Drawing by Michael Gira

not new, but seriously great..... back in 2009, Michael Gira (most notable of SWANS) released this collection of 20 professionally reproduced drawings in a limited quantity of 500...

the covers were 2 color printed (black and white ink) on a 18pt chipboard which has been folded to create a folio for the 20 loose drawings to live in. Michael signed and numbered each edition on the back cover in pen...

here are some shots of my favorite drawings from the collection. i am really drawn to the raw quality of his drawing style. there is a lot of emotion in the images he created, specifically in the way he handles his text. it's like these images just exploded from his mind and he had to get them down as quick as possible.... there is something really breathtaking in this level of unfiltered energy that stops me in my tracks whenever i look at them....

Brain F≠ - Sleep Rough

Brain F≠ just released their first Lp on Grave Mistake / Sorry State a few months back. i really liked their previous Ep's so i was naturally very excited to see what they came up with for this record in terms of artwork. the front cover is a pretty straight forward photo of the band hanging out on the house they used to live in (as they explain on the insert, it was the inspiration of the record title "sleep rough"). it's a cool concept and i like the washed out / hazy color of the photograph, but i can't help but feel that this would have been a stronger cover image without them in the picture. no band name or type at all on the cover, just let the photo speak for itself...

this back cover is so my cup of tea... completely random / abstract photo imagery that's been blown out, posterized, and paired beautifully with some mixed type. all sorts of fonts and type cases are being mix'n'matched here, and i really like the aesthetic that is established thru this exercise....

the covers were full color printed and professionally cut and glued. in lieu of an insert, this record comes with a printed dust sleeve! visual disorder thru repetition is the name of the game on here. these are very busy panels that convey a sense of chaos and urgency, which is a perfect match for their sound...

the actual liner notes get a bit hard to read, so that's a bummer. but, you can make them all out if you really need to know which local bands they thanked.....

these A and B labels are so epic! absolutely in love with the way they were able to handle all the info and still retain their playful qualities..

this one is a keeper, do your self a favor and get a copy while you still can....

Broken Patterns - 3rd Ep

one of my bands Broken Patterns released our 3rd ep a few months ago on Mata La Musika Records, i finally remembered to take some photos of this thing....

the covers are a 3 color screen print that i designed and printed in my print shop on a 100lb white cover paper. all 300 copies of this record will have this cover. hand cut and folded, nothing printed on the inside. here is a shot of the back panel...

i designed the insert to be an 11" x 4" folded piece of transparent vellum. i like the effect of the 2 sided photocopy on a transparent medium, it creates a nice interaction between the front and back compositions....

i think Guss from Mata La Musika might still have some copies of this for sale, just hit him up if you are interested....

to see more of my band related artwork, click here.

Deep Cover Shirts.....

Deep Cover are a new band from the Bay Area playing fast hardcore in a manor which is quite pleasing to my ears. they asked me to come up with their very first t-shirt design, and this is what it looks like! be sure to go check them out live if you live in the area....

to see more of my band related artwork, click here.

Mountain Asleep - Smile Medicine Ep

this was the last of the three releases submitted by Kid Sister Everything Records... this Mountain Asleep ep has a pretty cool layout featuring screen printed and die cut jackets. the front cover is comprised of a left and right panel which fold inward to meet in the center with a hole cut out where they join. the actual cover art is not all that interesting, but using a single screen with 2 different ink colors was an excellent way to maximize the impact of the cover design and create a unique feel for each record...

these jackets were screen printed on 100lb charcoal paper using a single screen with 2 colors of ink at the same time. with each pull of the squeegee you continue to change the blending characteristics of the ink, so each print looks slightly different from one another. this process is evident on the back cover panel, where in this case the 2 inks meet in the screen. i really like this image as a back cover.... it's super random yet perfect in mood, and i love that center circle element with the song titles. it's a playful way to refer back to the cut out center element from the front panels....

here is a shot of the front cover with the left and right panels open so you can see the full shot of the insert. just 4 photos on the front of the insert. these are 2 sided photo copies on a yellow card stock...

on the back side of the insert is the lyric sheet. it's decently organized, but not great looking. i think it could have used a little more order here since the columns were perfectly set on the sides and then left to create a strange spacing in the center and at the bottom of the panel where the lyrics end....

love the semi-transparent orange vinyl with a simple type treatment on the white labels. i like the record label stamp on the sleeve too, always a nice touch...

hit up Kid Sister directly to get your own copy of this....

Animal Lover Cassette...

another Kid Sister Everything release with mind-blowingly awesome package design. i can honestly say that i have never come across a tape adorned with so much thoughtful custom design work build around it. this Animal Lover cassette comes all wrapped up in a giant folded poster that houses the cassette in lieu of a traditional cover. abstract cover art, abstracted from an abstract poster. i like it....

here is a back view while it's still all packaged up. i love the nice pop of red you get on either side of the folded poster when you are looking at the cassette front on...

underneath the folded poster is a dust sleeve for the cassette, black and white ink screen printed on a red cover stock and then cut down and glued closed. really awesome idea, and the quality is impeccable....

slide it off the top and there you finally have the actual cassette. solid white plastic cassette with a red print on both sides, most likely done during the manufacturing. the modest approach to printing on the cassette itself is like a breath of fresh air once you finish undressing it from all the loud contrasting art. go ahead, clean your palette ...

alright, now the moment you've all been waiting for.... here is the poster unfolded. this was an 11" x 17" photocopy that was then cut down a bit to remove the white border from the photocopier. fuck, this thing is awesome. all this "digital geo" art they were playing with is fucking brilliant, and it looks even better when you can visually process it along with the handwritten typography....

on the flipside is all art... beautiful, beautiful art. this mash up of sharpie drawings and photocopied geometrics is blowing my mind, in the best way imaginable. there are some really great things happening in the background here with positive and negative spaces that develop thru all the photocopying and layering....

be sure to visit the Kid Sister Everything site and support this awesome label!

Antilles - "My Empathy" ep...

i received an amazing package of new releases from Kid Sister Everywhere Records , i'll be posting all of them up over the next week... first up is this Antilles ep, this is the most hand made and organic feeling record that i have encountered since 96'. the front and back jacket panels were created by overlaying 2 separate pieces of paper on top of each other. the outer piece of paper is a transparent piece of vellum that has been decorated with a photocopied illustration. this paper has been folded and placed over a thick and heavily textured stock of paper. the contrasting textures and colors really add to the composition...

the illustration wraps around to the back, i am liking the loose and sketchy ink style! the understated approach to typography was achieved thru simple letraset letters and some good design restraint, i feel it suites the vibe of this record well.

inside there is a "2 x 7" black and white photocopied insert for the liner notes, no lyrics. this is really straight forward, but it looks really tight.

A and B labels were printed to match the vinyl, which is always a good call. i like seeing bands think about the whole package when it comes to design....

check out what else Kid Sister Everything is up to at their site...