CONCEPT: Automatic CD Names

My good friend Bradley M. Colquitt rejected this idea for his band's new CD, so I feel totally OK putting this concept out there.

(I'm also working a brief little paper on function and design. This idea is sort of an aside to that paper.)

It seems ridiculous for bands to have to find names for CDs and tracks. It is assumed that the meaning of the song is not dependent on the track name. Musicians shouldn't have to take on additional responsibilities beyond Additionally, it seems ridiculous for listeners to have to remember track names in addition to album names. Ridiculous.

For this band, their first CD should be named "A." Their next CD should be named "B." So on, and so forth, until the twenty-sixth album is named "Z." Then, their twenty-seventh album should be "AA."

On each CD, each track should be named numerically, with a placeholder "0" for the first nine tracks.

For example, the band's second CD would have this tracklisting:

Ellipsis. B.
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11

If the band hits it big and has a huge discography, the time saved using this scheme could be enormous. We all know this scenario:

Me:
"I love Norwegian Wood. Amazing song. Sounds almost Indian, like Ravi Shankar or something."

Random person who doesn't know the Beatles very well:
"Oh. Hrm. Isn't that a Beatles song?"

Random person has absolutely NO IDEA where to find Norwegian Wood. He or she probably has no idea that its on Rubber Soul. Now say that the Beatles had used my numerical system:

Me:
"I love F02. Amazing song. Sounds almost Indian, like Ravi Shankar or something."

Random Person:
"Oh. Hrm. Isn't that a Beatles song?"

But now, Random person knows what CD the song is on, and also where exactly on the CD it is on. He doesn't have to remember that Norwegian Wood is the second track on Rubber soul. More functional information is conveyed through communication than before.

Here are a couple of quick drafts of the cover and back of the first album for a band called Ellipsis. Helvetica Neue (Neue Die Neue Haas Grotesk! A post about this to come.) is used for the both cover and back, at 36 pt for the first line, 120 for the cover's second line, and 60 for the back's second line. More to come.

Welcome to Fin de Siècle...

a conceptual graphic design weblog in the vein of BLDGBLOG or Pruned. Purely conceptual in nature, I hope to pose peculiar graphic design ideas to solve problematic things in the world. This blog will not veer totally toward the functional (as no blog in the vein of BLDGBLOG should be), but instead stretch what is normally considered design into new and exploratory realms.

In short, dreams, conjectures, speculatory ventures, "solutions," and errands into the wilderness shall be explored in this blog.

Side note: Fin de Siècle is the name of my future atelier, so please don't touch.