Artiifact — Translating Music into Physical and Digital Experiences
A case study on synthesisia and translating music into physical and digital experiences.
How do you extend the experience of a groundbreaking album and translate it into lasting experiences beyond audio
Recording artist Anatii released a sonically groundbreaking debut album named Artiifact that pushed the boundaries of AfroFuturistic pop. Listening to the album evoked synesthesia, painting a rich tapestry of experience beyond audio. We wanted to take it a step further and translate the sonic experience into timeless physical and digital artefacts that complimented the concept and supported the album release. Heres what we came up with.
Synesthesia A condition in which one type of stimulation evokes the sensation of another, as when the hearing of a sound produces the visualisation of a colour.
Artiifact Hunt:
Hidden around the country are usb artefacts with exclusive bonus material only found on the artefacts. These can be bonus tracks, interviews, messages from the artist, they could also feature clues to locations (physical or digital) where they can discoverer or can be the first to get Artiifact jewellery.
Clues to the Artiifact’s whereabouts could be teased via social using images and hints that dedicated fans can work out creating a social campaign that gets fans to engage with the album and look forward to the next drop from the Artiifact Extension Campaign.
Artiifact Jewellery
Merchandise is nothing new when it comes to artists supporting their album releases. T-shirts, hoodies, caps. Those are boring and have been done before.
Jewellery is much more sentimental and stays with the wearer longer than a t-shirt. Even the most die hard fan would have to remove clothing to be washed; whereas jewellery can be worn on a daily basis with any outfit.
Jewellery also serves as a classier memento that fans will cherish owning, so another activation was launching a line of unisex necklaces either online or at pop up stores around the country.
Digital Artiifact
Another idea was for a digital artiifact that could be kept as a memento and shared on social media. We came up with the idea of a snapchat filter lens that places the mask on the album cover onto the users face so they could snap pics or videos interacting with the album.
This would have allowed fans to get closer to the artist and share their creations socially with friends, creating a network effect of exposure as well as a fun way for fans to engage.
However at the time Snapchat hadn’t opened up its Face Lens Creation Studio to the public yet and this idea was unfeasible. (They have since launched Lens Studio)
3D Printing
Another angle was to turn each users face into their own personal Artiifact mask by taking their selfie and morphing it into a mask which can then be 3D printed and sent out to fans willing to pay for the rare 1 of 1 art piece.
Turning a groundbreaking album into a groundbreaking art experience.
OverDrive
To coincide with the Overdrive (a track on the album) single launch we created an arcade racing mobile game where fans got to drive a car and avoid obstacles whilst listening to the song in the background.
This was a simple top down mini game where users avoid obstacles and collect coins or artiifacts they can use to buy new skins for the car or new locations.
Success
We had a range of different ideas that were influenced by the album that made it that much more precious and fun to engage with, extending the experience outside the realm of audio and into physical and digital experiences. We managed to deliver on a mobile game to materialise the feeling of listening to overdrive. I would have loved to see us making jewellery for listeners to capture the moment in time but we couldn’t make it happen with the time/budget constraints.
Working on this has changed the way i listen to music. I now listen to the emotions and experiences buried in the lyrics.
I’m a strategist at the centre of Art, Business, and Technology fascinated by the endless possibilities these three disciplines combined can create. Having worked in Advertising and Innovation Consultancy I have a large appetite for creative solutions that please users whilst improving companies and brands. Addressing this appetite over at the WonderGang Creative Studio
