A Really Really Really Good Design Firm
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Archive for the ‘Packaging’ Category.
Continuing the look for our series of ESG releases for Fire Records, we took a playful take on the energy inherent in their single “Dance.” The song is funky fun, while still sounding like only ESG can. You might have heard it as part of the recent xbox campaign. The sleeve made such an impact on record store shelves that it sold out in a matter of days. Everybody wants to dance, and everybody wants to dance now!
While curating my previous books, I was always left with the empty feeling of not being able to share all of the amazing work that I desired, from the talented folks around the world. Presented with the chance to assemble and design the poster entry into the ever popular 1,000 series for Rockport Publishers, I knew just what to do. Then something unthinkable occurred – I was still left with tons of work left behind! Each and every piece within these pages is as awesome as the diecut cover you see before you. This is a must have. Speaking of which, it might be time to start a new poster book already…
Emerald, Sapphire and Gold (ESG) have made some of the most inventive, yet simple, music of all-time. The Scroggins sisters channel their love of old school soul, R&B, funk and the sound of the South Bronx in the early 80s to brew up an intoxicating skeletal funk mix. Having the opportunity to package the best of their output, all in one package, was an honor I won’t soon forget. We went the extra mile to make them proud and also helped write the liner notes and assembled and designed a timeline and fold out poster that they didn’t even know they needed. Get Funky!
Few projects have allowed me to be creative in so many areas as the reissue of post-funk pioneers Pigbag’s collected works. Hand-crafted type abounds, as does a playful approach to their old photos and a complete re-creation inspired by their original record covers. The support of both the band and the label inspired me to push it even further. Every last inch of these packages bristle with the combined energy. Once we had the look established, the playful diecut took the whole thing to another level. The “awesome” level! Plus, we couldn’t settle for spreading that joy across just one release when we had Volume Two waiting in the wings:
I wish I could show you all of the pieces as each individual disc sleeve still makes me smile. Not to mention having a dayglo monkey wearing glasses and a beard! Head on over to the facebook fanpage to see more of the funky goodness.
One of my all-time favorite janglepoppers from the C-86 scene were Scotland’s Close Lobsters. As big a fan of their music as I was, I often looked down at their record sleeves and wished they were more in tune with the joys behind them. I had to wait two decades, but I finally received my chance to make it so when offered the opportunity to package their albums “Foxheads Stalk This Land” and “Headache Rhetoric” together on one disc. Tackling the many challenges in merging two VERY different covers from the originals, I kept coming back to how much I enjoyed the very titles themselves. Once I knew that the words would be the playful heroes, this practically designed itself (with the help of a lot of x-acto cutting and pasting and a heaving old copier.)
No Reservations sees acclaimed madcap chef Anthony Bourdain traveling the world and sampling local cuisine at the street level so that what he ingests is the exact same as the local working class (to keep a perspective, he had a hoagie in New Jersey.) This leads to some pretty wild meals to say the least! In creating a marketing toolkit I followed my own advice and got out of the office and on to experiencing the show focus as quickly as I could. Making my way to a Vietnamese grocery store, I started to assemble the elements I needed to pull off what I had in mind.
Using frozen seafood (which had to be semi-thawed to shape) and traditional pho soup elements, I concocted a soup with snakes, eels, snails, shrimp, squid and anything else I could think of. I needed it to look bizarre and challenging but not without being a little appetizing as well. I also made a point of buying actual bowls and plates that would be authentic to the locale. Doing my own photo styling and lighting, my only challenge was keeping the flies off my masterpiece for long enough to complete the photos. The final product was used as the “plate” which also serves as the actual disc. I then photographed each element individually along with dried fruits and sweets from the region.
To tie it all together I wrapped the packaging in a white, crumpled bag as if the meal was being picked up. A little research let me know that what Americans refer to as “carry out” translates to “take away” around the globe. Creating a rubber stamp to grace the exterior proved to be the final touch as these left my hands to promote one of my favorite programs around the world.
What is there to say about these? Eric Hansen’s photos are breathtaking. After sorting through hundreds of options, I decided to use the images as silhouettes on a pure black background, as opposed to the lighter colors usually associated with these types of products. The result led to a much more sophisticated solution. Then, the use of color made an enormous impact on the interior of the address book. Making my way through the images was exhausting (in a good way) but double-checking the actual names was just plain exhausting – but necessary. No detail left unturned over here! All of the little printing wrinkles were fun as well, even if I had to learn a little Mandarin Chinese to convey what I wanted.
The following holiday season, a funny thing happened with these pieces. I gave them out as gifts and they officially became the first thing that I ever produced that my entire family seemed to like! When you are in design, it can be so difficult to explain exactly what it is you do, but this provided the perfect (and lovely) platform.
Too many photos? Not possible when you are dealing with Tom Jones! This is the DVD packaging for his legendary variety show (everyone smoking while they sing! All the top performers of the day! Ginormous backdrops of Tom’s face!!!!!!) Classic in every way. One of my favorite experiences in my design career ultimately was nixed from this package. A hilarious photoshoot of a collection of panties originally slated for the inner tray where the client and I put on our serious hats and gently moved around leopard prints and lacey reds to find the right balance.
Fire Records put out some of my favorite music of the 80′s and 90′s (you already know this had you seen my peppering the Close Lobsters with kisses on my BYT “Lost Records” column.) They have re-emerged from an extended slumber, primarily on the power of Virgin Passages and their pastoral goth chanting mixed with experimental instrumentation grounded in acoustic instruments. (Thats a long way to convey that they are equally pretty AND spooky.) Working on the new EP gave me a chance to paint some floating eyeballs and scrawl out some type. Two things I never tire of.
Rob Christiansen is a musical mad scientist. No doubt about it. You may know his work with Eggs, Grenadine, Sisterhood of Convoluted Thinkers or as a producer or engineer of hundreds of insanely aaaaamazing records. For his instrumental project, under the East Ghost West Ghost moniker, I kept going back to the literal image of two ghosts pulling knives and guns on one another. The name is just that good. Luckily I finally had the good sense to realize that the name was in fact so good that it certainly didn’t need that sort of help. Instead, I began to focus on opposing sides ultimately coming together in something unique. The music kept drawing out racing images for me, darting all about.
One disassembled bike later, I had the photos I needed to work a little magic. Sticking to two colors, you can see the press sheet above with the clean cover and spines and layered funky back – just like the work inside it.