Over the course of two months I created a book called “Keep It On The One: How Funk And Hip Hop Came Full Circle”. The book details the history of funk and Hip-Hop from the Early 60s to the Early 2020s. Each Page describes four albums and connects them to other reference points within the book.
Keep It On The One
The covers of the book were based on James Brown’s cape and King George III’s cape to give the book a sense of royalty. The table of contents was inspired by motion blur photos of New York in the 70s.
Inspiration
For the table of contents and the recap page, 12 album covers were blurred and saturated to create the background. The cover and TOC include rectangles of varying sizes around the edge to represent a drum beat. The sounds of those beats are typed on the rectangles. The funky circle of life at the end of the book was restricted to the perimeter to mimic the grooves of a record. The layout of each content page changes to indicate evolving dance moves.
Process
Click the cover to see process pages
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The final book is 6 x 9 inches rather than the originally planned 5 x 9 inches, due to the unavailability of that size online. The circle of life on the last two pages connects every artist in the book. The back cover features an about the author section, a bibliography and two QR codes that lead to playlists that include the music of the book.
Final
Click here to see the digital version
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Click here to see the physical version
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