About the Project
The project tasked me to create a marketing suite for a new and upcoming artist. The marketing suite is for Kat, a Singaporean award-nominated singer-songwriter, who is releasing their 3rd album "VITO-B" in January 2025, and its title track "Strange Party Tricks" requires an extra marketing push. In this project, I am required to create a feature piece, a logo set and advertising materials for Kat.
The album is being released via Olive Grove Records - a record that Bandcamp Daily described as “all volume needles buried in the red, glitter bursting from every chorus.” The Line of Best Fit praised its “maximalist” tendencies while hinting that Scotland has found its own answer to the pop titans Carly Rae Jepsen and Taylor Swift, and Pitchfork called it “bubblegum pop [with] the scrappy glamour of a homemade theatrical production”.
Things to consider
- KAT is a supporter of girl power, and the visuals should creatively reflect this without politicizing her identity. She want their art to be the focus of their image and do not wish to be specifically branded as ‘female artist’.
- KAT wants elements of Singapore and trends to shine in the visuals without becoming touristy or cliché.
- KAT’s fashion/performance style, in their own words is: “Technicolour Vintage – Old Hollywood or disco mixed with “The Muppet Show” performances of old – but updated and much more in your face.”
Research and Ideation
Chosen Theme: Bubblegum Pop
Bubblegum pop is a genre catered towards teenagers and young children, where some memorable tunes and lyrics evoke happiness, fun, pure and freedom. (kiddle, no date; Ohestiada, 2022). According to Stanley (2010), it was originally meant as a kid-oriented extension of mop-top pop. Due to its easy-to-remember feature, listeners can easily connect and sing along with bubblegum pop genres.
Stantley (2010) states “Bubblegum is the basic sound of rock'n' roll – minus the rage, fear, violence and anomie that runs from Johnny Burnette to Sid Vicious"
It is a type of music that is trendy yet nostalgic, that represents the best part of being a teen (Reda, 2021). However, it has grown and expanded over the years, and it has no longer become a clear genre but instead, it has become a mixture of genres that mixes elements from other types of pop genres (Reda, 2021).
In terms of colour, bubblegum pop is commonly associated with pastel candy-like colours. It usually consists of bright and colourful pieces that explore topics of nostalgia, youth and optimism (BCA Center Patio & Galliers, 2021). Piktochart Team ( 2024 ) tells us that bubblegum pop is a bright and playful colour palette that brings those high-spirited feelings into the artwork. The commonly used colour in a bubblegum pop palette is usually a mix of pink, blue and purple, creating striking yet sweet visuals. Blegvad (no date) also states that "Pink is being associated with femininity and being sweet and romantic feelings but also have bold and vulgar association with it". The association do also change depending on the shades and with this one is able to show two side of things, providing the contrast. For example sweet vs sophisticated. bold vs youthful. It can be both innocent and explicit but it also depends on culture. For example, in Japan it represent masculine, India it represent happiness and trust and Korea it represent trust.
Artist Inspirations from lyrics to visuals
1. Chloe Moriondo https://readdork.com/features/chloe-moriondo-may-2021/
- I love how she is relatable when it comes to lyrics making, as she mainly makes good lyrics when she least expects, which is similar to me in terms of coming up with ideas!
- “As a teenager and someone who has grown up on the internet, I’ve found that it’s important to listen before you make any definitive statements. The best way that I’ve found to support causes that I care about is to listen and provide as much support as I can in that way, rather than speaking over people.”
- She integrated her inspirations and things her love in her music
- Suckerpunch Album shows two sides of her music and how much she have grown from her old youtube covers days to making her own style of music
https://www.independent.com/2022/11/05/chloe-moriondo-baby-im-a-popstar/
- Originally does more bedroom pop music, but as she grows older, her songs also mature, which can be seen in her recent album, making use of indie rock / bubblegum pop
- Always incorporate elements of her personality in her songs, revealing pieces of her in each song
https://discover.ticketmaster.co.uk/music/chloe-moriondo-55097/
- Chloe channels the nostalgia of radio pop but modernises them through new and fun ways to present them
- She makes use of mixing cyber with 90s/00s visuals and vibes
Fruity
- Vibrant striking bold colours
- Represent the freshness and playfulness in the visual
- Show big contrast between the background, Chloe and wording
- Colour of text is in yellow and white which provide the contrast compared to the blue background, making it easier to reead
- Have a calmer and serious look, which shows stagnant and feeling bored
- Using monochrome neutral colours: black, white and brown
- Compared to the previous scene, you can tell that there is two different mood that is being represented in two different colour schemes which is something I really love. This shows how important the use of colour is.
2. Sabrina Carpenter https://finalgirldigital.substack.com/p/whos-afraid-of-sabrina-carpenter
- She portray old Hollywood style really well which is evident in her outfits and music style
- Inspired by iconic artist such as lolita, britney spears, marilyn monroe
- Exaggerated filters: showcases warm tones & orange colours
- Combining her pin-up persona with 2000s aesthetics
https://nylonmanila.com/pop-culture/visual-storytelling-sabrina-carpenter-short-n-sweet-era/
- Showcases bubblegum pop style in lyrics whereas the visual are more vintage yet flirty / cutesy style
- Kiss: It’s a nod to Sabrina’s flirty and sensual onstage persona and her penchant for all things feminine and girly.
- Heart: Could be a nod to the goddess of love Aphrodite, representing how her songs are mainly about love/heartbreak stories, giving a coquettish and flirty look.
- Hollywood Style: Contrast in her attitude, where she is outspoken. She is good at embracing her sexuality and being a bit more playful with her styling choices, but in a way that isn’t meant for the satisfaction of men or their attention
- “Espresso”: about femininity as a superpower. Music video shows a lot of warm undertones, main colours seen are: orange and blue, vintage style
3. Choi Yena https://kstationtv.com/2025/07/23/choi-yena-a-mangaka-designs-her-album-cover/?lang=en
- The artwork radiates a romantic and magical atmosphere, complete with pink clouds, floating feathers, and delicately drawn ribbons and frills, all signature elements of Tanemura’s emotional and whimsical visual style.
- It tells personal stories such as the innocent feelings of first love, likened to angel wings, and the sorrow of a first heartbreak, experienced in a quiet alley under sudden rain.
- Showcases sweet and innocent look - making use of the pastel and pink colour
4. Melanie Martinez - K12 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HtaIvb61Uk https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/melanie-martinez-k-12-cry-baby-album-interview-8527955/
- visual metaphor for how the world shapes us during the most primitive years of our lives
- Pastel vintage theme
- Slight yellow and blue undertones in some parts of the film
- What i like about this film is she used bubblegum colours like pink, blue, yellow and purple in not the typical way, usually these colours are portrayed to showcase a cute, innocent look but this film shows the contrast in that.
- It shows both cute yet serious and scary moments
- It also mixes vintage style with the colours - what majority do with bubblegum pop where they mix it with other styles
- It also make use of white/cream and black to help unite the colours together so both colours becomes more of the neutral colours
There is a blue undertone - setting is that it is night / serious scene
Big contrast between the bus and the background: Using bright pink to pop against the neutral green
There is a strong yellow undertone which gives the vintage look. Whereas you can also see the contrast between the red with the background and outfits of the actors.
Summary:
- Strong yellow undertone allow the film to feel more vintage
- Blue undertone in the film is only during when the film is night or underwater
- Green and Red is used mainly for contrast against the pastel colours
- Pastel Colours: Pink - Bright Pink and light pink (main colour), light blue, light purple, light yellow
- Cream and Black is used to help unite the colours together, allowing the main colours to pop or just used to help make the colours seem more united and cohesive
Logo and Typography:
- Logo is curvy and bubbly: Gives off a friendly and fun look
- The stem of the letters are wide, and there are fewer sharp edges. It always flows with each letter and number well with its groovy feature
- It is either in pink or white with pink outline
- The logo and letter kerning vary - The logo have a tigther kerning to make it look more united and flow with each other.
- The subheading underneath has a normal kerning due to the letters being more straight, keeping it more uniform
Why bubblegum pop?
I really want to go for a theme that I can relate to the most, which is bubblegum pop. Therefore, I wanted to explore this theme further and examine the existing artists and media that revolve around it. From my research, I conclude that Bubblegum pop has different meanings and moods depending on the medium. Bubblegum pop, in terms of music, is a genre that mixes two themes and creates a contrast between them. For example, artists like Sabrina Carpenter use old Hollywood style in their aesthetics and look, paired with bubblegum pop lyrics in their songs. On the other hand, bubblegum pop, in terms of colours, is a vibrant and playful theme that evokes a sense of nostalgia and fun in the artwork. Therefore, the common association with bubblegum pop comes with the candy-like pastel colours. My main inspiration is from Melanie Martinez, especially in her K-12 Album Film. The film is a metaphor for how we are shaped by society during the most basic and vulnerable moments in our lives. The main themes were bubblegum pop and vintage as she made use of pastel colours and vintage decorations in the set design. Throughout the film, there is always a slight yellow and blue undertone that gives off the vintage and cold feels, respectively. I really love how the film uses bubblegum colours, which are pink, blue, yellow and purple, in a way that shows contrast. An example is how she mixes the colours with vintage style in the theatre scene. She uses strong, bold red colour with an orange undertone to highlight the vintage yet serious mood, while the costumes were towards the cute, innocent look. Additionally, cream and black colours were used in the film to help unite the boldness and pastel colours together, making them feel more united and eye-pleasing. From the K-12 logo, I also observe that it is made of thick lines with little to no sharp edges, giving it a more friendly and fun look. Each letter and number always flows with the other due to its curvy and groovy features. It uses a pink colour that stands out in the poster, which makes it readable. With this, I moved forward in using bubblegum pop as the main theme of my project. I want the designs to portray “vibrant”, “cute” and “vintage” feelings. So I plan to use bright and bold pastel bubblegum colours in my design while making use of curvy and bubbly shapes. This is also being portrayed in the moodboard.
Photo albums
https://good-design.org/the-timeless-power-of-album-art/
- It allows audiences to get a visual representation of what the song will be in terms of style, mood and atmosphere
- Creates the brand identity for the artist
- It also has the physical and collectable appeal
https://www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca/blogs/post/kpop-and-the-physical-album-phenomenon/
- It gives the same effect as the current popular trend blindbox
- It is the way to connect to fans with more than just a CD
- “ According to South Korea’s Gaon Charts, of the country’s top 18.08 million album sales in the first half of 2020, over 16.89 million copies were of K-pop albums.”
- A way to show appreciation to the fans as it is being regarded as a gift
- It is also a unique experience from receiving the album to unboxing it
- Artist are able to use storytelling to showcase their own unique identity.
The Idea
I propose showcasing both the album photos and details in a print format, as I aim to blend traditional physical media with a bubblegum pop style. This will work as a photo album design due to how K-pop have brought back this popularity again amongst listeners. A photo album helps artist to show their appreciation to the fans in a tangible form. It creates a unique experience from receiving to unboxing the album, creating that brand identity for the artist. However, it would be hard to make this with the limited resources and time, since this is a made-up artist. Therefore, I decided to bring the photo album concept into a newspaper format so that it is easier to compile both details of the album and photos in one sitting. This would also be a good way to create something unique with my own spin on it while also promoting the album. The promotion will be through an online platform and the artist’s official website.
Font to use: Sour Gummy https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Sour+Gummy/about I like this font as it has a wide range of variety in terms of its weight, giving a better flexibility in what to use. This font also made use of round and curvature shapes, making it look like it is made out of bubbles. Therefore, creating a playful, whimsical and friendly look, which is what bubblegum pop is. This led to it being the main font of the feature piece and logbook.
Moodboard
Originally, when I thought of bubblegum pop, I wanted pastel colours that provide contrast, creating the first moldboard draft. However, in class, I realised how my moldboard did not let my classmates realise that this was a bubblegum pop theme if the words "bubblegum" were not visible. The topic of my idea was not being translated properly in the moldboard, which made me think back to dive into what I truly want to portray. Therefore, creating moldboard draft 2, where the words "vibrant" and "sweet" became the main topic of my piece. When testing the colours out in my logo, I realised that the colours do not have much contrast with each other. This led to the logo looking too light and harder to read.
Therefore, I decided to change the shades of pink, purple and yellow. I wanted to make yellow more towards cream to act as the neutral colour to unite the rest of the colours together. On the other hand, I made sure I have two shades of pink - one lighter and one bolder. The purple has also become darker to create that contrast between the pinks.
Logo Design
Primary logo ideation
Before sketching the logo ideations, I had two ideas: a cute and bubbly look and a sleek and simple look. For a sleek and simple look, I wanted to opt for a calligraphy design, so I experimented with letter design and spacing. However, it did not fit the theme and would be difficult to integrate geometric shapes into it. Therefore, I quickly shifted to a cute and bubbly look. For a cute and bubbly look, I experimented with including Singapore elements and playing with the thickness of the letters. I played with the Singapore flower, the star from the Singapore flag and cats like stray cats we see around the neighbourhood. I ended up playing more with the cat design as I thought of how similar-sounding “Kat” is to “cat”. In addition, as a cat lover, I want to raise awareness about stray cats in Singapore and the memories I had with them. Originally, I sketched out different cat faces and designed them into the artist's name. However, they end up looking odd and make the artist’s name unrecognisable. Instead, I incorporated elements of a cat, such as the whiskers and ears, into the logo. I slowly narrowed down my choices to the final 2 logos that are circled (and also in the image below). Afterwards, I asked for feedback from my classmates and lecturers to help with the final primary logo design.
Feedbacks I have gotten:
- Really love how the shapes flow with each which makes it look better
- The calligraphy and linework logo is nice, but it is harder to make into a logo due to the requirements of needing it to be geometric shapes
- The cat is a nice way to involve Singapore elements with their stray cats & “Singapura cat” into the logo
- Logo 2 gives off more cute and bubbly vibes since it flows well together, and it is easily recognisable
- Logo 1o gives off cooler vibes due to its thin lines
Overall, neither logo looks too complicated, but the 2nd logo specifically has shapes that complement each other, making it look more cohesive. This, therefore, led me to expand more on the second logo and put it into Illustrator.
When creating the logo, I played with the shape of how the letters would flow with each other. After creating 3 samples, I compared them and realised how the second logo fits the theme best and has those curvy shapes that bring the whole logo together. The third logo does have that same look, too, but it feels less bubbly than the second. When checking for people's opinions, everyone also agreed with me that they prefer the second logo.
Feedbacks:
- The yellow and blue is too light, can't be seen so it would be best to avoid those
- 3D effect looks fun to play with but the lighting makes it a little unreadable and not pleasing to see
- I feel that "Kat" should just be one colour, as that's the name of the artist. Whereas having "at" a different colour feel a little too off and not united.
When asking for feedback on which logo people like best, the majority actually chose the logo with "Kat" being pink and the features being "purple". This then became the final primary logo.
Secondary logo ideation
When doing up the secondary logo, I thought of what the essential elements of the primary logo are. This lead me to think that the letter "K", whiskers and cat ears are the main features that I should bring into the secondary logo. I played with the position of the whiskers and cat ears around the letter to see what suit best. I did realize how the cat ears can be interpreted as vampire fangs instead depending on where they are position. I also did not want to make it too simple by just having the letter "K" and therefore eliminated that as a possible design. I also thought what if the whiskers and ears are only on just one side of the letter, creating another possible design which was approved by my friends and lecturers. I narrowed it down to 3 designs: 1) same as primary, just without the letters "at", 2) "K" with whiskers only and 3) having only 1 ear and whiskers on the side of the letter. With this I drew all 3 designs on Illustrator and ask for feedback
Feedbacks:
- The first two look too far apart - it make it more disconnected
- I really love the third design! I prefer the one without the border actually
- The border is either too light or there is not a big contrast
- The design on the second row flows together better than the one in the third row
With this feedback, I have also finalize my secondary logo design
Final Logo Set
Feature Piece Design
Wireframing
When it came to doing the magazine, I had a few content ideas that I wanted to include in:
- Inspiration of the album
- Photo showcase
- Main theme of the album
- Title track reveal
- Meaning behind the song
- Fun moments / Behind-the-scenes
- Final outcome
- Message to the fans
During the feedback session with my classmates, I also asked what they would want to see in the magazine. All of them said that they want to know more about how the song/album came about and some behind-the-scenes moments. Furthermore, they want to see stuff that feels like they are being rewarded as a fangift for being a supporter. I was given an idea of how, since the logo has a cat to why not also include elements of cats inside the print to make the whole theme consistent. With this in mind, I curated a moodboard with different types of layout designs to help include in my wireframing. The main idea is to include more round, bubbly shapes with different uses of spacing and shapes, creating a more fun yet readable experience.
These images come together as I wanted to pick images that not only have an interesting layout but also have similar feelings that I plan to go for. The images on the right are more about ideation and inspiration for the layout that I can experiment with in my design. Photos on the left showcase shapes, colours, and designs that I really like. An example is how the journaling page has stars as a background graphic, giving it contrast to the images and patterns on the page.
Another example is the Haerin Newsletter Design page. I really love the use of colours in this photo as it only uses three main colours, which are pink, blue and white. Yet with these colours, it is still able to stand out and create a design that is cute yet Y2K. This became my biggest inspiration for the cover page. The Olivia Rodrigo page drew me because of how well the cut-out and wording flow. The text warps around the images, creating a less stagnant way of presenting the text.
I have then drawn out my final wireframing. Overall, I planned to have 16 pages, which are split into three categories: Album, Title Track, and Thank You message. The overall theme of the magazine is cute but vintage/retro. For the cover page, I wanted it to be a spread where you are able to see the cat's tail in front, but the full cat body on the back cover. This is because I wanted people to finish the magazine and go "Hey, it's a cat just like the name", and let them be more enticed into buying through real-life photos taken from recording the album on the front cover. For the rest of the pages, I wanted to play with shapes throughout the magazines and have a variety of layouts.
About the Album pages
The content in these would include what the album is about, the main inspiration and theme of the album, followed by photos and lastly behind the scenes. I thought of having these pages in an interview style, but wanted to test it out on InDesign first. I wanted to have a good mixture of photos and text because I want to bring that photo album element into the magazine to make it more unique, rather than just a common magazine.
When testing the layout, I realised that having two cut-out images in the same position, that is, the bottom right corner, can seem boring and predictable. To give a better variety and excitement, I decided to move the cat cut-out to be in the middle of the spread instead. I also decided not to have the interview style in this because I wanted this to be more informational. Instead, I moved it into when it is talking about the title track.
title Track pages
The content in these would include the meaning behind the song, what brings nostalgia, inspiration of the song, behind-the-scenes moments and easter eggs. This is also where I implemented the interview style.
Thank you and final look pages
I wanted to end the magazine with something memorable and heartwarming, which is why I thought of creating a thank-you and final look page. This would include the final album cover poster and a message to the fans. This would be a good way to thank the supporters and make them feel like they are being appreciated.
Photoshoot
As I had to either take my own photos or find photos online for the magazine, I decided, why not have my own photoshoot! The main idea was to find a location that has a pastel background with clothing and editing that goes towards Y2K style. For the title track, I wanted to include party elements such as balloons, confetti or lights. I also tried looking for locations that provide nostalgic memories or heritage areas.
These are images I collected for the photoshoot because I wanted to include the different elements as mentioned earlier. These images best describe the feeling of a party yet vintage theme.
editing and designing assest
When editing the photos, I made sure to have a yellow undertone in them. I also wanted to make sure that my album cover to include a cat in them, thus creating them in the shadows.
Feature piece cover pages
For the cover page, I decided to go for a scrapbook background and chose a texture paper. I then tried playing with colours on the title but realize that the best contrast is the white outline with pink filling. I also thought of a cute easter egg which is to include a cat face in my pages.
album cover
Final magazine
Advertisements
For the advertisement, I want to show a mini story of how the main character goes about their life with Kat's music and merch. Since the whole theme revolves around cats, I decided that it should be the main character in this. I also wanted to do the advertisement in a drawing style to showcase creativity and something unexpected. This also makes the advertisement feel more personal.
The advertisement would flow such that it goes animated -> static -> animated.
Animated 1: Promoting the music video - only real-life advertisement ( not in drawing style) Static 1: Promoting the song is out on Spotify - start of the drawing style Static 2: Promoting the vinyl of the album - getting people to buy it Static 3: Promoting the release of the magazine - look like as if you would read it at a picnic!
Animated 2: Promoting the traditional shophouses in Singapore - I wanted to make it seem that the album includes the heritage of Singapore and dedicate it to the shophouses here. Therefore, I thought a smart way is to use this as a way to end the story by showing how the cat is visiting the shophouse and getting people to visit the official website,
Final Static advertisements
Static advertisement 1 call-to-action: get people to go to Spotify to listen to the song Static advertisement 2 call-to-action: get people to visit Kat's official merch website Static advertisement 3 call-to-action: get people to visit Kat's official merch website
Final Animated advertisements
Animated Advertisement 1 call-to-action: Get people to go to the Youtube channel for the music video
Animated Advertisement 2 call-to-action: Get people to visit the official website of the Peranakan houses
Conclusion
Overall, this has been a challenging experience for me to break out of my comfort zone to do something that I am uncomfortable with. I personally find Illustrator easiest to use due to my experience with it. I feel that I was able to easily translate my sketches onto Illustrator with ease, and my experience made it easier to move around the program. On the other hand, I still find InDesign challenging due to how sometimes the images do not paste or move the way I want them to. It is also tough to navigate between moving the frame and the photos. Additionally, I think Adobe Express is the hardest out of all the Adobe Programs I have used so far because it often lags on me. I went through my own old notes I had of the Adobe Programs to help me get through the processes I had forgotten about. I really struggled with translating my wireframing sketch into InDesign and making it look eye-pleasing. I feel like even though I place the images in their respective placeholders, it ends up looking odd. What I did to rectify this was to play around with other layouts on the spot. I want to improve better explaining my thoughts and ideas in word form before my submission because often I have my idea in my mind but not in word form, which makes it hard to justify myself.
Citations and References
Images in Website
Photoshop Icon: <a href="https://www.flaticon.com/free-icons/graphic-design" title="graphic design icons">Graphic design icons created by Freepik - Flaticon</a> Illustrator Icon: <a href="https://www.flaticon.com/free-icons/graphic-design" title="graphic-design icons">Graphic-design icons created by Freepik - Flaticon</a> Indesign Icon: <a href="https://www.flaticon.com/free-icons/indesign" title="indesign icons">Indesign icons created by Freepik - Flaticon</a> Clip Studio Paint Icon: https://pnghdpro.com/clip-studio-paint-app-icon/