intro

Nils Frahm is a German composer and musician best known for his unique mixture of classical, electronic, and experimental music. He incorporates himself into his music by using unconventional instruments and by putting all his emotions into his pieces. His main goal is to make us experience things that we haven’t experienced before through sound. This project is focused on his album titled “Old Friends, New Friends”, where he compiled music that he made during the last 10 years of his life that never made it onto his previous albums. It encapsulates different times of his life, of all his different experiences, which can be reflected through the tunes of his songs. A music poster was created to advertise the concert of this album, as well as designing a vinyl record.

process + experience
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I wanted to create something very hand-made and raw, much like Frahm’s approach to his music. I thought to myself “what would Frahm do?” and let my mind take it from there. Studying his music for hours on end, I immersed myself into his way of thinking. His music is created manually, without much digital manipulation, and this was the main aspect I took into consideration when designing.

The chosen type adds texture and feeling from its rough edges and filled centers, and the scattering in different formations shows movement and that all these letters can be compiled in a random but orderly way, much like the album. The use of string and fabric represents holding and bringing things together, and having different things intertwined with each other, much like mixing old with new.

The main elements in the poster are two sewing’s of figures. One has pointed edges and is rough and falling apart, which represents the “old friends”. The other one has round edges and is perfectly intact, representing the “new friends”. His album has a very specific meaning: it is about change. Losing something you once loved, being hurt from that, but overtime you heal and that thing is replaced and is even better. This is what I tried to show through the different string figures coming together.

outcome

I felt very connected to this project because of its deep meaning that I was able to feel, which made me even more passionate about the artist and his work. I love the finished product, and it speaks everything I want it to. I feel like if Nils were to see this, he would make me one of his New Friends.