We live in a world where music surrounds us. From music streaming services to music players built right into our phones, the MTV generation has come a long way. But in all this, I feel music itself is losing its charm. The beauty of serendipity is fading away; the engagement is missing. And nostalgia plays on a loop as we fail to build a bond with artists and their music. My goal as a graphic designer is to understand this change and to find out if visuals can help create an impact, so that the future of music looks good and sounds even better.

Brought up by ardent music listeners, especially my mother, who’s a classical Indian music teacher, I was fortunate to have access to a huge collection of vinyl albums back home. All with fine album artwork that spoke to the heart. It’s that ‘visual part’ of music that I consider the biggest missing piece in today’s music scene. It’s been reduced to a few pixels the size of a postage stamp, and fails to engender any emotional connection with the music album.

This is an ongoing research project, where I explore the history of visual music and various ways to improve engagement with music. I’ve also started looking into concert technologies which can have a huge impact on music enthusiasts and concertgoers alike. 

Music plays a huge role in our daily lives. In many ways, it is the glue that binds people together and keeps a check on the emotional health of society. So it can’t just become mere background noise, it ought to be much more than that. It should move us. Establishing quality engagement with music and enjoying it should be an integral part of our lives.

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