I’m very pleased to introduce a record label that has been a huge source of inspiration to me personally, and is one of the most compelling, handsome and consistently excellent labels currently operating – Australia’s own Preservation.

There’s something truly special about this label – from the audio to the visual, and from the quality of the output to the way that it has been meticulously crafted and managed. A label of this nature can only be brought about by genuine passion, and the passion behind Preservation comes from Sydney based radio host Andrew Khedoori and graphic designer Mark Gowing.

The label specializes in experimental and exploratory sounds from all over the world, and features a range of artists working in styles such as ambient, electronic, orchestral, folk and instrumental. There’s something for every taste within Preservation’s catalogue and even a cursory listen to what’s on offer will surprise and seduce. Grand Salvo, Post and Richard Skelton are all frequent contributors to my late night design playlists, but there’s just so much diversity and quality available that it’s hard to pick favourites.

I recently spoke with Preservation co-founder, 2SER music director and Australian music zealot Andrew Khedoori about the origins of Preservation and what it means to be running a niche record label in an uncertain industry. Andrew’s passion for music is obvious, and his dedication to unearthing and promoting new music is something I admire greatly. This industry could use many more like him – particularly in Australia.

Grand Salvo: The Temporal Wheel

Grand Salvo: Soil Creatures

Born and raised in Sydney’s east, Khedoori’s love for music began at an early age, with a particular affinity for portable radios.

“I’d always be listening to music at the beach or while weekend-long cricket matches were being played. When I was really young, I was obsessed with the radio and I thought that the music coming out of a radio was made by tiny people inside. So, both have gone hand in hand for me for a long while now.”

But it wasn’t until a jaunt to America that he started to develop his career within the industry

“I went overseas when I was 19 and took a swag of Australian independent music with me. Every city I visited in the US I’d check on for a college station. I contacted them and did radio shows presenting the tunes I’d bought with me. I came home looking to further the experience and discovered 2SER soon after. I started filing records on a Saturday, partly to weave my way into the Australian indie show they had on in the afternoons. That’s how I started broadcasting regularly.”

Aaron Martin: Almond

Aaron Martin: River Water

Aaron Martin: Cahutauqua

Up untill recently, all the artwork and design for Preservation has been taken care of by Sydney based designer Mark Gowing, who is also the other label co-founder. Gowing brings a unique visual sensibility to the label. Swiss-like minimalism with a disinctly Australian flavour. The artwork for the Preservation catalogue is an embaressment of riches. Experimental typography. Stunning photographic montages. Strange and beautiful imagery. While each cover has its own unique identity and concept, there’s a lightness and simplicity that ties them all together, and collectively Preservation is one of the most consistently well designed record labels I’ve ever encountered.

“I met Mark Gowing from going to shows with mutual friends. Some time down the line I asked him if he would do the artwork for a compilation of live recordings from a show I was doing at 2SER (Methodology) for Spunk Records. He wanted to make a project out of it and this coincided with a load of conversations we’d been having about design becoming of less and less importance in the scheme of record labels’ work. Also at the same time I got encouraged to start a record label by Oren Ambarchi who was looking for someone to release his pop project with Chris Towened, Sun. Mark and I decided to give it a shot!”

Inspired by a mutual love for labels that engender devotion such as Thrill Jockey, and labels that have a consistancy and dedication to their design such as Touch and ECM, Khedoori and Gowing set out with a fairly simply goal – to provide a home for interesting and engaging music. Preservation is a label for music lovers, by music lovers – which means that every aspect of the label is considered, thoughtful and important, from the type of music that is represented to the way that it is presented and packaged.

“We have always wanted a design to reflect the music in some way, for it to become part of the the whole. We wanted things to be a little challenging and a little fun, too, as well as beautiful. If people are going to buy a physical product, we want them to enjoy holding it their hands and playing around with it.”

Saddleback: Night Maps

Saddleback: Everything’s A Love Letter

While Preservsation have embraced the digital revolution (the entire catalogue is available on iTunes), it continues to have a commitment to artwork, printed material and physical packaging. Most Preservation releases are exquisitely packaged, with a CD effectively slipping into an envelope constructed from an A3 poster that features extended artwork, lyrics and sleeve notes. Often the cover art of a Preservation release is merely a fragment of a much large piece of art, fully revealed when unfolded.

“Digital’s another means to get music and that’s just fine – if people are getting and enjoying the music that way then all good and well. Preservation is always going to be a boutique label so if digital sales allow it to continue printing well-packaged CDs for those people that still want then, I’m all for it. There’ll be a new limited-edition CD series starting up soon – releases of 300 – and this seems to fairly reflect the state of play for some music out there, though the digital will make it live on.”

Sun: Sun

Sun: I’ll Be The Same

With the understanding the Gowing will be taking care of all artwork and design duties for each album, I asked Andrew about how Preservation artists respond to this, and if they have any involvement in the design process.

“Mark has essentially worked from scratch using his own resources for the designs. This was largely to retain a kind of consistency and overall vision for the look of the label, but we’d always be upfront about that way of doing things. (and had a couple of people here and there pass as a result, which we’ve always been accepting of, though rare) Mark would chat a lot with the artist to get feelings and ideas about their work even so from a visual standpoint and come with an ‘interpretation’ from there. We’ve never had an unhappy customer I’m pleased to say!”

Tom Carter & Christian Keifer – From The American Song Book

Gowing’s work for the label fluctuates between the playful and typographic, to the photographic (often having an almost found-photo look) to the purely graphic – with experiments in line and form. Each release really seems to celebrate the joy of creation and experimentation, both musically and visually.

Tom Carter & Robert Horton – Monsters Of Felt

Recently though, Gowing has taken a backseat as a designer, and preservation have opened the doors to other illustrators, artists and designers from around the world as possible visual contributors.

“Mark has become too busy with his design business to stay directly involved with the label – he helps out immensely with things such as layout, ideas and still does some design as well, but had to drop out of the day-to-day, co-running of the label last year. With the sensibilities for design established over a the releases he worked on, we’re looking to bring new people we come across in on it.”

Tara Jane O’Neil: Bones

Tan Or Boil: Seamstress In A Suitcase

The diversity of Preservations artists (like the diversity of the cover art) do share some common links. It’s not so much down to a particular style or idea that links them, it’s more the mood or atmosphere they create. But what makes a recording artist suitable for the label? And what would make an artist unsuitable? As it stands the Preservation catalogue spans from folk to opera to electronica. There is genuinely something for everyone available.

” I just follow my nose, really. It’s funny – I love hip hop but I can’t see a hip hop release being on Preservation . . . I don’t quite know why it wouldn’t fit but there it is. Once again, I really just follow my nose on these things. I suppose the label has a vibe overall and you tend to find what might work best and what you might be able to have some impact on.”

Steffan Basho-Junghans: Unknown Music II – Transwarp Meditation

Richard Skelton – Marking Time

Preservation also seem to have nailed the label-artist dynamic.  While many labels still seem to view their part in the process as a something of a creative filter (or simply a marketing traffic cop), according to Kheedori, it’s about nurturing, support and feedback. After all, if the artist has caught the attention of a label, then their responsibility is to help bring the work to life, not to package it for the lowest common denominator.

It’s a case by case scenario. If I’ve approached an artist and asked them if they’d like to do something, we chat about how to move forward from there in shaping a release for the label. If they’re open to it, I’ll make suggestions as they’re producing tracks as to how to get the right balance with whatever comes into play and often work with them on the final tracklist and sequence for an album. Sometimes we look at the sonics of a particular track, break it down and work on those if someone wants a sounding board. It’s always nice when people are open to that spirit of doing things – I find it really exciting seeing a record develop that way –  but all the same, some people have come to me with records they’re settled on and they totally hit the nail on the head.

Rand & Holland – Tomorrow Will Be Like Today

As an Australian who has been deeply involved with the music scene, I asked Andrew about his thoughts on how the lanscape has changed here over the last few decades.

“I suppose what people define as ‘indie’ has changed considerably over time – I love how it’s expanded, basically in both the means for creativity and the creativity itself. It’s evolved in some way and maybe devolved in others, but in the end there are plenty of ways to see and hear great music if you want it.”

Oliver Mann – The Possum Wakes At Night

Preservation have also kept a fairly low profile in terms of marketing, both online and on the street. With the exception of a MySpace page and its website (recently rebuilt on the Indexhibit platform) the label has grown almost entirely from word-of-mouth, which is a phenomenal achievement – particularly in this country.

“It’s getting much harder to sell the kind of records Preservation releases in Australia – you can virtually discount it as a territory for a lot of things these days … We always wanted to build the label by reputation, getting good press and so on. It’s a small label with decent recognition around the world and that recognition seems to keep building ever so slowly. It’s fine pace to be at I think!”

As the internet is now providing unprecedented new ways for us to discover, share and distribute music, I asked Andrew about how effectively he thinks these new tools are being used, and how Preservation might fit into it all.

“I’m not sure it’s for me to say how people should be using the internet. The internet has been great for a label like Preservation getting noticed around the world – it’s been a great way for me to discover new music as well to an amazing extent – but I’m a music fanatic and I’m not sure people are camped out around the laptop for long periods as I can be seeing what’s around. Traditional forms of coverage can still be crucial to someone not as pro-active about music.”

Pimmon – Smudge Another Yesterday

“Record stores and distributors don’t really want to push the envelope too far these days, so stores are really only stocking what they know they can sell reasonably and distributors aren’t pushing the issue. It’s like when you enter a mall, your choices are immediately narrowed and that’s the kind of mentality at play, especially with larger chain stores commanding the sway at retail, or store level.”

Is there a limit to how Preservation could grow, or what it could become in the future? For example could we ever expect to see Preservation “club nights”, or something as diversified as Preservation Films?

Hmm, I don’t think so. When the main aim is to make money back to make more records, and that seems to accurately reflect reasonable hopes with the current state of the industry, anything like club nights or film ventures would be an entirely separate scenario altogether.

Nicola Ratti – Ode

At this point, Preservation continues to be dedicated to its artists and its identity – but where are things headed in the future?

“I’d just like to keep it going, keep making records that people enjoy. The label is about documenting and recognising music – creating a presence for it. If it helps artists continue to make music and develop what they do then I think that’s great.”

In this age of constant re-invention, it’s always nice to hear someone maintain a dedication to an idea, and not risk contaminating a successful formula.

Heather Woods Broderick – From The Ground (2009)

While the label has gone from strength to strengh, I was curious to see if there had been any negative experiences or pitfalls along the way.

“No. Like I say, it’s a really small label and it’s really a hobby as well, but one where there’s been a lot of passion and energy on behalf of representing what we think is great music. The negative experiences relate mainly to industry changes – that makes you look at what you’re doing to be able to keep it going, but if it stops being enjoyable, that would be the most negative experience of all.”

Fabrio Orsi/Valerio Cosi – Thoughts Melt In The Air (2009)

Eddie Macron – Shining On Graveposts

Post – Post

For someone checking out Preservation from a fairly pop or mainstream listening background, I imagine something like Grand Salvo would be a good entry point to discovering more of the sounds on the label. But how would you go about introducing some of the slightly more experimental work like that of Aaron Martin? And is expanding palates a part of what Preservation is hoping to do, or is it more about providing a type of music for those that enjoy that type of music?

“I would like to think Aaron Martin and Grand Salvo share some qualities in their music; they’re just coming at them from different angles. I read a review this morning for the new Sophie Hutchings album that said it plugged straight into the emotions. The same reviewer once said pretty much exactly the same thing about a record that on the face of it seems quite different. If a lot of the records do that in spite of their particular approach, then there could well be a bunch across the catalogue people will enjoy equally. It’s nice if that happens, and I’m sure it does to some degree, but there’s no agenda that way. We get excited about records and release them. I’m sure there’s some unconscious thread there, but I’m happy to let it play out that way.”

Evan Miller – Beeswax Ephemera (2009)

Early Songs – Wind Wound

Caethua – The Long Afternoon of Earth (2009)

Finally, Khedoori offered some simple, sage advice for someone considering starting up a similar label to Preservation—

“Make it a pleasure to do it.”

Live & Direct (Compilation)

Motion – Movements In Australian Sound (Compliation)

The first three releases to feature the new Preservation artwork template – as designed by Mark Gowing.

Ben Swire – From Here To There (2010) (Photo by Ben Swire)
Ous Mal – Nuojuva halava (2010) (Artwork by Jenkins)
Sophie Hutchings – Becalmed (2010) (Artwork by Mark Gowing

2Ser Radio and Intertia Distribution trademarks by Mark Gowing.

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I’d like to send out a massive thank you to Andrew Khedoori for giving up his time and insights for this. A real pleasure to interview!

And big thanks to you for reading. If you’ve enjoyed the article please tell your friends, and make sure you pick up plenty of new tunes from the Preservation library – you wont be disappointed.

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Preservation
Preservation MySpace
Buy Preservation records from Inertia Distribution
Listen to 2SER Radio, Sydney

Mark Gowing Design
Nick Scott Photography
Joshua Morris Photography

This series of articles aims to examine the relationship between design and music. How does one compliment the other? How do different designers solve the various creative problems of this discipline? What makes a successful (if not iconic) solution for music design? And how do creative partnerships in this field operate?

I can think of few more important, successful and inspiring case studies for this series than the creative partnership between Underworld and Tomato – which spans two decades, six studio albums, countless tours and side projects, a number of changes in personnel and numerous shifts in visual and musical style.

Throughout all this change, three players have remained at the core of the partnership and continue to work together today – Underworld’s Karl Hyde and Rick Smith (who have recorded together in various incarnations since 1980) and Tomato’s John Warwicker, who is an artist, designer, writer and conceptualist.

The work of John Warwicker and the music of Underworld have both played a massive part in the development of my own work, so I feel extremely privileged to have been able to speak with John about his relationship with the band, his process and how the visual identity of Underworld has evolved over the past 20 years.

I began my conversation with John by asking about how the dynamic between Tomato and Underworld has changed over time, how work is structured between the two and if any creative conflict exists within the partnership today.

“Essentially it hasn’t changed. You have to remember that Rick, Karl and I have known each other since 1983 and the tomato/Underworld partnership has been going since 1991.”

“We both offer each other opportunities. Sometimes they’re right, sometimes they’re wrong and sometimes the timing is wrong. And of course this goes beyond ‘commercial’ projects into the self-initiated and when it does we always try and help each other out. This has been happening from the very beginning.

I don’t think there’s been any conflict in a big way, disagreements yes. but that’s only natural. Very rarely is the direction predetermined, it’s something that we work out during the process of a project. We also give each other room and accept what the other does. I think part of this process is the respect we give each other to present something different, something that we, ourselves, wouldn’t have thought of.

“In the case of the new album, Rick and Karl felt and communicated that they were making something different, something lighter and more energetic than previous albums. So they did say that they wanted to signal this change on the sleeve. But there again listening to the first iterations of the album this was self evident anyway.”

These sentiments seem to encapsulate the very nature of the creative partnership between Tomato and Underworld. Production seems to orbit around an ongoing creative dialogue between the two. It is the sharing of ideas that enables both parties to push their work into new territory— be it in music, artwork, video, software or any other medium that can be explored collaboratively.

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dubnobasswithmyheadman (1994)

Underworld’s third album, their first under the visual direction of John Warwicker and Tomato, marked a significant evolutionary jump in both the musical and visual identity of Underworld. The artwork is dark, chaotic and typographic. The music is layered, hypnotic and narcotic. This release signaled that there was something truly special about the band – from the signature sounds they were making, to Karl Hyde’s steam-of-consciousness vocal poetry, to the indecipherable and utterly compelling artwork it was packaged in.

I asked John about how the musical and graphical growth spurt occured, and how the album artwork was expanded into the book “mmm… skyscraper i love you”, which is a typographic study of New York.

“Sometimes something just ‘pops’ out. It’s of the moment. What is in the ‘air’ alchemically forms into an object. For whatever reason if one is ‘tuned in’ the work forms itself.”

“Underworld were going to play their first major concert. At the Astoria in London. We didn’t want to produce a t-shirt or any memorabilia of a conventional kind. We had designed the album cover using words from Karl so we decided to make a book to expand on these words/notes that he had written in drifts through New York and typographically articulate these words (which produced a further form of writing). The pressure was on as we only had 3 weeks to get the book ‘designed’ and published. The whole book was put together in 36 hours. Because of the temporal nature of a book, where one could create a rhythm that unfolded over time, I feel that mmm… skyscraper is a purer articulation of the idea. The album cover however is a purer articulation of our group ethos since everyone contributed something.”

Second Toughest In The Infants (1996)

For me, this was the cover that truly cemented my interests in Tomato and Underworld. At the time I was still listening to the likes of Nirvana and Soundgarden, and electronic music was a million miles away from my thoughts – but then came Born Slippy .NUXX. I had no idea what the song was about, what it meant, or even how I’d classify it – I just new that I loved it and that it completely changed my notion of what music was or could be.

And then there was the album cover, unlike any that I’d seen before. Challenging. Revelatory. And really messy.

The album and single also came about in the same year as Trainspotting, for which Underworld contributed music and Tomato contributed title design. A big year for all involved.

I asked John about how Tomato and Underworld actually work together, as well as how specific Tomato projects have helped shape the music of Underworld.

“We are in constant touch with other so the ongoing conversation shapes what we all do. When asked about how tomato works i’ve always replied ‘it’s a bit like alcoholics anonymous, it’s a support system and critical forum’. Of course there are certain moments when this support and criticism is more pertinent than at other times but the effect of this rarely manifests itself in a major way it shapes and guides on a day to day basis. However, there are certain projects that have concentrated or demanded a change or different response … ‘riverrun’, ‘dérive’ , the book of ‘mmm… skyscraper, i love you ‘ and ‘what’s going on in your head when you’re dancing/bungalow with stairs’.

Process has been at the core of what tomato has been about since its beginning and I’m sure this gave Rick and Karl an interest in releasing work as it happened. I also think that suggesting ‘riverrrun’ for the project helped it gave it a descriptive word, borrowed from James Joyce, that focussed the working process. This is a good example of something small helping and supporting. words and ideas are ‘artwork’ as much as a graphic form.”

John went onto explain some of those projects in greater detail.

“‘dérive’ is a 20 minute installation piece that is a wander through the streets of Soho made by Rick and myself. It’s a reconfiguration of our (male) conversation into a (female) monologue, and the film that was made for this compliments this drift and this gives confidence. Confidence to Rick regarding the music and to me (in this instance) confidence in the visuals. The conversation that it generates effects and shapes both forms of expression.

‘mmm… skyscraper, i love you’ cemented our interest in the rhythms of the street. One of the reasons why an artist makes work is to prove the idea or feeling. To give it substantial, physical form rather than just being an idea. and i guess ‘mmm… skyscraper’ did exactly that.

‘what’s going on in your head when you’re dancing‘ is Karl’s upcoming painting and drawing show at La Foret in Tokyo. ‘bungalow with stairs’ is the cd of music by Rick to accompany the show. Undoubtedly the rhythm of his paintings and drawings effect (and will effect) how Karl’s musical contribution (you have to remember that it we all – that’s tomato and underworld – produce imagery and tomato is active in the sonic). ‘bungalow with stairs’ is an evocative collection of tracks that is going to be released for the la foret show. ‘dérive’ is one of the tracks. whether this collection would have been made in the same way had it not been for ‘dérive’ is a matter of conjecture.”

Beaucoup Fish (1999)

Beaucoup Fish Singles—
Push Upstairs
King Of Snake
Bruce Lee
Jumbo

“Tomato is different to most design groups that I know about, in that there is not a ‘style’ that dominates or shapes any expression. tomato was initiated as a conversation/support system/critical forum rather than a studio interested in modernist expression (as an example). Tomato is set up to support the individuals on their own exploratory journey and whatever form that might take. It is expansive rather than reductive. This is not a criticism of other studios, far from it. it’s just how we are. the onus on everyone is to bring back something different whether it be an improvement in craft or something radically different, something unexpected.”

Everything, Everything (2000)

A Hundred Days Off (2002)

The artwork for A Hundred Days Off (and Beaucoup Fish) were largely taken care of by Tomato members Jason Kedgley and Dirk Van Dooren. Regarding who does what and when within the Tomato camp, John had this to say—

“All of us have worked on ‘Underworld’ projects at one time or another. For example the deluxe edition and special boxed set of ‘Barking’ contains films by Simon, Dylan, Jason and Michael. it ebbs and flows. It all depends on who has an idea at any given time.”

A Hundred Days Off Singles—
Two Months Off
Dinosaur Adventure 3D

1992—2002 (2003)

Oblivion With Bells (2007)

With all the Underworld designs, typography has been a key feature and intergral part of all the artwork. I asked John about his approach to typography and his response to formal typographic rules.

“um … what typographic rules? That’ s like saying there are musical ‘rules’. Certainly there are ways to make things ‘work’ in most circumstances and fully engage with and support them. But … there are other ways and it’s up to us all to find these ways and to explore the possibilities. I think there is a tyranny of modernism. It’s as if many designers feel that if they learn the ‘rules’ then it’s job done. Now, in the hands of the talented then this is true because their craft transcends its basic elements into something quite beautiful but rules in themselves don’t produce a work of beauty. If it is that expressive, emotional transcendence, where a work has ‘spirit’ then its form can be anything – from 17th century Arabic manuscripts to a punk newsletter  - Sniffin’ Glue, for example.”

“For those interested in typography the question that should be asked is why is this like this rather than saying that it doesn’t correspond to the ‘rules’, to what has been identified as ‘good practice’. it is both an emotional and intellectual decision.”

Our discussion about typography went a little deeper, examining Warwicker’s approach to type selection and treatment, specifically in regards to his unique applications of common typefaces such as Helvetica and Caslon. I was interested in how he takes such widely used fonts and makes them appear fresh and distinct.

“It’s an instant emotive decision. Felt rather than worked out (in a conventional way). Let’s take Caslon. Like any typeface there’s a timbre to its ‘voice’. It has been around for several hundred years and has a structural and aesthetic resilience that means that it is mutable. If one used something that had been designed in the last few years there might not be this type of resilience. Of course this a strategic decision but it is also one of personal choice. Josef Müller-Brockmann spent decades using Akzidenz-Grotesk. Just like learning a musical instrument it takes years to get a typeface to work for you. after that learning period you can now play and express yourself through the nuances.”

Inspiring stuff.

Oblivion Singles—
Crocodile
Holding The Moth
Boy Boy Boy
Beautiful Burnout

There is an obvious lyrical, musical and emotional quality to Tomato’s artwork and designs for Underworld. But is it all an attempt to visualize the music, or to apply the same creative process that occurs in songwriting to the creation of graphic design?

“To be honest neither. It just happens to be. One thing I would say is that it is not meant to be an ‘illustration’ or faux score. Rather it is a reception of the music emotionally processed and translated. Musical scores always fascinated me (as much as the emotive and even concrete experience of listening to music. and of course this all (imagery, type, music, ideas) comes together in the work of John Cage.”

I asked John about his process in specific relation to his Book of Jam series (download these by signing up here), and how he might be creating visual riffs within the e-books for use in future compositions.

“They are visual riffs for a music that is unwritten, and never assuming that they might one day be compositions. And they never have. But as I said everything we all do contributes to our ‘group’ palette of moods and in that indirect way, the influence of the ‘weak forces’, that i previously described influences all of us.”

“At my most personal I see words and ideas like musical phrases (more poetry than literature) and typography as having similarities with music … tone, timbre, rhythm, ‘voice’. That is what i am trying to achieve, as in my book ‘The Floating World‘ and ‘mmm… skyscraper, i love you’ as examples … and some of my recent typographic work that i have self-initiated.”

“It is my understanding that one track on ‘Barking’ that has been influenced by one of our extended family is ‘Moon on Water’. Graham, who is no longer in Tomato but of course still part of the ‘family’ had given Rick a text some time ago. Rick was so moved by it that it became ‘Moon on Water’.

Of course one of the most notable aspects of this release was its similarity to the artwork for dubnobasswithmyheadman. While the similarities are somewhat superficial, it’s hard to look past the relationship between the monochromatic, chaotic forms they both share.

“It was only after the process of assembling artwork was begun that this became apparent. It wasn’t a conscious decision but looking back it seemed like the two albums bookended a period of Underworld. And onto the next…”

The Bells The Bells (2008)

Athens (2009)
as Underworld vs. The Misterons

One thing that all Underworld covers share is the sense of the hand-crafted, the use of material, ink, paint and paper. Even when the work is purely digitally, there’s still a rawness and grittiness to it all that makes it feel special and unique. In regards to the overall look and feel of Underworld’s artwork, John had this to say—

“A pixel is not as interesting as the pencil mark. I think it’s irrelevant what medium is used the only importance is in the conveyance of spirit.”

“Before moving to Australia, I had lived in London all my life. Detritus is part of the grain of that city. You could almost describe it as informal (urban) landscape gardening. And there can be a certain beauty poetic in the sodden newspaper that has been pressed into kerb in an interesting shape by the tyres and the feet, or there can be a poetic beauty in the sunlight catching the lip of a broken polystyrene cup that has been inserted into a wire fence. Through its history and its streets, London is a montage city a riverrun or profusion of narratives that embed themselves in the fabric of the city. If you look at many of Karl’s photographs over the years they are of the marks and scuffs of the city and the accidental sculptures that the city throws up.”

Barking (2010)

Barking in many ways represents a new chapter for the band. There seems to be a sense of positivity and joy permeating the visuals and music. The tradition of collaboration that has occured between Tomato and Underworld seems to now be informing the music, as each track features a guest producer. It’s truly exciting to see a band and design studio continue to push their already considerably expanded creative boundaries.

John talks in more detail about the creation of the artwork

“On hearing the initial versions of the tracks and in conversation with both Rick and Karl the (reborn?) energy was evident and ‘of its time’. A counter-point to ‘Oblivion With Bells’. Of course our conversations are not purely about music or imagery they are about many things, including general cultural & social matters. All of this combined to make the colourful deconstructed ‘mess’ that became the cover. One other important intervention in this process was the excitement that both Karl and Rick felt for some work for the live shows that they had been doing with Toby Vogel (who assembles and creates the live show projections). This work deconstructed the face (or number of faces)  into a sort of surrealist ‘photo-fit’ or more accurately ‘photo-doesn’t fit’. There is an energy in montage/collage, and this work seemed to vindicate the work that had already had been started.”

“Although it might been seen as a radical departure from ‘Oblivion’ in many ways, it is the same thing but with colour so there is a continuity but from a different angle. I’m sure there will be a few comments about ‘my child of 6 could have done this’. well, if its that good i take it as a compliment.”

Barking Singles—
Scribble
Always Loved A Film

“There is no ‘final’ version. There are subtleties that distinguish all the sleeves (standard cd, deluxe dvd, vinyl, special boxed edition and their electronic equivalents). The sleeve was assembled over a period of time, some elements came, some went, others subsumed. The source material came from randomly searching the net on a day to day basis and then rebuilding/translating what was found. During this period Simon had sent through some drawings that Dexter had done on the portraits of every member of tomato/underworld and then sent through some other drawings that Dexter had done. so i used these. If my 6 year son had done the same at that point in time or had any of the other children in tomato i would have used them.”

“Fans of underworld and tomato shouldn’t be surprised. We’ve always been interested in detritus. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde ‘lying in the gutter looking at the stars’. With us it’s more like ‘lying in the gutter looking at the sodden newspaper floating above’. This time it’s the electronic gutter.”

*

I’d like to extend a huge thank you to John Warwicker for donating his time and thoughts to this discussion. It’s not every day that you get the chance to chat with one of your idols about their craft.

And a huge thanks to you for reading. If you’ve enjoyed the article please tell your friends, and make sure that you purchase a copy of Barking when it’s released on September 2nd.

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I’m very pleased and excited to reveal some of the designs I’ve been working on for New Weird Australia – an initiative founded by Stu Buchanan that’s designed to promote and support new eclectic and experimental Australian music.

The project began life as an ongoing weekly radio show on FBi Radio Sydney, which is hosted by Stu and features new music, performances and interviews. It soon expanded into a bi-monthly free compilation download, and now the project is expanding its horizons even further with live shows, events and more.

I was contacted by Stu – an award winning designer and seriously excellent human being – to help take the project to the next level with an identity design that includes a logo, poster designs, web design, and artwork that can be used in everything from advertising to album art.

Stu and I share a strong love of classic Swiss modernist design, and this formed the core of the visual direction for the project, with sans-serif typography, simple shapes and clean layouts built on grids and formal structure. From day one there was the desire to use the simplicity, functionality and beauty of this design theory as a foundation, and build something new, unique and personal from there.

We also looked at Julian House’s work for Ghost Box as a point of inspiration, which itself has a particularly evocative and unique take on Swiss modernism. The Ghost Box artwork is interesting in that it retains a certain amount of formal structure and sameness with each edition, however it also changes and evolves over time while still somehow maintaining its essence and identity. The imperfections in the designs and the overall ambience of the collection is something that provided great inspiration too.

Other points of design inspiration have come from the work of Kim Hiorthøy, German studio Hort, and Sydney based Mark Gowing, who have all done extensive, ongoing design work for musicians and record labels. These designers share a commonality in their work in that it is often strikingly modern while also featuring quite gentle, handmade qualities. It is this philosophy and style that I have worked on achieving with New Weird Australia.

The idea for the logo itself (shown at the top of the page) came to me quite quickly. While I explored a variety of different ideas for a logomark (mostly playing with the letterforms of NWA), the idea of simply rendering the name in a beautiful sans-serif font with a few of the letters either backwards or upside down just seemed to click. I felt that this approach was most in-keeping with our overall direction, and would ultimately be the most modular and adaptable way to go, while still possessing a genuine personality of its own. It is designed to be strong, immediate and timeless.

The typeface used in both the logo and all supporting material is Nimbus Sans by URW++. I wanted a strong, simple grotesque sans-serif that was similar to Helvetica or Akzidenz, but less commonly used. Nimbus (released in 1999) was actually based on Helvetica, so it was a perfect fit.

The logo has each word set in title-case, and features at least one letter facing backwards. The letter spacing is tight and considered, yet slightly imperfect. I like the fact that there’s a subtle element of “weirdness” to the logo, without it being heavy handed or obvious. The weirdness isn’t the defining quality of the logo, it’s just one element. At first glance the type treatment almost looks normal, but upon closer inspection it’s revealed that something isn’t quite right. I think that given the diversity of the music promoted by the project, it was best to create a simple logo with just a hint of oddness about it in order to truly allow for the content to speak for itself and encompass the many different musical styles.

Like the logo, the concept for the artwork and layout design came to me quite early on in the process too. Essentially, the idea is based around a 4×4 square grid which can be filled with a collection of assets that include basic shapes, colours, textures and images. All these elements can be combined in an almost infinite number of ways, thus giving the project a strong visual identity that is flexible enough to evolve over time and present something unique at each iteration.

The square grid means that the artwork can fit perfectly in an album cover, it can leave plenty of room for copy on a poster, and will be able to adapt nicely throughout its use on the website.

Here’s the first sample of the logo, final artwork and identity system in use – as a poster for an upcoming New Weird Australia show on Friday 23rd July at Red Rattler, Sydney). The artwork features scanned cardboard textures (with colours modified in Photoshop), hand-drawn repeating textures from the fabulous resource Neubau Modul, and some slightly haunting images taken from an old book on the history of magick. The images were chosen for their sense of being slightly otherworldly and out-of-time, as well as for the story that they tell when placed together. The shapes themselves were chosen for how they look and interact with eachother, as well as the interesting white space that they create when placed together.

There’s definitely an element of controlled chaos at work, and the final result is largely judged on what just looks and feels right. I imagine this almost intuitive approach to how everything gets pieced together will continue to be explored. Each shape in the collection is a vector graphic, and is designed to be scalable for all purposes and sizes – provided it fits within the 4×4 grid. Once the shape layout is worked out, the vectors are then brought into Photoshop for textures and images to be added. Slight overlaps and imperfections in this process are left as part of the artwork.

The aesthetic is deliberately lo-fi, and with the set of rules and assets in place, we can push the design forward without too much risk of overworking or polluting the identity. Where it all goes from here is unknown, which is one of the things that I’m most excited about with the project. While we have all the basic elements designed for now, working out how they will come together each time, what materials will be used, what themes will be explored and how the concept might evolve is something that I’m really looking forward to discovering.

It was an absolute pleasure to work on this project, not simply because I was able to experiment with the sort of design that I personally enjoy, but because the project itself is so great, and run by someone who is passionate and personally invested in what they’re doing.

Stu and I are currently working on the redesign of the website, which should be up soon. We have some tentative plans for other places the design will appear, so keep your eye out for new additions in the series. And don’t forget if you’re in Sydney during July, make sure you get along to the show, I’m sure you’ll be surprised and captivated by what you hear.

Finally got around to listening to this Dangermouse + Sparklehorse + David Lynch + everyone else in the world collaborative album.

It’s an interesting idea but I have to say I was a little disappointed that the music wasn’t quite as spooky or atmospheric as the visuals that accompany it. Perhaps I came into it with the false expectations of something more Lynch-esque, late night soundscapes featuring haunting synths, distant snare drums and a slow, coastal brass section. The music just didn’t grab me at all and I usually love Dangermouse’s work.

If Julian Cassablancas & Co isn’t really your thing either, I suggest listening to these guys, these guys or even these guys while enjoying the photos. Or maybe just pull out the sublime Lost Highway soundtrack.

The photo series and overall art direction is great though – and can be purchased in book form featuring many more images at PowerHouse.

In the last couple of weeks I’ve contributed to three excellent projects which I’m very happy to be involved with.

The first is one called They Draw & Cook – which is run by Nate Padavick. The idea behind it is to get artists, illustrators and designers to contribute a piece based around one of their favourite recipies. There are some really exceptional entries up at the site, and I highly suggest getting involved if you have the time.

Mine is a little more abstract and less illustrative than most of the others, and is for Basil Pesto. My wife and I recently got a herb garden going which is what inspired this particular piece. The typography is all scanned from packaging and hand-set. The circles are hand-drawn, re-coloured in Photoshop and placed on a scanned piece of vintage Letraset halftone texture.

Next up I contributed to the second Visual Response project at the shiny and new Australian INFront. The theme for this VR is Black. My take was 25 Songs About Black. The song titles are all set in Adobe Caslon, and are placed across two vinyl records, which themselves form a ‘B’ for Black.

And finally I have contributed to Richard Smith‘s Dollar ReDe$ign project, which aims to revitalize the American currency, and stimulate discussion over its financial and cultural value.

For my submission, I considered the value and integrity of the current design, and looked for a way to update it in terms of its image, security and the perceived worth of the note itself. My concept is largely inspired by the thought that perhaps part of our debt troubles are the fact that we don’t truly give money the reverence it deserves – that perhaps we don’t see money as a symbol of our hard work, and more of an ephemeral means to an end. We often transfer our money for junk and meaningless items, and thus truly devalue the lengths we’ve gone to to get it. My rationale is that perhaps if money looked more like a luxury item itself, we’d be less inclined to spend it on meaningless things, and choose how we invest it more wisely.

The design removes the need for all non-functional decoration, and focuses on security and meaning. Both the $1 and the $100 would have the same security features. Polymer base. Customized metallic inks. A holographic image of a bird in flight. Transparent seals and a bespoke dot matrix font either embossed or printed in raised ink.

The $1 concept features a bald eagle, a symbol of American strength and pride. It’s presented here in an elegant and powerful way, more concerned with beauty than overt patriotism. That patriotic element is definitely in there, being the more commonly used note it’s designed to be “for the people”, however the symbolism is not in-your-face.

The note uses green metallic inks as a tribute to the previous iteration of the note, and the currency still widely being refered to as the “greenback”.

The $100 is printed with gold ink, clearly representing value and wealth, and also giving that gravitas to the note. The bird featured is a dove, which is used here as a symbol of peace. This note is most likely the one to be used internationally, so its purpose is to be a message from the US to the rest of the world, one that seeks to put the past behind us, and to co-exist in harmony. Beautiful, hopeful and powerful.

Key Personnel:

Martin Gore — Guitar/Synth/Vocals/Songwriter
Dave Gahan — Vocalist
Andrew Fletcher — Keyboards
Alan Wilder — Keyboards (1981-1995)

Flood — Producer (1990 – 1993)
Tim Simenon — Producer (1997)
Mark Bell — Producer (2001)
Ben Hillier — Producer (2005 – 2010)

Anton Corbijn — Photographer/Art Director/Designer (1990-2010)
Richard Smith (Area) — Designer (1990-2000)
Mat Cook (Intro) — Designer (1998 & 2004)
Form — Design (2004-2006)
Four5One — Design (2006-2008)

Anton Corbijn’s relationship with DM began in 1986, when he directed the clip for A Question of Time, from Music For The Masses. The collaboration was such a success, that the band asked him back to direct the video for a single that would become a monumental hit, Enjoy The Silence. The clip, based on themes and imagery from The Little Prince went on to become a landmark piece of work itself, and has influenced numerous other videos, most notably Coldplay’s Violet Hill and the Corbijn directed Viva La Vida.

The creative union between Corbijn and DM continues to the present day, some 20 years on, and has spanned album and single art, promotional photography, more music videos, documentaries and concert imagery.

Corbijn, a Dutch photographer, artist, designer and now filmmaker had become well known for his black and white, grainy, high contrast photos of musicians and celebrities. With subjects that have ranged from Miles Davis to Robert DeNiro, Corbijn’s photography is often highly emotional, capturing his subjects in various expressive states. His photos are also highly graphical, frequently using architectural backdrops and plants in the compositions, as well as symbolism and iconography throughout. His textured, stark, and organic photographic aesthetic translates beautifully into his art and design work, and has become a defining element in his work for DM.

After establishing a creative partnership with DM, Corbijn enlisted designer Richard Smith and his studio Area to help design the artwork for what would be their seventh album, Violator. Smith had met Corbijn while working on Corbijn’s book Famousz at Peter Saville Associates. Smith possesses a great love for the art of sleeve design, evidenced in his strong, thoughtful and distinctive work. I was fortunate enough to speak with Smith recently to get his insights into the process of creating an entirely new visual image for DM – one that would come to help define them as a band.

Violator (1990)

Following the release of Music For The Masses Depeche Mode sought to “reposition their brand personality”, something they did in spectacular fashion with Violator, a remarkable about-face for the band visually and landmark release musically. The dark romanticism that had become the signature style of Depeche Mode’s sound is beautifully reflected in the artwork, and the hand-made aesthetic would come to define them visually during the 90′s and beyond.

On Violator, Corbijn’s entire design centres around the image of a red rose on a black background. It’s an image that has become an iconic symbol in music history and deeply beloved by fans, to the extent that many have been inspired to get it tattooed. The stem of the rose is broken in two, separated by a handwritten album title. Corbijn’s bespoke, often handwritten typography would become a reccuring and important part of the DM visual language. The rose was hand painted and photographed, with layout completed on a Mac with one of the first versions of QuarkXPress.

According to Smith— “The album title has sexual violence overtones, Martin’s lyrics often reference a kind of sweet tortured love affair with someone or something. The cut rose was Anton’s idea and is a subtle reference to these ideas of violation, love, etc – it’s quite simple really. There were no other ideas presented.”

It’s a powerful and unforgettable graphic symbol, and the kind of iconic sleeve design that only appears every few years. Smith suggests that the iconic nature of the sleeve is tied up in the commercial and critical success of the album, and while I’d have to agree with that, there is much to be said about the stiking simplicity and power of the image also contributing to that success.

“DM were very hands off. Anton was the driving force in terms of art direction, that was the relationship he had with them … The ideas usually came about through a discussion with the band, record label and mostly what was in Anton’s head. It’s a record cover not a brand ID, you shoot from the hip intuitively, but often without any brief or rationale from the band or label.”

Without a strong guiding hand from the band, and few restrictions from the label (Mute had few concerns beyond cost), Corbijn and Area were able to expand the vision across the sleeve, singles and tour merchandise. Violator went on to become both an artistic breakthrough and commercial smash hit for the band, and it’s widely regarded as the album that truly turned them into international superstars.

Songs Of Faith And Devotion (1993)

It had been over ten years since DM formed, and the world and the music scene had become radically different from when they started. New new musical movements like grunge were emerging, and their synth-pop roots were falling further into musical history. DM were in a unique position to capitalize on what was their most successful album to date, but in this ever-changing musical climate, what direction would they take?

Songs of Faith & Devotion is a fascinating album. It remains true to the spirit of the band but it also embraces the new ideas and sounds. It’s dirty and industrial, and it expands their synth driven sound with distorted guitars. It’s also arguably their most diverse record, taking inspiration from the blues, gospel and rock music.

The cover stands out in the discography as the only studio album to feature photos of the band.

Smith explains— “From what I recall the band had been very successful with Violator and I believe everyone hoped to follow that success with SOFAD. At that point the band also was going through major personal struggles, so my impression is that everyone wanted to be represented. Anton had an idea to make a cover like With The Beatles, I think to represent the individuality within the band.”

After shooting each member, Corbijn and team placed the faces around a hand painted album title, and then layered misshaped, semi-transparent purple objects over all their faces. According to Smith each object represents the members in some way, most notably Martin Gore with his wild, spiky hair.

Corbijn ended up painting extensively for the artwork, including a complete alphabet, which Smith and co were able to use for the tracklisting. We also see here the first use of what would become an ongoing stylistic trend for Corbijn— to create repeating motifs in letterforms. On this cover, he has painted the D & M in a darker purple and larger size to the rest.

The cover has an incredibly raw and hand-crafted feel to it. There’s a warmth to it. It’s messy and painterly, which contrasts beautifully with the band’s mostly electronic sound. Of course it’s the music that has earned them so many fans around the world, but I believe Corbijn’s organic and intimate design plays a big part of what inspires people connect with them.

While all the single artwork from Violator onwards are visually linked to the album artwork, those from this period arguably make the most complete “family” – featuring the same colour palate to the repeated use of Corbijn’s lettering and illustrated motifs.

Ultra (1997)

As the decade progressed, the band developed divisive internal struggles – largely driven by Gahan’s drug problems and his creative conflicts with Gore. As this occurred their music and design became progressively more dark and introspective. While DM had never been a particularly sunny band, Ultra is probably their most bleak album, and at the time it appeared that it could be their last.

Over the course of recording, Gahan nearly died from a speedball overdose, founding member Alan Wilder left the band, and all members generally became disillusioned and pessimistic about their future. Despite all this, Ultra became a fan favorite, and one of their best records. Rich and atmospheric, Ultra was produced by the Bomb The Bass’ Tim Simenon, who was able to truly coalesce the guitar and synth sounds explored on the previous record.

The cover art is suitably dark and industrial, and prominently features more of Corbijn’s typographic work, which was all created photographically. Smith tells me that Corbijn made slides of embossed type which were then printed. The printed letters were finally processed and composed on the Quantel Paintbox, a graphic workstation most commonly used for broadcast television graphics.

“Anton and I worked very well together, I believe we had a mutual respect for each other’s strength’s. Often we were his hands helping him bring ideas to life. It was an honor to work with him and DM. There were no differences, I might have done things differently if I were in control, but design is subjective and I believe Anton’s personal approach is unique, primarily though his lack of training, but you don’t have to know how to design to create a great cover”

Ultra would be the final DM sleeve that Smith would work on with Corbijn, but he managed to really put his personal stamp on the artwork for this period, particularly in the singles. The Barrel of a Gun arwork features Smith’s own handwriting and lettering, the result of Corbijn passing on much more creative control to Area, who would then go on to design sleeves for bands such as Orchestral Manouvres In The Dark and ABC.

Also joining the illustrious ranks of Depeche Mode designers and illustrators is Corbijn’s then 8 year old niece, who painted the cover art for the Home single.

Smith gave me some personal reflections on his experiences from this period, and on designing for music—

“Record cover design is an art in itself. And I wish people appreciated it’s importance more than they do and also more fully recognize its relevance in the evolution of design in general especially the work from the mid 70s. However, most people look to other factors for that. It would also be easy to say I wish all clients allowed such freedom, but really musicians and record labels are harder clients than banks and corporations. However, the abstract thinking that goes into a record cover I think I use on daily basis in all my work, but some people get it and some don’t, it’s obvious in some instances and not so obvious in others. At the end of the day you pick and choose your battles in terms of what’s important for you and your client. Regardless of the work I did for me in general record cover design reinvented design, period, in my humble opinion, but no one will ever admit that.”

I couldn’t agree with those sentiments more. I imagine there are very few designers out there who haven’t been motivated or inspired by sleeve art, and the influence of great covers extends beyond the world of art and design, and into areas of culture and history.

Make sure you check out Richards latest work at Think Create Believe, as well as his fabulous Dollar ReDe$ign project.

Exciter (2001)

Exciter was quite a surprising entry in the DM discography, not only for it’s mere existence after such a tumultuous few years for the band, but for the fact that it featured a significantly more upbeat, club-oriented sound than fans were used to.

The cover too was uncharacteristically bright and colourful, featuring a photo of an agave plant, taken by Corbijn. The agave is known as the “century plant”, blooming only once in it’s life after growing for 20-50 years. The plant was harvested by Native Americans and baked in a stone lined pit for 2-3 days. Following this the baked plant could be used for a multitude of purposes, including clothing, tools and food.

The typography almost feels like a throwback to Violator featuring a similar, almost naively caligraphic style. Corbijn plays with the lettering again, finding new forms by joining the c & h to make it look like the d. Aside from the ascenders on the d and the h, and the descender on the p, all the letters are capitalized, and uniform in size.

While Corbijn handled the photography and typography, the layout and design is by the excellent UK studio Form – who did a fantastic job with the singles too, capturing the freshness and positivity in the music. Form also produced some really stunning tour programs and specialty packaging, with their own unique take on Corbijn’s original art.

Interestingly enough, Form was established by designer Paul West, who also worked with Richard Smith at Peter Saville Associates. West had previously worked with the band on the layout and design for the Depeche Mode live album and film 101, which is shown at the top of this article.

Playing The Angel (2005)

Referred to by the band as the “Gothic Teletubby” and by fans as “Mr Feathers”, the little creature designed by Corbin is made up of black feathers, and is placed on a collage of torn coloured paper and cardboard. Corbijn’s intention was to interpret the ‘angel’ of the title as a dark angel, and to play on the notion of light and dark.

The figure is also said to be a tip-of-the-hat to Robert Smith of The Cure, and the cover of Boys Don’t Cry.

It’s almost the most hand-made feeling in a series of hand-made covers – particularly with the raw, grungy typography. The recurring typographic motif in this case is the repeating E’s in the band title, which are rendered slightly smaller than the other letters, and without the stem.

Design duties for Playing The Angel were handled by the team at Four5One in Dublin, who are perhaps most famous for their extensive work with U2 (also one of Corbijn’s long term music clients). Four5One make generous use of Corbijn’s photography throughout the booklet, showcasing some of the most interesting and abstract shots he has taken of the band.

It would be four years till the next DM record, and the next Corbijn design, however there was another designer who took over duties during this period for some of the non-studio releases. Mat Cook of Intro in London would take the band in a different visual direction, starting in 1998 between the release of Ultra and Exciter. The results of this new collaboration are quite incredible, and after speaking with Cook recently, I discovered that the journey the creative team went through to get the images was quite an odyssey in itself.

Having produced artwork for other Mute records artists like Can and Luke Slater, Cook and his studio were chosen to produce the artwork for the band’s singles collections as well as an accompanying music video collection. Like the band, Cook was born in Essex, and grew up with a strong love of analogue synthesizers and electronic music – so the band, label and designer all mixed together well.

His work for the 81>85 and 86>98 singles collections are completely unlike what Corbijn was doing, however the results are stunning, and fit into the DM design canon beautifully.

According to Cook, the brief was completely open, and he aimed to provide a distinctive and unique look, that also paid tribute to some of the band’s memorable imagery from over the years.

“We followed a slightly fucked up trip along highway 101 in California, we had a bunch of relevent props and shot at locations reminiscent of some of the previous artwork, but shot in a moodier, more malevolent manner. For me the LED was at once historic and technological which fitted. It’s also a very flexible device to use over a campaign.”

The LED screens featured in the artwork were shot in different locations (and weather conditions) around the USA. It’s brilliantly big concept while still having quite an analogue, lo-fi quality. The project resulted in something of a design odyssey for Cook and his team, encountering just about every possible weather disaster and production obstacle.

“We had to replicate the spacing of the digits on each shot, yet lens and locations varied. Making the images optically correct (and therefore a set) took hours, by the end of the shoot we had a system but it was certainly painful to say the least. On uneven ground getting the digits on a true horizontal was a nightmare, also the kit & generator was bulky and heavy. Carting the stuff in 43 degrees in the desert was special, and there are lots of nasty bitey things out there. We also had a sand storm that wrote off half a day, but the self same storm created one of the most beautiful sunsets ive ever seen, and I got it on film, so you won and lost. We got arrested on the last day and gave the guy the unshot film with slight of hand, that was very touch and go”

The variety of locations photographed were chosen both for their relevance to the band’s visual history, and for their natural beauty and cinematic qualities.

“I never specifically shot for singles or albums, we just shot for impact and edited down later. The band were huge in the states, the areas shot were a vague homage to the film 101, also the epic nature of the Yosemite landscape suited the music, as did the desolation of some the urban settings

Typography plays a huge role in the design, with the LED effectively playing a typographic role, denoting the years that bookend each singles period. There’s some beautiful symmetry that occurs on the 86>98 singles cover, where the digits mirror each-other. Cook suggests that the LED numbers give of a feeling of both modern technology and retro synths, which compliments the band’s music perfectly.

All other typography, including the band name and album title, is set in FF Dot Matrix.

Intro were commissioned again in 2004 to design artwork and packaging for DM’s remix and video remix collections. It’s another brilliant set, rendered in a distinctive visual style that Cook refers to as “soft digital”

“Soft digital, that was the idea, basically I liked the idea of making something hard become soft, a bit like some of the music. All the textures are created by shooting a Mac CRT monitor”

Despite being so structurally geometric, and despite the fact the textures actually come from computer screens, there is definitely a softness to the work, and quite a hand-made collage feel to it. The typography looks almost like it’s in motion, hanging in digital space momentarily before it shifts and changes.

I love this set not only for the simple fact that it looks great, but because to me it feels like a visual remix – a graphic deconstruction to compliment the musical re-workings within.

Make sure you visit Mat Cook’s extraordinary studio Intro, and pick up one of the amazing, limited edition screen prints from his latest collections.

I’d like to extend an extra special thank you to both Richard Smith and Mat Cook for being so generous with their time and thoughts.

As always, a big thanks to you for reading. If you enjoyed the article, please tell your friends, and share it on your networks using the social icons below!

To Be Concluded.

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I think I’ve been far too precious with my blog. Too concerned with perfecting entries and ensuring that each one reaches some level of importance or gravitas. After all, this is a process journal, not a major work.

And so from now on I vow to post when I feel the desire, rather than when I feel that it’s appropriate. So let’s begin.

Like New by Deerhunter was released on the band’s Fluorescent Grey EP, which was recorded in July of 2006 and released in May of 2007, just a few short months after their breakthrough album Cryptograms. Like most Deerhunter songs, it’s a reverb soaked, dreampop excursion. It’s shimmering, ethereal and otherworldy. It’s also a perfect pop song, one that gets under your skin and sticks in your head the way peanut butter does to the roof of your mouth.

I find a great deal of design inspiration in music. A lot of my process and approach relies on emotional instinct and what just “feels right” . This instinct is something I’m still developing and it’s something that has come about from years of consuming and examing design at all levels, from the mundane to the sublime. It’s also a quality that I believe I have in common with a lot of musicians.

Both design and music require a great deal of theoretical and technical knowledge, but they also rely on sensory information. Balance, texture, form and shape are all terms that can be applied to both disciplines. There is a reason why music and design have such an intrinsic relationship. Both compliment and enhance the other.

I’ve picked this particular song because it’s one that moves me, and one that inspires my work. I try to evoke the same types of emotions and ideas in my designs. Both design and music have the power to evoke memory, and transport you to a particular time and place— real, imaginary or a distortion of both. They also have the power to stimulate feelings and thoughts, and I am definitely interested in inspiring the same thoughts and feelings as this particular song.

There’s an echoey, spacious quality to the track, not unlike Pet Sounds era Beach Boys. This is a style that bands like Animal Collective have tried to ape, but Deerhunter do it here effortlessly, in a way that makes it feel like they invented the style. It’s slightly drugged-out and intangible. It feels like a soundtrack to a daydream. There’s a nostalgic quality to it that relates to a time and space which may never have existed. This is exactly what I want to accomplish with my work: to take qualities of our shared experiences, and re-contextualize them in a way that makes them feel entirely unique, new and slightly unknowable. It’s this process of taking signs, symbols and signifiers that we understand and rely on, and then pushing them in new directions that interests me. I believe that this is the only way that communication can change, evolve, and the only way that design can continue to diversify and be relevant to our needs.

It doesn’t hurt that primary songwriter, singer and guitarist for Deerhunter, Bradford Cox is a designer himself, and as far as I’m aware has taken care of all design duties for the bands 3 albums and numerous EPs. I’m a firm believer that a band who appreciates good design probably has something pretty interesting going on musically themselves. His designs expand the aural philosophy of the band into the visual.

Anyway, here’s the track, and the lyrics, which are absolutely beautiful and evocative on their own. Be sure to support the band if you like what you hear. Buy all their music and see them when the come to your town.

Author insert a music with WS Audio Player.
(Download) this music.

I opened up my aim
I put cotton to flame
I saw the city lanes
Mirrored in falling rain

Seems like new

And so the skeletons
Had left their work undone
Nowhere to hide their skin
Back to the crypt again

Seems like new

Key Personnel:

Martin Gore – Guitar/Synth/Vocals/Songwriter
Dave Gahan – Vocalist
Andrew Fletcher – Keyboards
Alan Wilder – Keyboards (1981-1995)
Vince Clarke – Keyboard/Songwriter (1980-1981)

Brian Griffin – Photographer/Art Director (1980-1986)
Barney Bubbles – Designer (1980-1981)
Martyn Atkins – Designer (1981-1987)

Speak & Spell (1981)

DM’s debut album is remarakably different to those that followed and features an upbeat, synthpop sound, similar to that of New Wave contemporaries such as Ultravox. While the album contains one of their most memorable hit singles, Just Can’t Get Enough, the band was regarded as fluff at the time, which prompted them to deliberately distance their sound and image from that of Speak & Spell.

The album cover was photographed by Brian Griffin, who would go on to photograph almost all their covers over the rest of the decade. It features a white swan, shrouded in plastic, and placed in an eerie, almost radioactive looking setting.

According to Griffin— “I was working on a personal project about a nuclear attack on London and photographed the swan in my studio to represent the only creature alive after the bomb had dropped … Goodness knows what I was thinking. Everybody hated it, including myself actually!”

Griffin asked designer Barney Bubbles, a personal friend, to design the cover. Bubbles made no secret of his dislike for the band and the album, and approached the project with a keen disinterest. His casual approach to the work actually yielded a strong and effective design.

On the front, the simple and elegant use of Garamond gives the cover class, and allows the photo to be the focus. On the back, Bubbles adds the minor but iconic embellishment – a yellow crown – made simply of dots and rectangles. The two rectangles at the base of the crown provided shapes to fit the bands name and album title. While it wasn’t used on future releases, the proxy logo came to represent the band during this period, and it sits beautifully in the design above the tracklist and credits, forming the shape of the king’s chess piece.

There’s a great deal more information about Bubbles’ illustrious career and his involvement with Depeche Mode in Paul Gorman‘s excellent book Reason’s To Be Cheerful. Gorman also runs a fantastic blog featuring articles on music design, and of course Bubbles himself- check it out here.

A Broken Frame (1982)

During the band’s first few years, Griffin too expressed his dislike for the group, but this soon began to change in tandem with changes to the band’s lineup and creative direction. As Vince Clarke left the band to form Erasure, Martin Gore stepped up to become the principal songwriter. While the band’s synth-driven sound remained, they began to explore darker themes and moodier sounds. They actively sought to shed their “wimps and synths” image, and began working with Griffin and new designer Martyn Atkins on concepts for a more mature visual image.

Atkins, an associate of Peter Saville, had previously worked on numerous Factory records releases, including Joy Division’s Closer. Like Bubbles before him, Atkins focused on elegant typography and restrained layouts, again allowing Griffin’s highly conceptual photography to be the focus.

The band and their creative team soon came to a meeting of the minds with Gore’s love of Russian iconography, and Griffin’s love of Russian social realist art. Griffin also introduced the band to the work of German romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich, whose evocative skies and landscapes proved to be a great influence on the final shot – which sees a peasant woman taking her sickle to a field of wheat, while a storm looms in the skies above.

Taken in rural Cambridge, the creative team braved torrential September rain to capture a shot that is epic, romantic, and almost historical in nature. The photo went on to be mentioned in Life Magazines’ World’s Greatest Pictures 1980 – 1990. The cover is completed with typography by noted Japanese caligrapher Ching Ching Lee.

Fun Fact: Last year I had a go at turning this beautiful cover into a minimalist pictogram as a part of my Modernist Editions series.

Construction Time Again (1983)

The creative team of Griffin & Atkins returned for DM’s third album with another grandiose & iconic cover, this time featuring a construction worker holding a sledgehammer and standing on a mountainside in the Swiss alps. You can see the peak of the Matterhorn in the background. It’s almost like the masculine version of the cover for A Broken Frame, and seems to have been largely inspired by the band’s increasingly political messages about the effect of industrialization on the natural world.

Some Great Reward (1984)

1984 saw the band growing in leaps and bounds, both in terms of songwriting and production, and with that growth they were becoming evermore popular. Gore’s songwriting was becoming increasingly personal and political, and this was deftly reflected in the cover art. At this point DM had done the female cover, the male cover, and so naturally their fourth album contains an image of matrimonial union between the two.

The image of a newly married couple is juxtaposed with them standing in a cavernous factory or warehouse setting – reflecting not only the echoey sound of the record, but Gore’s lyrical themes of traditional values, social hypocrisy, religion, sex and emotional duality. The photo is another atmospheric and conceptual piece by Griffin, punctuated this time by the very British and very bold use of Gill Sans for the title treatment.

Black Celebration (1986)

The darkness in sound and themes that had begun to characterize DM’s music was really cemented on this record. Almost all of the pop stylings from previous records were gone, replaced with songs about lust, sex and death, through a layered, atmospheric sound. It’s a more intimate and confessional album than previous releases, with a greater focus on the personal as opposed to the political.

Black Celberation was the final DM record to use Brian Griffin as a photographer. It’s easily their most graphic release at that point, with Martyn Atkins becoming much more expressive and experimental in his use of coulour, typography, and graphic incongraphy. Subsequent releases of Black Celebration feature a series of strange pictograms designed by Atkins, including a birthday cake, jets flying in formation and a loudspeaker – foreshadowing the subject matter of the following record.

Music For The Masses (1987)

For many fans who have followed Depeche Mode from the beginning, Music For The Masses is a favourite. It’s definitely the culmination of their sonic and artistic progress to date, and marks the end of an era as their final release in the 1980s. Music For The Masses is the point where Martin Gore really starts to merge his experimental leanings with pure pop sensibility, and manages to start writing classic songs. The album features a more lush and expansive sound for the band, possibly influenced by the stadium shows they were starting to play.

Music For The Masses is the last DM album to feature Martyn Atkins as a designer, but it’s certainly an impressive way to bow out, with one of the most popular and iconic in the band’s discography. In addition to design, Atkins also takes on the role of photographer, and based on his original idea we see three P.A loudspeakers silhouetted against an expansive urban sunset. It’s a brilliantly simple and effective idea, and one that has stayed in the minds of fans to this day. Again Atkins flexes his design muscle a little more, cropping the photo severely and placing it on a textured background. Typography is a mixture of serif and sans-serif, and Atkins even designs a little logo for the record, featuring the band’s initials and stylized speaker emitting soundwaves.

Atkins was called up in 1998 by God Lives Underwater producer David Reilly to design the DM tribute album, For The Masses. The album features 90′s luminaries such as The Cure, Smashing Pumpkins and Nine Inch Nails, and the artwork recalls Atkin’s Music For The Masses cover in fine style, reinforcing just what a strong and memorable image it is. His red loudspeaker motif is featured again, this time in an almost alien looking desert landscape, and two huge D and M letters lay happhazzardly on the ground below.

There’s something incredibly romantic and cinematic about all these covers and they portray the moody, echoey sounds of early Depeche Mode beautifuly. While they remain a classic series in their own right, it wasn’t until Anton Corbjin and designer Richard Smith joined the band as their photographer and designer in 1990, that one of the most unique and enduring visual identities in music began to emerge.

To Be Continued.

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A few weeks ago I posted about an emerging trend I observed about heads appearing as the focus of album covers in 2010.

Last night I noticed that Warp records have an emerging design trend of their own – the use of circles on their upcoming releases. This is made all the more curious by the fact each cover is essentially black and white.

Gonjasufi – A Sufi & A Killer

Autechre – Oversteps

Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma

They’re all quite fantastic really, brilliantly lo-fi and rough around the edges. I do love seeing hand-made and organic designs for electronic music. I’m particularly fond of the Designer’s Republic designed Autechre cover, which is one of my favourites of the year so far. Incredibly strong and simple, with a touch of Japanese calligraphy to it.

I’m extremely curious to hear the Flying Lotus record, just based on that cover. If anyone’s able to fill me in on the designer behind that one I’d greatly appreciate it.

There’s something incredibly pleasing about a circle, especially when used in the square album cover format. The contrasting shapes create a surprising visual harmony. Rendering the design in black and white is a bold choice, and gives the design a huge amount of impact.

Warp wont be outdone in the “head” sweepstakes though, as Jamie Lidell’s visage pops up again on his new album Compass.

There’s actually a small black circle making an appearance in the top left there too. Like the previous three this cover one has a very raw and natural feel to it too.

Inspired by a mutual love of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, cosmic horror, library records, English surrealism, and arts & crafts psychedelia, boutique record label Ghost Box was founded in 2003 by designer Julian House and musician Jim Jupp.

To simply refer to it as a record label doesn’t quite do it justice. Ghost Box feels more like a collection of relics and artifacts from a parallel world. It’s built on fragments of forgotten culture and half-remembered fictions. It’s output contains mysterious allusions and arcane histories, and offers a glimpse into a past that never happened – something that House refers to as “a lost Britain”.

Ghost Box is a genuine attempt to immerse the audience in a fictional world. Our entry point is the small town of Belbury – a place where some type of occult “event” has occurred, disturbing the natural order of things, As a result Belbury has become a site where the past and the future collide, and the real and imaginary co-exist. The pastoral mythology of Belbury is both wondrous and haunting. Disturbing and beautiful. Eerie and amusing. It’s a place that stays with you, long after visiting.

The music of Ghost Box possesses a timeless quality, drawing on a range of influences as broad as radiophonic electronica, field recordings and musique concrète. There is the bright and mystical Belbury Poly (my favourite), the playful Advisory Circle and the nightmarish soundscapes of Eric Zann & Mount Vernon Arts Lab. New to the label is Roj, whose album is a hypnotic, psychedelic journey into space. While all the releases are unique and diverse, there’s an analogue warmth to each production. They’re oozing with atmosphere and ideas. You get the feeling that it’s all created by tape loop splicing, vintage synthesizers and electro-acoustic instruments. Combined with the inseparable element of the design and artwork, the Ghost Box music truly transports you to that “other-place”.

The label is currently home to 5 artists, and there are 12 releases to date. While the artists involved all share the collective Ghost Box vision, they also contribute their own personal aesthetic and ideologies, and this helps to give the label depth and texture. While the Ghost Box experience is all about the catalogue as a whole, each album is unique, and deserves the be thoroughly enjoyed on its own merits.

The visual elements of Ghost Box are the work of Julian House, who also makes records under the name The Focus Group. Often created in consultation with Jupp, there are numerous visual reference points that contribute to the overall aesthetic, including pulp novels, weird folk-art, modernist institutional textbooks, vintage science fiction and occult paraphernalia. The myriad of influences combine to create a through-the-looking-glass collection of album covers.

Most of the early Ghost Box releases bear a resemblance to the classic designs of vintage Penguin and Pelican paperbooks, however it’s so masterfully deconstructed and reassembled by House that it feels fresh and unique.

With each new release, the layout becomes looser, abandoning old design elements and introducing new ones, and yet somehow they continue to visually fit together. Illustrations usually feature some of House’s characteristic, abstract collage style, although the themes subjects also change and evolve with each release. It’s actually a great study in how to grow and experiment with a brand without slavishly adhering to a style guide.

Of course all the releases feature the unifying Ghost Box logo in the top left hand corner – which itself seems to visually fall somewhere between obscure 70′s community television identity and early 80′s personal computer company.

The visual world of Ghost Box (and Belbury) extends beyond the discography. House has created numerous flyers, videos, and artworks for the label. There’s even a strange, text-book like zine titled Folklore & Mathematics which features fake newspaper clippings, excerpts from supernatural texts and bizarre imagery from the ancient world. It’s this type of myth-making and attention to detail that makes Ghost Box so utterly compelling.

The label also hosts Belbury Youth Club Nights – evenings of multimedia entertainment, featuring music and videos created and presented by the Ghost Box extended family. One such upcoming BYCN (featured as part of the Flatpack Festival) is said to feature public information films, haunted old TV programmes, a new version of Julian House’s short film Winter Sun Wavelength and music by the Focus Group & Belbury Poly.

Also coming up for Ghost Box is their first vinyl release – a reissue of The Advisory Circle’s Mind How You Go, complete with new tracks and remixes. Vinyl is a natural fit for the label’s aesthetic and philosophy, and it’s going to be fantastic to see House’s stunning designs rendered at the larger size.
Order here.

Ghost Box appeals to me in a big way. There’s something in the design and the music that triggers many memories and emotions. The sensation of exploring an abandoned library and finding an encyclopedia of spells and magic. The feeling of seeing a ghostly figure appear in the flickering light of an old television set. From sun-soaked hippie folk to creeping cosmic terror, it really taps into that space of ancient knowledge and psychic wonder. In the age of the disposable and the digital, it’s truly inspiring to see such dedication to the physical product, and providing an honest and unforgetable experience to accompany it.

Phenomena & Occurrences Video:

Ghost Box Flyers:

Author insert a music with WS Audio Player.
(Download) this music.

Ghost Box
Ghost Box Wiki
GB Facebook Group
The Belbury Parish Magazine