More Music Less Violence has been an event at FDR for as long as I remember. Hosted by Ms. Simone, the event puts an emphasis on music as a medium for social change to combat violence. The school brings in alumni and calls upon students participation of their own personal music, dance, poetry, or performances to further enrich the school celebration. This year’s event will take place on February 26th.
The T-Shirt design for this year captures the idea of music being used as a form of activism. Aspects of the design pay homage to Black History Month, which the event takes place in. My initial design idea consisted of music notes on a staff (the 5 lines that music notes sit on) along with a peace symbol along the lines. This design was meant to symbolize how music can help promote peace.
Similar to my past design projects for FDR, I began this design process by looking for inspiration. I start by searching for keywords/ phrases that are important to the theme I’m following. In this instance those words were, Musical Activism, Elements of Music, Peace, and Black History. Then after I’ve found some concepts that I like, I began to sketch. A quote that I felt also perfectly tied into the message of the design was, “The good thing about music is that when it hits you, you feel no pain.” by Bob Marley. Once again this lined up perfectly with the whole mission of More Music Less Violence.
Through research and collaboration with Mr.Pipitone, we came up with the final design referencing the Parental Advisory warning on explicit music. This idea was not only relevant to the idea of music, it tied into themes of violence. My original design incorporated the peace sign on a smaller scale than the new one. Instead of being spread through the staff, the peace sign now served as an O for “More” in the phrase “More Music Less Violence.” The palette of the design was kept simple only using Black and White.
The combination of meaningful symbols and references truly make this design amazing. Whether that be the quotes’ clever, but direct message, or the metaphor present in the graphic aspect of the design. Thank you Ms Simone for this opportunity, and Mr.Pipitone for supporting me throughout the design process! Hopefully, everyone enjoys the event on the 26th!