Balancing act.

It's been another crazy month and updates have been few and far between...

So... I've just finished the website for the Wild Beasts to promote their new single and album. I very much like this band, they're an interesting lot and they manage to balance the tightrope of abstraction and pop very skillfully. They're also from the Lake District so what's not to love.

There has also been a new website for N*E*R*D for their new album 'Seeing Sounds'. The site is based on the video for the new single 'Everyone Nose' which takes it's inspiration from the Last Night's Party website. I've edited a selection of short clips and they randomly appear in a sequence of nine blocks then randomly selected images of N*E*R*D appear also, this is the basis of the site and navigation... it's always different.

Also there have been updates to Tricky's site, Knowle West Boy, The Last Shadow Puppets site The Age Of The Understatement and the XX Teens.



By the way the image above is a sketch by Ellsworth Kelly. 93. Light Reflection on Water, 1950. Ink / Tusche (13.3 cm x 20.3 cm) I have this hanging on the wall of my studio.

Exit Strategy

I've just done the sleeve for the new album by Seb Roberts based on an old photograph of the Northwestern Railroad yard in Chicago. The front sleeve shows electric light, day light on the inner and fire light on the back without a glimpse of the train at all. Very nocturnal.

Born of the Canadian prairies, tempered by American east coast, ripened by years on the road, and seasoned by all the sounds he sponged up along the way, he's played in nine bands and self-released as many albums (though almost every one under a different moniker). He's well-liked by those who know him, and is otherwise regarded with some suspicion.

'Exit Strategy' is his first release for SVC Records.

You can buy the album from the SVC Records website.

Brunch?

'Bunch' decided that it was time to rework their corporate identity this year and base it around the overarching theme of 'Made in Bunch'. They asked designers how they see 'Bunch' and to reconfigure their id to get an alternative fresh view point.

So anyone for Brunch?

Bunch website.

CD Cover Meme

Found this mentioned on a few blogs recently. So if you have 5 seconds to spare why not give it a go. Here's a couple I made earlier...

These are the instructions from the Flickr group.

1. Wikipedia random article
The first article title on the page is the name of your band.
2. Random quote
The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.
3. Random Image
The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

CD Cover Meme website.

Erasing David

UK independent production company and all round great chaps Green Lions asked me to rustle up a title card for their latest film 'Erasing David'. Shhh! you ain't seen me right....

Rijks!

Just made a poster for the next Press of Suspects night in Jan, which is going to have Meg Baird from Espers play amongst other varied acts.

All of the images are 'borrowed' from the very excellent Rijks Museum website. I wanted the poster to have a classical feel and be quite detached from your typical band night as The Press of Suspects plan to create evenings that are far from usual.

It's a megablast...

Poster design for a New Years Eve party in Bristol curated by 'A Press Of Suspects'. I bought a pamphlet called 'Bristol and the Bomb' from St. Nicholas' Market which was printed at the height of the cold-war. Great, terrifying diagrams of the damage Bristol would incur if a bomb were to be dropped on the centre. So I replicated one for the poster.

Should be a good evening also, Principal Participant is playing live!

In Memory

Re-release of the original Joy Division albums in one box-set but with all typography and artwork removed from the album sleeves.

The sleeves themselves are matches for the original paper specs of the Factory first editions (black textured for Unknown Pleasures, slight "suede" for Closer, and "hessian" cloth [and ribbon] for Still, rounded corner inner sleeves for all) but without any information. All info & credits have been moved to a single large 12x12 matte black card sheet, with all info embossed in small type in gloss black. Design is credited to Peter Saville, Daniel Mason, Howard Wakefield.

More info at Cerysmatic Factory.