The Blackpink Project
Blackpink (Korean: 블랙핑크; commonly stylized as BLACKPINK or BLΛƆKPIИK) is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment, consisting of members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa. Currently holding the title as the biggest pop band in the world, Blackpink’s popularity and influence is undeniable. Being a huge fan myself, I am greatly inspired by their music and art. So I decided to create a fun project based off of them. From their amazing vocals, outstanding fashion sense, colorful music videos, and fun personalities, I am definitely hooked. This project will showcase the creative inspiration I have gotten from their hit song “Lovesick Girls.” Check out the music video below if you haven’t seen it already!
This is a mock-up project that is meant to look like an official content from Blackpink. The main goal is to make these items as realistic as possible. I created several graphic outputs which includes a track sheet, logo designs, art covers, Spotify interfaces, artist profile cards, promotional materials, and merchandise design as well.
Track Sheet
I truly enjoyed creating this track sheet for “Lovesick Girls.” What is a track sheet? This is basically an all-in-one place I created for the fans to get all the information they need about the song. Here I have included the lyrics (in Korean), relevant information about the song and the artist, and an in-depth look into the song’s history which includes the producers, writers, and many more.
Design wise, I wanted to stick with the signature Blackpink branding and feel. I used the color pallet I have created which mainly consist of pastel pinks, grays, black, and white. I wanted it to be easy on the eyes and legible since there is a bit of reading to be done while scanning through this track sheet. I used Avenir as my main font for the English parts, and Apple SD 산돌고딕 Neo for the Korean characters.
Spotify Mock-up
Music is a major aspect of this project. So I wanted to give a nod to that. To get an even more realistic feel, I decided to showcase my work by incorporating it within a music platform interface. I chose Spotify as my main template for this mock-up. Here I have displayed the three variations of the art covers I have created by combining it with a real screenshot from the music app.
LOGO EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT:
I began exploring with the logo design through playing with the typography in Illustrator. I have tried numerous fonts but ended up narrowing it down to DEATH CROW. The font really embodies the edginess of Blackpink as a group and their music. I thought it was a perfect fit. The elegant curves, the sharp edges, and the sheer attitude of this font really caught my attention. “Lovesick Girls” being the song of choice, I could’t think of any other font that will better reflect the track other than DEATH CROW. I also warped the entire logo to create an even more unique perspective, and finished up with applying some chrome effect through several steps in Photoshop.
Merchandise Design
It wouldn’t be a complete K-pop experience without providing fans with awesome merchandise. Part of the whole K-pop culture is supporting your favorite artist by buying their merchandise and wearing it every chance you get. I wanted to apply the logo I created and incorporate it into some fun t-shirt designs that still follows the brand guideline and look. Here are the options I have came up with.
Member Profile
I decided to also create these member profiles which showcases each of the members. These could be used as promotional material for Blackpink and their song.
Ad Banner
Here I created a mock-up advertisement banner for Blackpink to promote their live performance of “Lovesick Girls” that will air on The Late Late Show with James Corden.