling of enternal darkness, curiosity and lostness, soft anger and shyness, and a desire for fury and violence.

Mostly at this point, composers look around the space for inspiration and relevant work for the project they're working on, but in my case, I decided to go in all raw, and when I say raw, it's just me trying to stay humble. I have been doing this for years, and I am confident in my abilities to handle it and deliver a respectable result.

For this project, I did not want to overcomplicate it all together, so I opened FL Studio and started to lay a melody after another after I decided to go with a slow tempo (around 90 BPM) and a harmonic G minor scale.

I started the first 8 bars with a string section, a vinyl piano, and a reversed choir recording to set the mood for the darkness and lostness you get as the first impression. Then, for the next 8 bars, I added a violin to enhance the feeling of curiosity. For the next 8 bars, I started the buildup by incorporating some piano chords with an electric guitar to set up the listener for the next 16 bars, where I decided to top the base with acoustic drums and a heavy electric guitar to infuse the rest of the range of emotion, the power, and the desire for violence.

1. The project began with a chance discovery of Marcello's graphic design work on Instagram. 2. The composer proposed creating unique audio branding to help Marcello stand out in the industry. 3. The creative process involved analysing Marcello's artwork to identify key emotions and themes. 4. The composition was developed using FL Studio, focusing on a slow tempo and G minor scale. 5. Different musical elements were incorporated to evoke specific emotions, including darkness, curiosity, lostness, and a desire for violence.

This case study illustrates the power of collaboration between the visual and audio arts. By creating a custom audio brand based on Marcello's graphic design work, the composer added a new dimension to the artist's identity. This approach demonstrates how audio can enhance and complement visual branding, potentially giving Marcello a unique edge in the competitive graphic design industry. The process also highlights the importance of emotional interpretation in translating visual art into music, showing how different musical elements can be used to evoke specific feelings and atmospheres that align with an artist's visual style.