OUGD505: Music Genre: Research

 I decided to choose motown as my music genre as I have always loved the music and I feel that it was created in a very interesting era where lots happened and pop culture was very influential. I started of by listening to lots of motown music and getting even more familiar with the artists which led the label to its huge success. With this I also created a mood board looking at the fashion related to these artists. This is something I had thought about previously to choosing motown. I new the style of the 60’s was bold, colourful and fun! I new I to take inspiration from the fashion of the era. Whilst looking at the music I also created a mood board looking at the design style for the records of these artists. Much like the fashion these record sleeves are vibrant and loud and use bubbly, hippy like fonts. This is normally matched with a portrait of the artist.

 The history of Motown is outstanding with well over 75 records being top 10’s between 1960-69. Read more about the history below. This happened during massive change in all walks of American life at the time. Researching through articles and a documentary, I looked at some key moments which shaped 1960’s America. 

 

To me, although lots of big political and social issues happened during this time, I felt drawn towards fashion. From this I started to look into the different patterns and dress styles relating to Motown and the 60’s. Through doing this it led me onto looking at an exhibition which was on at the v&a last year, which focuses on the 60’s and looked at the fashion/film/political activism of the time.