My project will be combining UN DN and Hotel Diablo to create one event and cohesive visual identity. Hotel Diablo is an album released by Machine Gun Kelly in 2019. It’s primarily a rap album but has strong influences from rock and pop punk. It’s a very introspective album with quite dark themes. This is reflected through the album aesthetic as there’s lots of black and greys. The pops of colour that are seen as usually purple. The overall concept behind the album is that Hotel Diablo is a part of Machine Gun Kelly’s mind and this album is taking this listener there. It’s one of my personal favourites albums so I really want to explore in through this project. Below is the symbol of that album:
Album cover: the cover helps to show the idea that Hotel Diablo is a place in his mind that the listener will visit. Having him as a child on the cover suggests that this part of his mind has been active since childhood so there’s a lot of emotional build up. I really like the grainy texture on the cover and all the handwritten notes in the background. I want to take these aesthetics into my project work.
Back of album: the back of the album features a picture of him now, contrasting the front cover. I like the tattoo on the back of his head, suggesting it’s a portal or gateway to Hotel Diablo. This symbolism is really nice and idea I will use in my work. Also the track list is written in a loose, hand written style. This is something I explored though my work on ‘Bloody Valentine’ so is I style I could definitely take inspiration from.
Interior of CD: in the same way I did for ‘Bloody Valentine’ I have scanned the interior of a physical copy of the album. Each song on the album has its own image that represents it, some more literal than others. I won’t be using these as backgrounds because I want to create all the imagery myself but they’re a good source of inspiration and a look into the visual identity of the album. The pops of colour against the greyscale images is a really eye catching style. I really like the paper cut out, collage inspired style.
Tracklist (Spotify): this is a clearer image of the track list from the album
Hotel Diablo graphic novel: Machine Gun Kelly also made a graphic novel titled Hotel Diablo. It is a way of depicting Hotel Diablo as a real place rather than a metaphorical place in his mind. One theme that really stands out to me is keys which play an important role is the story. They’re ultimately a metaphor for being able to unlock a part of your mind. I’d like to incorporate keys into some of my imagery. I have a copy of this so I’ll be able to look through it for ideas.
Samuel Green Illustration 