Design for Music

Weird

 
An intense psychedelic journey through inner and outer space along with some uncomfortable places between. Experiments in multiple modes of vision, appropriated icons of surrealism, the awkward tissue of public encounters, plus analog and digital methods of making movement- and time-images.

Music by Two Headed Dog. Video by Studio Junglecat.

All footage shot by Matt Wizinsky / Studio Junglecat in various locations throughout Chicago, the Chicago Transit Authority, and from the Amtrak window passing through Gary, Indiana. Still photos provided by NASA, taxpaying citizens of the United States, and viewers like you.

WARNING: This video contains intense visual material. If you are sensitive to flashing, flickering, or fast-paced visual stimulus, you may want to look away.

Greenup Industries

Greenup Industries is a new record imprint and subscription service offering seasonal batches of limited edition vinyl releases focusing mostly on music of the freenoise, improv, and psych variety. The objective was to create a visual identity unique enough to maintain its own sense of coherency but capable of encapsulating a broad range of audio possibilities. The logo includes a custom work mark, which is equally geometric and calligraphic. Or, as I explained to the client, “it’s like calligraphy by machines.” This creates a graphic identity referencing the sensibilities of psychedelia without focusing on any particular period of time.

Combined with its circular shape—reflecting the physical form these releases will take as vinyl 45s—the identity and its bold color palette allude directly to the enthusiastic spirit of the people behind the instruments and gadgets producing the sounds. As the identity expanded to business cards, T-shirts, buttons, stickers, and the web site, this palette grew to include basic geometric shapes hand drawn over textured and imperfect surfaces, thus extending the core concept: a human touch via instruments and machines. The tag line “esoterica enthusiastica” was invented to speak of the label’s diverse catalog of artists whose output represents a diversity of singular sound-making visions carried out with great fervor and dedication.

CLIENT Greenup Industries | SERVICES identity design, graphic design, web design, production management

 

Zero Crag

Album cover for a minimal, bizarre, new wave-influenced group. The exterior album cover and packaging are intentionally mysterious and dark as a statement on the music contained within.

The sparse exterior package opens up to reveal this bold, vibrant, eye-popping collage as a fold-out poster. The image is built upon a graphic vocabulary of cryptic symbols used throughout the album and its related merchandise and marketing materials.

CLIENT  Xerus R+D Productions | SERVICES  packaging design

Pearlene

Working over several years with Cincinnati’s blues rock juggernauts, Pearlene, I’ve had the opportunity to develop a full range of marketing and merchandise materials. Their powerful sound (along with some of the expected rock machismo) sparked the concept of a bull as a repeating icon. Another identity features a tongue-tied dapper gentleman who can only utter one word, and a variety of  posters—bothscreen-printed and digitally output—were created to reflect their dirty blues grit.

This poster was produced to announce a performance in which Pearlene would be joined by several other local musician friends. The concept of group baptism relates to their Southern blues sound and the influence of peers. The stars  align to form a “dipper”–a pun on the notion of baptism.

CLIENT  Pearlene | SERVICES  graphic design, packaging design, identity development, merchandise design & production

The All Night Party

Born out of a passion for music, The All Night Party produces, showcases and markets regional artists, with the goal of building a vibrant music scene. They do so by providing a broad suite of music services that increase the visibility of bands to the fans. The graphic identity and site design communicate to multiple audiences: the fans looking for fresh content, the bands looking for a trustworthy partner, and the variety of business partners getting involved to help make it happen.

The company’s existing identity included an owl, which seemed appropriate for the name of the organization. This music-spinning owl was emboldened and simplified, then applied in bold forms, colors, and textures to create a new identity system that balances just the right amount of professionalism with street cred. A solid typographic logo streamlines the wordy name and highlights the business’s initials in order to open the door for abbreviating the name to ANP in later applications.

The business cards are designed to resemble backstage passes—indicating that receiving one of these cards is an invitation to enjoy special services (as listed on the card’s back) and VIP treatment. Don’t you already feel like a rock star?

The bold, textured palette is extended to the web site, which is home to a diverse program of content. On the home page, visitors are greeted with an overview of the organization’s goals and its blog. Throughout the site, right column widgets wrapped in the graphic identity serve as carriers for a variety of links, applications, and information portals.

The site also accommodates media pages specific to bands represented by The All Night Party. These pages are treated as unique elements under the umbrella of the site’s graphic wrapper.

Note: This site is under construction but should be launching soon.

CLIENT The All Night Party | SERVICES identity development, interface design

White Girls

White Girls deliver a noisy but spare punk sound within a chaotic and high-energy live show. The unifying look of the visual output has been a layer of hand-crafted grittiness–affected digitally or via screen-printing and hand-assembly (DIY all the way!). This highlights one of the band’s primary motifs of  “rawness” in the digital age and also reveals the essence of the band itself: experienced but unpolished. Bold, simple graphics with the subtle twist of an inverted “i” for exclamation. Not without irony, their debut EP features the band as giants amongst their hometown.

Poster announcing the performance of two bands notorious for high energy, live events. The mask concept is based on the bands’ theatrical performances and as a nod to tribal art’s role in the development of modern aesthetics—both aural and visual.

CLIENT  White Girls | SERVICES  graphic design, packaging design, merchandise design & production

Viva La Foxx

Poster announcing the performance of a female-fronted blues-funk-punk-rock extravaganza with an iconic Afro-ed figure whose attitude and playful typographic hair is a nod to revolutionary imagery of the 1960s. The unusual cropping states that the band offers a unique perspective on familiar musical tropes while simultaneously creating the illusion of layering in single or multiple postings.

CLIENT  Viva La Foxx | SERVICES  graphic design, merchandise design & production

The Sundresses

The Sundresses write and play “music about America by an American band.” Their lyrics and persona may be a critique of the politics of power and wealth but it is done with a particular style and wit that reminds us that dissent can be sexy. A corrupt power symbol from the past—the Nazi eagle astride a wreathed swastika—becomes a mockery of its former self by transforming the mighty eagle into a bumbling pigeon atop an early symbol for U.S. currency. This symbol plays out across merchandise and posters promoting nationwide tours.

CLIENT  Viva La Foxx | SERVICES  identity development, graphic design, merchandise design & production

Thee Shams

Delicious psychedelia meets bluesed-up garage rock on this Telstar Records release. The album cover takes cues from the music within by treating text and imagery as layers, building up contrasts of scale, and allowing the gritty details to shine.

CLIENT  Thee Shams/Telstar Records | SERVICES  packaging design

The Mysts of Time

I cannot deny that Scooby-Doo had a big influence on my young, formative years. Although, I still only recognize Phyllis Diller as a cartoon character, but maybe that’s for the best. So when a new group of darkly humorous rockers asked me to come up with an identity and tour poster to announce their entry into the music world, my mind went straight to those Scooby-Doo trees. Spooky but not scary. Screen-printing direct to black paper with pre-defined areas for entering local show information made a break from the typical “blank white box” format of tour posters.
CLIENT The Mysts of Time | SERVICES identity development, graphic design