While I've been thinking about design for record release info and the connection to audiences of the time, it's also worth bearing in mind how these have (what with often little in the way of other visual representations) become used for uploads on YouTube. Most usually being vinyl rips and therefore being a particularly relevant visual form.
There are loads of examples of this, but here are just a few:
Showing posts with label Vinyl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vinyl. Show all posts
12/12/2010
11/12/2010
Metroplex
I'm reading Dan Sicko's book on Detroit techno at the moment. It's making me consider the design used by the city's record labels. It's also making me listen to a lot of vintage Cybotron, Mayday, Model 500 and Reese.
The 2010 edition of Dan Sicko's excellent book can be purchased here:
Techno Rebels: The Renegades of Electronic Funk (Painted Turtle Book)
Meantime, anyone unfamiliar with Juan Atkins' Metroplex, might want to start with the following album: 20 Years of Metroplex
The 2010 edition of Dan Sicko's excellent book can be purchased here:
Techno Rebels: The Renegades of Electronic Funk (Painted Turtle Book)
Meantime, anyone unfamiliar with Juan Atkins' Metroplex, might want to start with the following album: 20 Years of Metroplex
07/12/2010
Warp Mobius band
I posted some of these before but never together. This shows the variations in the set created for the Warp20 release.
17/11/2010
Massive Attack - 'Atlas Air EP'
From Vinyl Factory (a company that got a decent mention in my Masters thesis)
Limited Edition
Availability: In Stock
£25
Product Details:
• Limited to just 1,000 copies worldwide, this beautifully presented and individually numbered vinyl and art edition has been crafted by The Vinyl Factory, working in close collaboration with Massive's Robert del Naja and designer Tom Hingston.
• This is the only physical release of Massive's stunning new three-track EP, 'Atlas Air', in aid of War Child, featuring a remix of 'Red Light' by Warp artist Clark, and remixes of 'Atlas Air' by Jneio Jarel from Shape of Broad Minds and DFA and Heligoland producer Tim Goldsworthy.
• Each edition includes a 180-gram heavyweight vinyl record, pressed on the legendary EMI 1400, with laser-etched labels on either side.
• The vinyl is housed in a screen printed yellow fluoro and glitter covered sleeve, featuring the 'Minstrels' painting by Robert del Naja, produced on pristine Colourplan white board with solid black inner lining.
• Each copy is hand-stamped.
• All proceeds will be donated to War Child.
• Available to pre-order now; released 29 November
Product info:
• 180-gram heavyweight vinyl
• Screen printed yellow fluoro and glitter covered sleeve
• Hand stamped
Watch Edouard Salier's video for 'Atlas Air' here
24/10/2010
Basic Channel vinyl
Additional links to CD albums:
Basic Channel
Basic Channel
[Import]
Arrange and Process Basic Channel Tracks
Basic Channel
Basic Channel
[Import]Arrange and Process Basic Channel Tracks
16/09/2010
Mosca - 'Tilt Shift'
MP3 Links:
Tilt Shift
Square One EP
Square One VIP
Following on from the last post there was another idea I'd played with involving the QR-Code's aesthetic. This was developed for a forthcoming independent release by Mosca that really doesn't suffer from any issues of utilising supposedly corporate elements. In fact it subverts that idea in an attempt to display an underground artist/producer as a branded commodity complete with a bold logotype.
Other influences for this included a colour reference to Mosca's previous 'Square One' on the excellent Night Slugs label plus a nod to some psychedelic-edged/retro-futurist 'seeping' style that was triggered by the track's often amorphous and percolating structure. But, visually and sonically, that's a very personal interpretation. I dare say that the official release may come with a more literal reference to the tilt shift photography that gives the record its title.
Tilt Shift
Square One EP
Square One VIP
Following on from the last post there was another idea I'd played with involving the QR-Code's aesthetic. This was developed for a forthcoming independent release by Mosca that really doesn't suffer from any issues of utilising supposedly corporate elements. In fact it subverts that idea in an attempt to display an underground artist/producer as a branded commodity complete with a bold logotype.
Other influences for this included a colour reference to Mosca's previous 'Square One' on the excellent Night Slugs label plus a nod to some psychedelic-edged/retro-futurist 'seeping' style that was triggered by the track's often amorphous and percolating structure. But, visually and sonically, that's a very personal interpretation. I dare say that the official release may come with a more literal reference to the tilt shift photography that gives the record its title.
15/09/2010
Electronic Battle Weapon
The Chemical Brothers began their 'Electronic Battle Weapon' series in 1996 so that fans and DJs could obtain the records that the duo had created with their own club sets in mind. Now ten strong, some of those tracks have since featured on official Chemical Brothers releases although, at the time of their issuing, they were very much part of an underground tradition of promotional material.
I wanted to propose a design for a hypothetical number eleven that would address a number of issues. Firstly there is the problematic nature of big selling artists maintaining those undergroud credentials. I put something in my report about the 'under-design' being used to suggest "a dependable realness" or what Redhead described as "a regime of truth" (Redhead 1993:121).
Particularly identified in subcultures that retain elements of exclusivity through the shared self-identification of being an outsider, there can be a rejection of anything approaching mainstream assimilation. In clubbing circles, this can manifest as a rejection of commercially-minded major labels. But the problem regarding a major label promoting material that it wants to be taken seriously outside of the Top 40-oriented demographic also related to my own desire to utilise QR-Codes within this project: as much as I love their pixelated nonsense and what they can do, they just seemed too corporate. So the idea here was to go back to a quote from producer Andrew Weatherall (who remixed The Chemical Brothers' first single, by the way) about the notion of the future as being this sleek, shiny techno vision. He believed that his 'future' aesthetic is one where the world is falling apart. I wanted to allow that to be used with this contemporary gadgetry. While also relating a proposal to the more underground design that is used to promote low budget, independent dance releases - the white label and the crudely applied stamp [figure 3]. So basically, after some deliberation, I wanted to revise the QR-Code as a deteriorated rubber stamped, monochromatic image across a 12" single.
For the vinyl itself, I went back to the laser-etching approach for a disc with one playable side. But the design was very much about going back to roots - albeit while acknowledging the year 2010 - so it additionally took layout inspiration from the pair's oldest 'Dust Brothers' releases through the Junior Boy's Own label. While it emulates the rubber stamp, given the size it is actually screenprinted using a pre-deteriorated digital image.
The B-side will feature a 'correctly' printed QR-Code directing users to a similarly rough looking Chemical Brothers microsite with all info, a MP3/WAV version, mailing list sign-up [for upfront details of new tracks] and a gateway to other currently available purchases including more general releases.
I wanted to propose a design for a hypothetical number eleven that would address a number of issues. Firstly there is the problematic nature of big selling artists maintaining those undergroud credentials. I put something in my report about the 'under-design' being used to suggest "a dependable realness" or what Redhead described as "a regime of truth" (Redhead 1993:121).
Particularly identified in subcultures that retain elements of exclusivity through the shared self-identification of being an outsider, there can be a rejection of anything approaching mainstream assimilation. In clubbing circles, this can manifest as a rejection of commercially-minded major labels. But the problem regarding a major label promoting material that it wants to be taken seriously outside of the Top 40-oriented demographic also related to my own desire to utilise QR-Codes within this project: as much as I love their pixelated nonsense and what they can do, they just seemed too corporate. So the idea here was to go back to a quote from producer Andrew Weatherall (who remixed The Chemical Brothers' first single, by the way) about the notion of the future as being this sleek, shiny techno vision. He believed that his 'future' aesthetic is one where the world is falling apart. I wanted to allow that to be used with this contemporary gadgetry. While also relating a proposal to the more underground design that is used to promote low budget, independent dance releases - the white label and the crudely applied stamp [figure 3]. So basically, after some deliberation, I wanted to revise the QR-Code as a deteriorated rubber stamped, monochromatic image across a 12" single.
For the vinyl itself, I went back to the laser-etching approach for a disc with one playable side. But the design was very much about going back to roots - albeit while acknowledging the year 2010 - so it additionally took layout inspiration from the pair's oldest 'Dust Brothers' releases through the Junior Boy's Own label. While it emulates the rubber stamp, given the size it is actually screenprinted using a pre-deteriorated digital image.
The B-side will feature a 'correctly' printed QR-Code directing users to a similarly rough looking Chemical Brothers microsite with all info, a MP3/WAV version, mailing list sign-up [for upfront details of new tracks] and a gateway to other currently available purchases including more general releases.
09/09/2010
More lasered text
The letter forms, mentioned in the previous post, are probably clearer in this picture. (More variations of this to come.)
Immortal Melodies (dead)
I got around to lasering some other items today. I'll post more at some point. Anyway, I realised that the machinery's cutting funtion is different to the etching function in as much as the software traces the basic outlines of the jpeg. This also offered the option of altering the contours of the outlines. So I further simplified the serif stencil-friendly typeface I had used so that it was bolder and more 'custom'. You can see how it was used on the 'Immortal Melodies' 7" that finally had its date with destiny. The message reads "WHAT GOES AROUND".
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