The thing that really gets me excited about design is all the little components that go into the communication of one overall message. And each little piece, which can easily stand on its own, can also be apart of a larger scheme built to encompass one idea. Whenever I take on any freelance project, I’m always pushing myself to take it to the next level with this sort of thinking. Why create only one facet of this brand? Why not create an entire series of artifacts grounded in its initial conception? Case in point: I was recently commissioned to develop the packaging for the new Tina Sparkle Release for Thinker Thought Records out of Chicago. It seemed like a worthy cause, but as I began to dive head first into it, I found a plethora of various solutions lurking right beneath the surface. In this project, I was not only able to layout and manipulate a compact disc digipack, but also manhandle the art direction for its online presence. A tour poster was created as well and I even found time to create a banner for the record label itself.
CD PACKAGING:
I met with the client to discuss the overall concept for the record and was given a hefty load of pictures to sift though. The idea was to tie in the events of the past to the events of the present all contained within this single household. A lot of other nuances played into this, but I’m not going to waste time delving too hard into it. The only other stipulation that I had to follow was to encompass this “before and after” idea for the front and back cover.
I chose to keep the inside heavy on the text and logistic side while everything else would be more pictorial based. Having just come off the Sleazybeats EP sleeve, I liked the idea of creating a sort of collage for the inside. Which is what I did for the insert booklet.
POSTER AND LABEL BANNER:
Pretty self-explanatory. The band will more than likely be hitting the road to promote the record and an advertising piece was needed in garnering some interest. Here, I simply reconfigured the cover of the album into a larger format and placed a better call to action as the focus.
I created the label banner out of a few ideas that I was coming up with as I crafted this package. I thought of it as a sort of “seal of approval” tag that the label could use for various promotional tactics. I also thought that this could be used as a foundation for a possible new look.
WEBSITE:
After reviewing all the possible angles that came with producing this package, an online presence needed to coincide with this new look and feel. Thus, I grabbed many of the textures and layouts that I had previously put together and made them work for the digital realm.
Here are things that I wanted to achieve for this website:
1. Social Media call-outs are easily accessible on every page.
2. Home page would communicate news and upcoming performances.
3. Home page would also easily direct the viewer to merchandise options.
--Which would also lead them to the contact page where they could possibly buy directly through the band.
4. Home page would also include a video. Video, I feel, is a very important component to any web medium for the simple fact that it can communicate a message quickly and effectively.
5. About page would include testimonials.
6.Some level of interactivity. It’s hard to see here from the examples, but there are various forms of rollovers and hover manipulations done to links and images.
