Art 4 Punks!

Worshit Ep...

2012-01-31T19:02:00.000-08:00

here's an interesting submission i received in the mail from a band called WORSHIT from moscow, they pulled off a pretty nice looking record. they credit Ivan Arkhipov for the cover art, while i'm not crazy about the actual art content i really like style and confidence he had in executing it. it's pretty hard to tell how much of this was put together digitally, but it appears to be at least a little bit "mixed media" containing graphite and acrylic....

the cover art wraps around to the back panel to finish the scene out (forgot to take a full shot of the spread, sorry). i like the scratchy type they made for the song titles, and it works in their favor that they were able to run them on the inside the solid grey background element. it's nice how much movement is created within the artwork by having it rendered in a "wide angle" perspective....

These covers were professionally offset printed on a nice and heavy uncoated matte paper. Unfold the covers to reveal the printed lyric sheet inside. They kept the typography constant to the song titles on the back cover and wrote out all the lyrics with a graphite pencil. This is a great lyric sheet in my book because it offers a lot of personal character with the hand writing without becoming too messy or impossible to read.....

The A side label shows off a live shot. Not y favorite label, but also not offensive to look at...

B side label is better, but still not great....

Thanks for the submission guys, keep up the good work!

Seven Inches To Freedom #9...

2012-01-26T19:18:00.000-08:00

Here's a real quick post for your viewing pleasure, it's the last (but not least) submission from Joe down in Florida, this time with his newest issue of Seven Inches To Freedom Fanzine. I am a huge fan of this fanzine, every issue I've seen looks great and this is no exception. Joe is always able to conceive a thoughtful, in-depth analysis of the punk world as it's happening around him and deliver it in a tight and consistent layout that is enjoyable to read. Page after page, you get a sense of Joe's love of his craft as every last aesthetic detail is cared for. It actually reminds me a bit of the Touch & Go zines of the early 80's, a true contender for the cut-n-paste photocopy hall of fame. Enjoy the photos, and click the link to where joe has some copies for sale, it's well worth your $2...

Panzram 10" ep...

2012-01-24T18:43:00.000-08:00

last weel i posted up a 7" ep submission from Florida based Panzram, joe had also sent over this 10" released on IFB records for review.... just like the 7", joe not only handled the art and layout, but he also hand printed and assembled the covers. these are one color screen printed jackets on an uncoated charcoal cover stock, and the prints are p e r f e c t. nothing warms my heart like crisp, clean, flawless screen printing, and i am just melting over here holding this record. the cover art is a touch on the abstract side, but i love the way the design comes together with the type. the slim all-caps font balances out nicely with the thick outer circle of the artwork and all the negative space...

the back cover is my favorite panel on this layout. the song titles utilize the typeface from the front cover paired with a big, bold, blown out font on the top and the bottom of the composition. i love the thick bar separating out a column for the song titles from the art elements. very stark...

these covers are actually a "hand-made gatefold" so to speak.... the front cover unfolds to reveal 2 printed panels inside, one of which has been folded and glued to create a inner pocket where the record lives. that is an incredible amount of labor for one person, but it was clearly time well spent because the end result is awesome. the left panel is a well crafted lyric sheet where every song has been delegated to its own organized space. the type was perfectly fit for ever song, and the end result is both orderly and easy to read. on the right panel we have a bit of art and liner notes which follow a similar theme of rigid and confined order...

the record's dust sleeve came hand-stamped on both sides, here are some pics...

A side label is a nice example of type design that was run thru a photocopier about a hundred times. looks good to my eyes....

B side label is a photo of the man himself...

really great looking record, be sure to check these guys out...

Panzram - 7" ep...

2012-01-17T20:17:00.000-08:00

This awesome submission came in from Joe down in Florida, he designed and screen printed the packaging for this Panzram Ep out on Drugged Conscience Records. These 2 color screen prints were printed on 100lb matte uncoated cover stock paper. I love the cover art he came up with, the collage of faces mixed with the horizontal lines looks killer! It's a very fresh and modern aesthetic that layers well while keeping a good balance of color in the design...

These covers were cut and folded, not glued. The back panel is all about the song titles, and framing them within the broken black box helps this feel like a composition.

There is also a 2 sided photocopied insert on what feels like some sort of lightweight linen paper stock. I really like the way the typography and handwritten details are blended together here, it kind of makes me wish the back panel had more of this style worked into the approach.

Both sides of this insert are pretty unconventional; they deliver their information in their own unique way. The first side had that wrapping type detail around the outer edge of the design. on this side, the song titles are placed in typed up and centered columns but then all the liner notes are hand written and placed in the center. I really enjoy how informal it comes across....

The A side label is just type, looks good...

The B side label is a random found photo of some kids hanging out. Not sure what the significance is but it does look cool...

Thanks again joe! Keep up the great work....

Pulling Teeth - Funerary

2012-01-04T20:58:00.000-08:00

Another great submission that came in recently is the new Pulling Teeth Lp titled "Funerary". this is most likely their final release, so I'm really glad I was able to get it up on here since they have done an excellent job at creating a consistent band aesthetic throughout the years.

Much like their other releases, the cover art (by Jeff Beckman) taps into the world of the surreal with a heavy mix of dark imagery and traditional tattoo styling. I really like the way he played with symmetry without creating a mirror image, it's like my eyes keep getting pulled into all the details in search of the subtle differences. There is a lot of imagination happening in this piece...

The back cover is a wrap-around continuation of the front panel to act as a background for the song titles. Overall this is some really nice typography, although there are a few areas where the spacing becomes an issue with the scroll work. it starts to feel like its sitting a little too tight in some areas...

This is the cd version of this release on Firestarter records, and these cds these were made using a standard 6 panel digipack layout. The layout was completed by their singer Mike Rily with the help of Linas Garsys. This next shot is of the cd with the front cover open and the inside panel closed. There are a lot of lyrics printed here, and they handled the typography well. It may be very small, but they're not hard to read...

The next shot shows both panels opened. There is a rad illustration by John Patrick on the inside panel when it's opened. Nice balance of color and lots of fine detail, I bet this thing looks sick on the Lp version....m

The cd face is where we see that classic Pushead style logo they have been using over the years. The background here is a tie-back to the cover art...

Nice job to all the guilty parties, this is a solid release.

Crazy & The Brains Cassette...

2012-01-02T16:59:00.000-08:00

Got a cool submission package from Baldy Longhair Records of some of their very limited, very professional quality cassettes. This first one that we'll talk about is my favorite of the bunch, it's the Crazy & The Brains tape called "Don't Need No Snacks". The overall aesthetic of this packaging reminds me a bit of what C.M.Ruiz does with mixing photocopied imagery with hand drawn type and line work. I mean, it's not blowing me away or anything, but, it looks pretty cool for what it is....

here is a shot of the back, nice hand written song titles and a pretty funny label logo...

The inside of the J-card cover continues the hand drawn pattern work from the front cover and then has one of the most awkward looking band photos I've ever seen. It's so awkward I guess it kind of works, it almost looks like what you would expect to see on a 8x10 glossy of some early 90's alt-rock band. these inserts are professionally printed on a glossy coated paper and hand numbered out of 100...

I like that they went with a transparent royal blue cassette to match back to the insert. I've never seen a tape in this color plastic before, so they win points on that for sure, but it also works really well with the layout. Plus, all that sloppy handwriting that was printed in white on in looks killer. That Crazy & The Brains icon they came up with is rad too, hope they stick that on some t-shirts....

be sure to check out the Baldy Longhair site, where you can pick up a copy of this tape along with many of their other releases...

The Holidays...

2011-12-29T08:15:00.001-08:00

I really thought I would be able to bang out a post or two while visiting family over the holidays, but it's not looking likely at this point. Between all the travelng, visiting, and screaming little children i just can't seem to get the "quiet time" i need to write a review. Look for new entries on here starting January 2nd....

And in the meantime, be sure to check out and follow my other blogs which are both updated daily...

California Daydream is my iPhone image feed, usually a couple new images made every day.

Focus On The Negative is my daily drawing blog, one new drawing is posted every day.

Scum Again Ep....

2011-12-21T20:00:00.000-08:00

Toxic Pop Records sent over this Scum Again Ep for review, this thing has some insane cover art... No credit as to who made it, but it's signed "Wren" on the back cover. This is a great humorous illustration that's been handled in a "classic punk tradition" sort of way. Raw, loose style with the right level of finishing to keep it looking legit, while the subject matter pokes fun of current political and popular culture events...

The back cover is another great illustration with a similar theme as the front cover. Be sure to click into these images and soak up all the hidden little details, cause there is a whole lot going on...

These covers are black and white offset printed on a coated stock and are folded but not glued. Open up the sleeve for the insert which is printed on the inside of the cover. This insert was designed as two separate panels despite the fact that they could have been one spread, but oh well. It looks like they divided the sides to be A side and B side dedicated panels, each with their own humorous illustrations to support the lyrics....

red vinyl with a perfect match red printed record label. That is awesome! Just red vinyl would have been ok, and just red labels would have felt out of place since the rest of the layout is black and white exclusively. Together, this is hot shit...

Pick this up from Toxic Pop directly....

Divided Heaven...

2011-12-18T18:55:00.000-08:00

i've been making a lot of art this year for the Los Angeles solo project of Jeffrey Berman known as based Divided Heaven, first up is the debut release that came out on Paper And Plastick Records a few months ago. this is a full color offset printed digipack sleeve with 6 printed panels, have a look...

back cover...

this shot is with the front panel open, the inside panel closed....

both panels open...

and the disc face, which the printer did not bother trying to color match to the rest of the art....

i also recently made two t-shirt designs for Divided Heaven to support the aesthetic of the cd art....

and last but not least, a sticker....

to see more of my art for bands, click here.....

Tenement - Taking Everything Ep

2011-12-12T21:35:00.000-08:00

Got a rad submission package from Toxic Pop Records the other day....Tenement put together another great looking record with the same personal style and aesthetic they established with their earlier releases. For the cover art, they came up with a cool composition based on found vintage photography. it's sort of a four-panel study of human gross-ness...

The loose layout of the images mixed with the simple typewriter font setting really add to the charm of this cover art. The back panel is rather moody and dark in comparison, quite a compelling composition. A single photo obscured by a black shadow over half the image with no type to speak of except for the Toxic Pop logo. I love it....

These covers were full color printed and folded, not glued. there is also a black and white 6.5"x6.5" double sided insert included. On the front side of the insert is a fucked up found photo of some dude with his face rotting off, and i have to say that I'm never really a fan of this style of shock imagery. I feel like the back cover composition is a perfect example of how you can achieve a "dark and mysterious" vibe with out actually showing the most gnarly imagery you can find in a medical book. Not to single this record out or anything, i've just been noticing it more and more lately and felt it should be noted... This is also where the liner notes live, and I like that the type setting remains consistent to the front cover.

O the flipside of the insert is where the lyric sheet lives. I'll call this the lyric sheet side despite the fact that the combination of the size of the typewriter font and the photocopying make this pretty near impossible to read. Still, I do like the breakup between the images and the type here...

A side label has another random and obscure photo mixed with some hand written type, it's a winner! This actually might be the first time I've ever wished for a small hole on a 7" just so I could see more of the label art....

B side label is also photo based but this one gets a little too literal for me. Who are these dudes? Why are they staring off inn opposite directions? I just don't know...

solid release, thanks for the submission guys....

Night Birds - The Other Side Of Darkness

2011-12-11T17:56:00.001-08:00

Here's a record I've been meaning to post up for quite some time now, the long awaited Night Birds Lp. they enlisted the help of photographer Max Ryazansky to stage a scene for the cover art that further cements this release as the "soon-to-be classic" record that it is musically. It's a dark and looming exposure that let's you see just enough detail in their faces to entice you while remaining abstract enough to keep you guessing. All the type was left to the marque floating above them. I like the idea of these men being overshadowed by their own creation, as though the very thing that identifies them also obscures them. This is the other side of darkness...

These covers were professionally black and white offset printed and glued, "standard issue" so to speak. The back cover is one of the many great live shots I've seen of Night Birds (photo by Keith Marlowe) as well as some hand-drawn song titles by Bryan Sculthrope to match back to the band name logo he originally created for them on their demo. The up-side to being an incredible live band is that there is never a shortage of kick-ass live photos lying around...

They went for a printed dust sleeve instead of a regular insert, which is always a classy choice in my book. Also black and white professionally printed and glued, on the one side you have an alternate image from the front cover photo shoot. This time their faces are revealed, further playing with the "other side of darkness"concept....

On the opposite side is a killer looking hand written lyric sheet. This thing is perfect punk style.... The hand writing varies quite a bit in size and character (slightly more organized in some places and then more free-form in others) and there are all these rad little naive doodles that were scattered throughout! It kind of reminds me of a Ramones insert, I wanna say Rocket To Russia....?

A side label is where the info goes....

B side label is the fun shot...

since I pre-ordered this thing like a good little record nerd, my copy came with a limited edition hand screen printed cover as well! this is a one color screen print of metallic silver ink on a raw black paper stock. These were printed in an edition of 210 and were available for pre-order only. Hate to say it but I think I actually prefer the high contrast screen printed version of this cover art to the actual photo real cover....

Half back panel with the song titles and the alternate photo from the insert. Same comment here as the front cover, I think I actually prefer the high contrast version now that I have seen both...

This is easily one of the best records to come out this year, be sure to pick up a copy from Grave Mistake directly if you haven't done so already...

Knifey Spoony Ep...

2011-12-02T00:35:00.000-08:00

Knifey Spoony sent over this ep for the blog... their singer Steve Oriolo worked up the art for this release, he was able to pull together a rad illustration that interacts with the package design. the cover art is actually a composite image made up of the insert revealed through a die cut in the front cover panel. man this shit is wild....

it's interesting to me how thoughtful the type on the front cover appears compared to the type that's on the back, which is a little clunky and cumbersome. that said, i actually like this half back panel mainly for that reason. it kind of reminds me of 100 different first wave DIY punk singles all at once...

here is a shot of just the insert without the cover, be sure to click into the pic to see the detail. the concept and style of this piece were rendered in perfect harmony for me. it has the right level of detail and humor for it to be both naive and competent at the same time, while still feeling loose and approachable....

there is also a lyric sheet on the back of the insert, not bad.... this panel also reminds me a bit of what i would expect to see on a first wave punk single, which is never a bad thing.....

more fucking sick illustrations on the A and B labels, these things are great....

Drawing by Michael Gira

2011-11-26T18:20:00.001-08:00

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

2011-11-22T21:42:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-19T10:06:00.000-08:00

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.....

2011-11-19T09:57:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-16T21:21:00.000-08:00

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...

2011-11-08T21:44:00.000-08:00

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...

2011-11-02T22:45:00.000-07:00

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...

Young Offenders / Airfix Kits Posters...

2011-10-31T16:25:00.000-07:00

bay-area bad-asses Young Offenders and Airfix Kits are flying out to NYC this week to play 2 great shows, and they asked me to design and screen print the tour posters! these are 18" x 24" screen prints, 3 colors on 100lb cover stock out of an edition of 60. be sure to go see them on the east!

to see more of my screen printed poster work, go HERE.

B-Lines Lp...

2011-10-26T23:03:00.000-07:00

it's a bold statement, i know this, but i am going to say it anyway: this is my favorite layout that i have seen in all of 2011. BOOM! B-lines from vancouver used the work of local collage artist Melanie Coles to put together a perfect looking record. every single panel of this layout could stand alone as its own xerox collage masterpiece, yet they are still able to come together and create a body of images that maintain a cohesive look. on the front cover, a really strong black and white photocopy collage that hits you with a nice pop of red. i love the way she mixes hand drawn elements in with the photographs...

these are offset printed and glued covers on a standard coated cover stock. flip the jacket over and you get that red pop from the front smacking you in the face! great use of texture and negative space on this panel, and that hand done lettering looks insane....

there is a 12 page lyric book included with this record. these are 5.5 x 8.5 black and white photocopied books. seriously, well fucking done. every page is spot on, not a thing i would want to see change. take a look at these pics, each page was photographed and posted up...

the A and B labels are very simple but also kinda nice. they established an order to the information and just let it be. it's a very respectable label....

this was a split release between Nominal and Deranged.

Whatever Brains Lp....

2011-10-20T22:41:00.000-07:00

i ordered this Whatever Brains Lp a while back from Sorry State and have been slacking on getting it up here since the layout is so involved (what can i say, even i have my lazy moments...). anyway, Thomas Dean came up with some really cool abstract illustrative art for the front and back cover concept of this Lp. it has a bit of a "doodle" feel to it, but it also has a lot of intricacy and a little too much of its' own rhythm to it for me to actually think that. i like the variation in the line work, it looks like there are a couple different main sizes being mixed up in here....

one thing that is a little confusing to me about this layout is why they chose to have an additional little spine cover included on the outside of the jacket when all the information that it holds could have very easily been worked into the actual front and back cover. i don't really feel that it adds anything to layout, maybe if it was printed in a pop color or something i would feel different....

i really like this back cover illustration! it kind of looks like a ship with a bunch of eyes worked into it. great little Whatever Brains type illustration at the bottom too! stick that thing on the left chest of a t-shirt with the artwork on the back... and watch out, you're lookin sharp!....

oh, did i forget to mention that these covers are gatefolds!?!?! awesome! open it up to reveal a crazy looking full color collage. i really like all the imagery they chose to use, but the flow between the left and right panels is a bit stiff. i tend to like my gatefolds to have really comprehensive spreads if you are going to go for one big theme for the two sides. oh well, still really cool....

as if that wasn't enough to look at, there is also a lyric book included (yes, a book.)! this is an 8.5" x 11" book printed with black ink on newsprint paper, staple bound and cut to perfection. each page is pure photocopied eye candy....

these are some really nice A and B labels too. they have a perfect balance of being hand done while still retaining a strong sense of design and clarity....

i should also mention that this comes with a free download card which also contains a few of their earlier ep's in the folder, so it is well worth your money! support good labels and cool bands....

New Poison Idea Poster....

2011-10-16T12:17:00.001-07:00

i designed and screen printed these posters for the POISON IDEA show happening this week at Gilman, if you are in the bay area be sure to go stage dive for me when they play "just to get away"...

these are 18" x 24" 3 color screen prints on 120lb black linen duplex paper, and were made in an edition of 65. to see more of my poster work, go HERE.

Neo Cons Ep...

2011-10-14T17:26:00.000-07:00

Neo Cons are a great band from the bay area that released their 1st ep on Deranged a few months back. i feel like this is a good contemporary punk layout and thought the cover art was rather intriguing (not to mention fitting for a band called Neo Cons). it makes good use of found elements and photo copy type, yet was polished up a bit from a standard cut and paste job. it even has a touch of design to it....

back cover is on a similar tip as the front... nice touch of design worked in here and there, but still looks really easy and approachable. the song titles were handled perfectly too! these are professionally printed and glued covers on a uncoated cover stock.....

this comes with a black and white photocopy 6" x 6" insert as well. on the front side you have a band photo (by Martin Sorrondeguy) and some liner notes....

flip it over and you have the lyrics.... the "rotate the lyrics to each song" bit is always a good game...

A and B labels bring a touch of class with the silver, looking cool!

check these guys out live if you have the chance, they are great!

Career Suicide - Cherry Beach Ep...

2011-10-09T17:24:00.000-07:00

FINALLY! a new record from my favorite band of the last 10 years.... Dirtnap released the U.S. version of Career Suicide's "Cherry Beach" ep, which was previously only released as a tour 7" in limited quantity. along with an altered track listing, this new version also comes at you with all new artwork and packaging! Dave Neeson is the man credited for all the naive illustrations here, and i think they're great! how fucking fantastic is this cover art!?!? surf's up little buddy...

also, can i just say (since this is the first Career Suicide record i've had the privilege of posting on this blog) how fucking epic the career suicide logo is! i mean, it's like perfectly clever without coming off forced at all. it conveys good design and punk attitude in one effortless motion, which is not easy to do.

these are professionally printed and glued covers on an uncoated cover stock. on the back cover, another great illustration! this one is an even more involved scene with even more ridiculous shit going on. i like the pop color, especially on the bottom of the layout, but the cascading track info is pretty cool too.....

these also come with a professionally printed and folded up 11" x 17" insert. on the front facing side is a poster version of the cover art....

flip it over for the liner notes and some tour photos. a couple more tiny illustration got sprinkled in here along with the hand written type! jonah and martin credit themselves for the layout, which i am always a huge fan of. DIY or die people.....

A side label is a bit of a miss for me. i can see where they were trying to go with this, but it feels really unbalanced.....

B side label might be my favorite illustration out of the whole bunch! fucking cops....

this is a great release, now go get it....

Bane / Defeater / Miles Away Tour Poster

2011-10-08T20:14:00.000-07:00

i was asked to design and screen print these tour posters for Bane, Defeater, Miles Away, and Dead End Path for their month long U.S. tour. these are 4 color screen printed 18" x 24" posters that were made in an edition of 175 prints. they will be coming to a town near you starting monday so be sure to go check them out... and hey, grab a poster while you are at it....

to see more of my screen printed show posters, click HERE.

All Pigs Must Die - God Is War Lp

2011-10-05T22:33:00.000-07:00

a few months back, all pigs must die released this LP on Southern Lord... once again, they enlisted the help of florian bertmer to handle the visuals. the front cover boldly features his beautifully meticulous line work that he has become so well known for. i really like the wavy line work he used to create the background, it creates a nice feeling of depth and movement....

this is a gatefold jacket printed on a heavy uncoated cover stock, and for whatever reason, it feels very substantial when you are holding it in your hand. it has nice weight to it and also just generally feels well constructed and sturdy.

the back cover art is a little underwhelming. don't get me wrong, it looks great... it's just not really grabbing me as an awesome panel. it looks as though only a small section of this piece was illustrated and then that was digitally repeated to form the art. again, nothing wrong with doing that, but if feels like a bit of a missed opportunity given the enormous talent he has for originally detailed renderings. i do really like the blown out and over saturated old english typeface that he used for the song titles...

here is a shot of the gatefold opened up to reveal the lyric sheet. left panel is a tie-back to the back cover art, the right panel is all lyrics. i like the typesetting here, everything is very clearly organized and looks good while delivering the information in an easy to read manner...

yeah, clear vinyl... no big deal....

this record is great, definitely check it out if you haven't already heard of these guys...

NUN UN Demo

2011-10-04T22:36:00.001-07:00

along with Hole In My Head, Nun Un were on tour through the LA area last week and had these rad cassette tapes with them. these covers are 2 color screen prints on a pink uncoated paper...

i really like the way the mixing of patterns and colors come together when you turn the tape over and see the end of the tape insert sitting next to the cassette....

here is a shot of the insert panels unfolded, classic cut and paste art via some punk screen printing. it's always the simple things that look the best....

there is also a folded up 2-sided lyric sheet insert included. on the outside is an enlarged and cropped crossword puzzle. meh...

on the flipside, you have some beautiful photocopier artwork! 2 totally random panels side by side, looking awesome. fuck, i love that NUN UN typography that they came up with too....

here is a shot of just the tape.... it's kind of boring on it's own, but when it is housed in the cassette case it works so well with the cover!

awesome job guys...

Hole In My Head....

2011-10-01T12:30:00.000-07:00

played a cool show here is LA this past thursday with 2 bands on tour from vancouver.... Hole In My Head had some rad tee's that their drummer made the art for and i love what he came up with! really sweet illustration for a front print.....

and then the band name on the back in a shadowed knock out...

they also had these demos with them.... similar concept to the t-shirt graphic reduced to a simple spray painted pictograph is on the cover....

the sleeve unfolds to display liner note info on the front side. "clean and easy" is the name of this game...

and then also has lyrics on the inside panel. i like the way they blew out that typewriter text on the song titles as a way to make them bolder...

hand written sharpie on the tape, so punk.... reminds me of my youth....

check these guys out on the rest of their tour as they make their way back north, they put on quite the live show! also, you can check out their bandcamp site....

OBN IIIs ep...

2011-09-28T20:01:00.001-07:00

Austin's OBN III's recently released their 1st Lp, which made me think "now would be a great time to show you how rad their 1st ep looked"....

i love the simplicity and attitude of this cover art.... just a nice, cool illustration of some broken glass, what could be more punk than that!?! the jumbled type used for the band name is bold and rather pedestrian, but i think it kind of adds to the humor of the cover art. it's just great...

these sleeves were full color offset printed on a white uncoated stock, folded and glued. the back cover is a very structured, very common layout we've probably all seen before. that said, i feel they did an excellent job handling all the spacial and typographical balances within this panel. i love the mix of bold / condensed fonts and all the playful use of size scale to create order....

no insert, so here is a shot of the A side label. certainly passes for a good looking label, but it could have used a little more interest...

nice work Tic Tac Totally!

When The Dying Calls...

2011-09-25T22:57:00.000-07:00

i just finished printing up these new art prints that i had designed at the same time as "The Hunter" art print that is currently showing at the "Heavy Metal Poster Show" in philly. these are 5 color 18" x 24" screen prints on 120 lb black and charcoal linen paper... click HERE to purchase!

Destroy All Monsters Book....

2011-09-21T21:11:00.000-07:00

Primary Information Publishing just released a completed book version of the Destroy All Monsters magazines a few months ago, and i finally got my hands on one this past week! it contains all 6 issues released between 1976-1978 as well as the incomplete 7th issue which was never released. as long as i've known about the Destroy All Monsters projects i have been obsessed with their work. i love the idea of a band that organically flows between audio and visual creation. although Niagara is probably the most well known and prolific artist from the group today, all the members of the band hand their hands in the making of these magazines. the result is a truly unique and wild creation that not only spans many styles and genres but was also years ahead of its' time. here are some shots of a bunch of my favorite spreads, but seriously, every page is a jaw-dropper....

i have to say, they did an excellent job pulling together a beautiful finished product that still feels like a hand-made zine! this book is 270 pages that are mostly one color printed on various colored papers with some full color printed pages sprinkled within. you can pick up a copy directly from the publisher, which i highly recommend....

Herds Lp...

2011-09-14T20:21:00.000-07:00

not new, but i love all the art that HERDS pulled together for all their releases. i recently came across this 12" they released on Fashionable Idiots and figured it was a good opportunity to shed some light on what they've been up to. the artwork is credited to Feeding, check out the bold and beautiful line work in this illustrative cover art. the thick black bar at the top of the art with the wide set type within it really brings a dynamic element to this design while balancing the positive / negative space...

these covers were screen printed with black ink on a raw chip board material and then folded. the back cover art is a continuation of the front cover wrapped around. it is rare to find an example of this form of front / back cover concept art that actually executes this well when isolated from the other half, but in this case i feel that both panels work just as well on their own as they do together....

here is a shot of the front and back cover unfolded...

the unfolded covers also have a full bleed insert screen printed on the inside of the jacket. when i look at this, i feel like this was two separate 12" x 12"panels that were just combined at the last minute to be one insert as opposed to being a single cohesive design. if you just look at the top panel, there is a layout happening there. if you look at just the bottom, it's a lyric sheet. framing it all within a box helped it a bit but in the end it doesn't make it "complete" in my book.... it's not the end of the world or anything, just an observation...

A and B labels are a little sparse, but still manage to pull off a good level of design. it seems almost counter-intuitive to sit such large heavy type so low on the label without anything larger above it to balance it, but it still works as a complete piece with the "A 33" type below it...

nice work! click the links to support these guys....

Heavy Metal Poster Show....

2011-09-08T19:06:00.000-07:00

i will have a new screen print on display and for sale in the "Heavy Metal Poster Show" that is opening this saturday at the Grindcore House in Philadelphia. below is the image i created for the show, it is an 18" x 24" 4 color screen print on 120lb duplex linen paper. i printed these posters on both grey and black paper, just 20 of each, in different colorways. there will be about 20 artists with new work on display just for this show, so go check them out in person if you are in the area!

Saturday September 10th 2011

@ The Grindcore House

1515 S. 4th St

Philadelphia, PA

19147

to view more of my screen printed poster art, click here.

The Shirks Ep...

2011-09-07T21:37:00.000-07:00

i came across another really cool release from Grave Mistake recently, check out this The Shirks Ep.... really nice "fast and loose" illustration style going on in this cover image. i mean, it is clearly rendered well, and then it has just the right amount of slop in all the right places so as not to be mistaken as a meticulous piece. the only thing i don't like about it is the way it crops out the left side of the art ever so slightly.... ack!

these are professionally offset printed and glued 7" jackets on a coated cover stock. the back cover is very sparse with lots of negative space. the typography was arranged with enough care and design sensibility that it does read as a composition, which is a good thing since that's all there is to look at. song titles were hand set with Letraset, the fine print was banged out on a good old fashioned typewriter. well played, sir.....

the A and B labels are straight outta the Delta! alex, please make this the Grave Mistake standard issue label...

nice job guys!

Bone Awl - "Bowing Heads" lp

2011-09-04T15:53:00.000-07:00

i recently came across this Bone Awl record while at Vacation Vinyl here in Los Angeles... this cover is a fucked up, photocopied mess and i absolutely love it! really nice and abstract one color collage that has a strong design perspective. there is so much dirt and grit in this thing i can't even really make out what the image is, but i do love the way they used the photo copier distortion as shading in select areas of the art...

these covers were professionally printed and glued on a standard 12" sleeve. the back cover is another great collage comprised entirely of photocopier distortion. i like the way they played with positive and negative space in the composition. there is a lot of visual interest on this panel considering there isn't any sort of central image, just typography. this could have easily been a miss as a design, but the way they approached mixing textures and color keeps the piece very interesting....

A and B labels are as straightforward as they get. just the facts, jack....

this is available from Iron Tyrant Records....

Gas Chamber...

2011-09-02T16:14:00.000-07:00

i got an amazing submission package of 2 records and a print from Buffalo-based Gas Chamber.... this first ep features original artwork and a layout by the great railcar artist Buzz Blurr, which is epic beyond words. though his work is best known for his expressive chalk sketches on the sides of trains, i love his detailed fine art pieces just as much. for the cover of the "corpse with levity" ep, Buzz came up with one of his chiseled and nearly geometric renderings of a bird. i really like his use of positive and negative space within the illustration and how the artwork sits rather unassumingly small and in the center of the cover....

these covers were printed on a really nice 100lb uncoated cover stock and were then cut and folded. the back cover features 3 photos of some of Buzz's sculpture work with his hand written type. just like the front cover, keeping the art small and centered in a sea of black space makes for a very impacting design....

unfold the cover for the the lyrics, this is "type as composition" at its finest....

A and B labels were kept clean and easy, each with just the essential information on a black label. the black record sleeve was a nice touch too....

this next record is an awesome clear flexi that comes packaged with a transparent insert. the grooves of the record laying on top of photo on the insert actually creates a pretty cool overlay effect. while there's not a whole lot to look at, i feel it's a pretty memorable record....

here is a shot of just the insert. i have no idea what is going on in this photo, if it's a pic that the band created themselves, or just some random creepy image. it actually would have been really cool if they had worked some liner notes into this insert in a creative way....

here is a shot of just the flexi. again, i like the minimalism here, but maybe a song title or two would have been good....

last but not least, there was an amazing wood cut art print included! this 12" x 14" poster was relief printed in an edition of 15 on a delicate rice paper. the combination of the thin coarse paper and the pressed markings from the printing technique bring a rich textural quality to the finished piece when it's in you hand. really nice work...

big thanks to patrick for sending all this along, be sure to check out the Gas Chamber page to grab your own copies!

Manic Attracts - Eyes Wide Shut 12"...

2011-08-24T21:31:00.000-07:00

another cool record design by C.M. Ruiz i recently stumbled upon.... this Manic Attracts 12" conjures up some of C.M.'s signature style of making the most mundane found imagery beautifully interesting through his process of playfully cutting and photocopying to perfection.

i always like his use of line work, but the way he layered in that second color on this cover art was a cool new twist for his work....

these are offset printed sleeves on a standard coated cover stock, nothing special there. however, the back cover art is equally great to the front... more crazy lines, more cut up imagery, and some hand written song titles to finish it off. it's looking very cool in my book...

no insert for this guy, but the A and B labels are rad. they are kind of a mash up of all the key elements from the front and back covers, so here's looking at you....

you can grab this from Dead Beat directly....

Fed To The Wolves...

2011-08-22T23:03:00.000-07:00

i recently made a bunch of art for san diego based Fed To The Wolves.... they needed a demo cover and a t-shirt now that they are playing out all the time, so click the links and check them out live if you have the chance....

to see more of my illustration work, go here. also, hit up their label page if you are interested in grabbing these...

Slobs - Look Busy Do Nothing ep...

2011-08-16T20:07:00.000-07:00

i picked up this new Slobs ep on Cowabunga recently, this may be my favorite 7" for 2011 so far...

the cover art is nice and weird, featuring an abstract image of a man having a smoke, photocopied to perfection. BUT, what's really great on this cover is that fucking SLOBS symbol that they came up with in the corner! holy shit, that thing is good! i love the way they handled the type below it as well. it's very controlled yet perfectly punk. man, that thing will definitely be making a page of "classic punk logos" in some book 30 years from now....

this is a 1 color photocopied cover on an 80lb uncoated cover stock, folded not glued. here we have a great "no bullshit" back cover. big bold type, continuing to play with the typewriter / hand written mixing that worked so well for them on the front. it's great....

there is a one sided 7" x 7" photocopied insert as well, i'm not sure what kind of paper this is, but i am not a fan of it. it feels kinda weird in your hands, like it absorbed all the moisture in the air or something. i don't know.... anyway, the hand written lyrics look great with the photo....

ok, as if that logo wasn't awesome enough on the front cover, check it out on the A side label. the "O" in the slobs symbol lined up perfectly with the hole in the center of the record, making for a nice composition...

B side label is another abstract image, this one is my favorite in the layout....

Only The Messengers Posters...

2011-08-11T19:17:00.000-07:00

i just finished designing and screen printing these west coast weekend tour posters for New York based Only The Messengers. they are 3 color 18" x 24" posters on 100lb cover stock. both shows have great line ups, so go see them if you are in the bay area this weekend! and don't forget to pick up a print while you're at it....

Crazy Spirit - Demo 12"

2011-08-09T20:32:00.001-07:00

a friend of mine alerted me that this ultra-hand-made Crazy Spirit 12" was for sale at the Sorry State web store and i quickly snagged a copy for the blog... i believe the art was done by sam ryser, and this is easily the most hand-made and over-the-top screen printed record i will encounter all year! the covers are 2 color screen prints on a coated white chipboard material. they were printed flat and then folded and assembled. love the little block print illustration happening in that circle, i almost wish it was really big as the cover image. don't get me wrong, i like the minimal and understated approach, but when you have something killer to show, show it big....

the back cover is more of this big messy roller print texture that has been engineered to look as though it was relief printed over the fold marks of the back panel post assembly, but it looks to me that they printed these in one shot unfolded. get lost in the darkness....

there is also a small screen print on the inside of the cover of some snake pictographs, but i couldn't get a usable photo of that....

ok, here is where the shit really starts to get wild! there is a 2 color, 9"x14" folded booklet that unfolds to be a 18"x24" 2 sided poster. here is a shot of the front of the insert folded, this panel is a pretty sweet mash up of photocopied and distorted shit mixed with some nice loose illustrations and hand made type. love the 2 color over printing in the screening, that is always a personal favorite for me....

unfold it once for an amazing hand written lyric sheet. the varying size of the typography creates great movement in the composition. the combination of the illustration style and the way the 2 colors interact with each other is pretty great, perfect for this kind of art....

unfold it again and this thing becomes a crazy looking, crazy spirit poster. 18"x24" 2 color screen print... love the illustration, love the type, and overall just a really nice use of geometric space....

here is a shot of the back of the insert all folded up. similar to the front insert panel, this has a lot of little hidden imagery buried within the photocopier noise and the over-printed color....

the A and B labels are just a solid pink label, no art. however, the dust sleeve was screen printed! pretty cool, but i wish they had matched the color of the labels to the ink used in the screen prints...

this was a Quality Control release, but i have no idea where you can get it, i think it may be sold out....

Poster Show Opening!

2011-08-03T23:22:00.000-07:00

i will be displaying some of my screen printed poster work as the guest artist for the month of august over at BOOKMACHINE in Fullerton, CA. there will be an opening reception this friday during the downtown Fullerton Artwalk from 7-11pm, come out and say hi if you are in the area....

BOOKMACHINE Books & Zines

223 W. Santa Fe

Fullerton, CA 92832

The Outdoorsmen...

2011-08-02T22:16:00.000-07:00

i played a show with this band The Outdoorsmen from the Bay Area last month, they had 4 different 7"s with them that all had really great cover art, so i picked up 2 of them for the blog. there are some seriously over the top illustrations happening on these jackets...

i think what i love about these illustrations is that they have the right balance of rawness to refinement. what they lack in detail they make up for big time in style. while they are rough and loose feeling as far as finished illustrations go, you can tell that this person took some time to draw these pieces to the best of their ability and this is what naturally came out. i think they are great for what they are, regardless of what you may think of the subject matter. that said, let's get started with this self titled ep first...

the cover art depicts a cop having his head chopped off while another dude is jerking off on his bare ass! like, wow, big time... i really like the style of the art, i'm always a sucker for a nicely crafted naive illustration. back cover also has a illustration that completes the theme started on the front cover. god, these illustrations are so dumb, i fucking love it! song titles are hand drawn, but they almost start to look a bit "comic book" to me with all the little stipple dots, so they lose points for that in my book....

A and B labels are nothing great in comparison to what you just saw, but here is a shot anyway. you can get this one from Wild American Records ( i also love that logo, by the way!)

next is the "Drunk Driving" ep, and this cover art is so epic! i mean, what else could you possibly draw as cover art for a record called "Drunk Driving" other than the bottle guy from the Minor Threat logo driving a car!?! all that white space surrounding the main illustration lets this thing breathe, and the hand drawn script type arching over the illustration was such a good call...

for the back cover, they continued the "Drunk Driving" theme from the front cover image, but were able to make it directly relate to the B-side song "Dead Meat". the middle finger salute in the distance is so sweet....

A and B labels are slightly better on this record.... slightly...

this one was release on Clown College Records.

Fucked Up - David Comes To Life Double Lp

2011-07-25T21:17:00.000-07:00

Fucked Up recently released their 3rd Lp on Matador Records, and from a graphic perspective, they remained true to their well established aesthetic. pretty much every one of their many singles and LP's feature a large front cover image floating within a minimal white boarder with the type hanging out on the top of the panel (not ever to mingle in with the art, but simply to identify it). it's a pretty straight-forward and unassuming layout idea for a record cover, and if they had only done it once it probably wouldn't have made much of an impression on anyone. it's through the repetition of this idea over the span of their enormous catalog of records that has created a commanding visual identity that is impossible to ignore.

i have to say, i really like the concept photography they created for this layout... the main image they used for the cover and the inside gatefold is credited to their bass player Sandy, which is pretty impressive considering the intricate level of detail found within this scene and the fact that i had no idea she was a photographer. there is a pretty big list of models credited for this photo and a whole lot of action happening happening in here...

i'm actually not a huge fan of this back cover. the image is a little underwhelming and the type feels way too large considering how boring the typeface is.

since this is a double Lp, the record jacket is a gate fold! i fucking love gate folds.... and when you open up the cover you have the image that was used for the cover as a full spread and uncropped. the "David Comes To Life" posters in the background were a nice touch...

inside the sleeve there is a huge 24" x 24" fold out poster insert. these are 1 color, 2 sided professionally printed posters on a glossy paper. on this side, we have a naive pencil illustration with some text of a poem added in. there is a nice balance here between the cleanliness of the type and the sketched graphite it's surrounded by.

on the flip side of the poster is a lyric sheet where the type has been perfectly justified into an ordered grid. they managed to make good use of alternating type faces to create a dynamic visual read. when you consider how much text is running thru this thing, you have to admit it feels really light and airy as a piece...

the A, B, C, and D labels are all the same and somewhat retro looking? i don't think that's what they were intending, but these things kinda remind me of something you would see on a Island Records release from the 70's or something.... do you know what i mean?

in addition to all of that, this record came shrink wrapped with a single sheet false cover inside...

pretty glad that's not the cover they put on the actual record. flip that thing over and there is another poem, nothing too interesting visually though...

Deaf Mutations - Crash The Clubs Ep

2011-07-19T22:25:00.000-07:00

got this record as a submission from Ellis of Shitty Limits while they were out here on tour. he recently put out the vinyl release of the Deaf Mutations ep on his label Static Shock Records, which is exciting since this had previously only been available as a very limited cassette tape.

this might be the most legit '81 looking punk record to come out of this decade. i mean, this thing is SPOT ON. if i didn't already know what it was, you could probably tell me this cover had been pulled from the pages of the Killed By Death blog, and i would have to believe you. for the front cover, we have 4 different type faces all mashed together by the power of a very unforgiving copy machine, and then somewhat ironically professionally offset printed on an uncoated and glued record jacket. that "PUNK" label laying across the top right corner is killing me, so awesome....

...it's just a perfect mess. since the front cover is so information heavy, the back panel was left wide open for some lyrics! i should really put the emphasis on SOME since only the A side song lyrics were given. they're off center, off placed, and despite being typed they are blown out to the point of near illegibility. pretty great back cover if you ask me....

the A and B labels are so sterile and orderly in comparison to the jacket that they almost look like test press labels... go big hole or go home.

hit up Ellis over at Static Shock directly for this record, he is a solid dude...

The Shitty Limits - Speculate / Accumulate 12" ep

2011-07-14T19:14:00.000-07:00

i grabbed a copy of the new Shitty Limits 12" ep while they were out here on tour back in june. this is the first release of theirs that i have been able to get up on the blog, but really their whole catalog looks solid as far as aesthetics go. for this record cover, they went with what i am guessing is a totally random found image, maybe from some sort of medical catalog or advertisement from the 40's or 50's. regardless of the intended meaning, i like how light this cover feels as an image. there's not a lot of heavy mid-tones to the photo, and when you float it inside that thick white boarder, the whole piece becomes very clean and easy to digest (dare i say "sterile"?)....

these jackets were professionally offset printed and glued on the uncoated side of a glossy sleeve (as in, the inside of this sleeve has a gloss coating and the outside does not) . i really like that this uncoated white retained the "brite-white" appeal of a normal glossy record while still delivering a rough textural quality that's often lacking with normal uncoated sleeves.

the back cover art of this record is pretty much the definition of minimalism. the thing about this style of design is that it takes a lot of confidence to showcase this level of absolute nothingness, so whatever you do with the space it better look sharp. lucky for them, they hit the nail on the head with this panel. it's just a nice clean typeface that has been carefully massaged into the center of the panel, and in this case the quality of the jacket really helps sell this concept with a nod to "hi-art"....

there is also a 1 sided 11" x 11" insert, and man is this thing punk! this is a fully hand written lyric sheet with the song names cut and pasted over top of it. it's sloppy and rough yet looks so good, i just wish you could read the lyrics a little better since they always prove to be entertaining....

the A and B labels are the same, very classic looking layout for a label....

this was released by La Vida Es Un Mus Discos in limited quantity, so don't wait around if you are looking to grab this! also, i think sorry state will be releasing a U.S. version...

Ralph Ep...

2011-07-13T21:53:00.000-07:00

HI! sorry for the brief break in posts, i've been pretty busy lately and haven't been able to make time for quality entries..... but i'm back now and have a pretty impressive pile of vinyl to move thru, so let's get started...

i picked up this awesome RALPH ep based solely on the cover art and packaging (or, lack there of). the cover art is a top notch collage framed within a thin black key line. there is a little bit of everything in this image, including what i believe to be part of a Norman Rockwell painting? anyway, i love this thing, it has great attitude and a bit of a sense of humor about itself....

this cover is literally just that, a cover panel. there is no back panel, it's just a 2 sided photocopy on a 80lb card stock, and i have to say it's kinda refreshing! all the info was able to be worked into the back side of the cover and still retain a good balance of negative space. all the type appears to be cut and pasted from a typewriter and layed out on a photocopier.

A and B side labels are blank white with hand stamps, the A side gets a stamp of the band name in a nice bold condensed typeface. i'm always a sucker for a clean font that has been kearned out nice and wide...

the B side gets a stamp of the label name....

this thing is limited to 300 copies according to the Scavenger of Death Records blog, but they still have some for sale if you act quick...

Limp Wrist Poster...

2011-07-12T07:57:00.001-07:00

i just finished designing and screen printing these Limp Wrist posters for their LA show tonight. they are 3 colors printed on 100lb cover stock paper and 18" x 24" in size. there are 90 prints in the edition and will be available for purchase this evening at the show....

on a personal note, these posters are Screenin 4 A Change #100! to see the other 99 posers i've done in the Screenin 4 A Change project and get more information, go to my site...

Suburban Nightmare Art Opening...

2011-07-04T15:50:00.000-07:00

i was asked to participate in a killer group show here in southern california that focuses on the artists responsible for the past and present aesthetic of the OC punk and hardcore scene. Jesse from the Hibbleton Gallery is acting as curator for this show and has pulled together a pretty impressive roster of artists to display work, so come out and have a good time if you are in the area.... there will be an opening reception this friday night from 6-10pm...

The Artery @ The Lab

2930 Bristol St

Costa Mesa, CA

Wormeaters - Wardeath ep

2011-06-28T22:00:00.000-07:00

another cool submission that came in from the great state of new jersey, the Wormeaters ep on Sorry State Records. these bad boys come with 2 color screen printed covers! their bass player Jeff did the layout, i'm not quite sure who did the printing, but the quality is pretty good.

the back panel feels a little thrown together... the type could have been a little more thoughtfully arranged, and there a bit of a weird negative space thing happening with all that white from the shot of the building in the background...

7" x 7" single sided photocopy punk insert, all cut and paste over here.... looks cool to me! and for the record, i choose death all the fucking time....

A side label is carrying all the information. all the type is consistent and easy to read, so that's a good thing....

B side is standard issue.... i have been thinking lately that it might be time for a new Sorry State logo, what do you think?

i think Sorry State still has some copies available....

Bloodtype ep...

2011-06-27T21:27:00.000-07:00

got a cool 7" submission from NJ's Bloodtype. the front cover illustration was done by Scott Bentz, he did a pretty spot on job nailing the classic straight edge aesthetic. it almost looks like if Zorlac-era Pushead drew the dude from the Uniform Choice logo with his fist punching thru some piece of shit pot smokers' skull... that's actually pretty cool! shit, i'd rock a varsity jacket with that X'ed up fist on it...

the back panel is all type, hand written and really bold. the big painted X sells it for me....

these covers were 4 color offset printed and folded, not glued. there is also a 1 color full panel insert printed on the inside when you unfold the sleeve. as far as lyric sheets go, this one reads well, but feels a little stiff on the design side.

the A and B labels are excellent, might even be my favorite part of this layout! the A side has a nice graphic lock up with the song titles framed in a half circle of X's. very clean, very classy...

the B side is a rad illustration by Jay Jacoby of a typewriter where all the keys are X's. it's a little conceptually "cutesy", but done well enough for me to not really care about that...

there you have it, pretty cool record. you can pick this up from Cowabunga Records

Sauna Youth - Lists ep

2011-06-21T22:01:00.000-07:00

Rich from Sauna Youth sent over another great 7" for review... similar to their first ep, this layout was drawn by Rich and his brother R.M. Phoenix. the covers were printed using a Risograph machine, which is kinda like a screen print / photocopy hybrid that uses instant automated plating for printing by color. i really love this cover art and that understated type hanging out in the corner. the intentional off-register cyan and magenta colors brings nice movement to the image and makes it way more dynamic than it would have been in just black ink. this thing would make for a killer t-shirt graphic...

these covers were printed on a raw / uncoated card stock and then cut down to be folded. the back panel features some of R.M.'s personal art with a beautiful geometric hand drawn line composition. the type on the back panel is also hand set with letraset to match the front....

the cover unfolds to be the lyric sheet. i love that you can see all the relief lines from where they cut the typewriter paper up and photocopied everything together. this thing looks awesome....

A and B labels are a match back to the insert and are identical. i don't know if the type was intentionally imbalanced on the label, but i love it!

Rich mentioned in his letter that there were 9 different covers made by various artists to coincide with a screen printed poster exhibition, i would have loved to check that out! maybe next time....

Focus On The Negative Art Zine #2

2011-06-21T19:54:00.000-07:00

i recently finished making the second Focus On The Negative art zine.... for those not aware, Focus On The Negative is a daily drawing blog i maintain as a place to post up some of the dumb shit i draw throughout the day. i've been posting drawings there for nearly a year now, so i had quite a lot of content to sift thru for the pages of this new zine!

this is a 50 page digital xerox printed zine on light grey paper that's been finished off with a transparent vellum cover. i made a limited run of 50 books, you can purchase one for yourself HERE if interested....

Lieutenant 12"

2011-06-15T18:29:00.000-07:00

check out this rad submission from Buffalo hardcore band Lieutenant.... limited to just 300 copies, all 300 records come with a hand made cover comprised of splattered silver spray paint and watercolor and then finished off with a 2 color acrylic screen print over top. that's a whole lotta work to put in on 300 records, but it was clearly time well spent, as the finished product looks great! the art is a simple cut and paste composite piece, not sure what the Mona Lisa looking portrait is about, but this screen print is top quality so fuck it....

back cover is just the song titles and label info, not a whole lot to talk about over here....

there is a 2 sided 11" x 11" black and white photocopied insert included. the lyrics are clean and easy to read, and i really like the way they playfully approached their use of positive and negative space with photography. check out the next 2 photos....

A and B labels tie into the insert art and look good. how about that bubble gum pink vinyl!?!?!

included with my package was a rad hand made poster! it's an 11" x 17" one color screen print on 80lb yellow cover stock, and was treated with the same spray paint / watercolor splatter as the 12" jacket. not sure if these actually come with the record, but it really rounded out the whole package in my opinion....

you can get your copy from Art Of The Underground /Peter Walkee Records...

Cola Freaks - Lp

2011-06-11T09:04:00.001-07:00

got my hands on a Cola Freaks Lp from Hjernespind Records last month, and it was worth the agonizing wait.... i love this band, and they can do no wrong in my book. with a string of very strong (both musically and visually) 7" singles spread out over the last couple of years, it's no surprise to me that they were able to pull off such a powerful LP effort. Nathan Kemmerer illustrated a wildly surrealist pen and ink image for their cover art, and while this might not be my personal favorite style of art, the quality of the art is undeniable. he has really nice line work and stippling in the fine details of this piece, my only real complaint is that i wish he had worked the "Cola Freaks" type into the illustration in a more integrated way instead of just slapping it over the art....

these covers are full color offset printed on a thin cover stock and gloss coated. the back cover

took a very minimal feel with just a simple hand done type design. it's not a lot to look at, but the single-line hand drawn box outline surrounding the type was a classy way to make this panel feel like more of a composition than just a bunch of type....

there is also a single sided 11" x 11" printed black insert with a band photo and some more liner note information that didn't make it to the back cover. i'm sure many designers would have tried to resolve the minimal back panel and insert into one layout, but i for one am really glad that they decided to leave them separate and let the information breathe....

A and B labels are the same, utilizing the hand made type from the front and back cover... rather straightforward.....

great release! there is also an american version that came out last month on Douchemaster Records, check it out!

Nightgaun - Absurdity of Meaning ep...

2011-06-06T20:57:00.000-07:00

got a cool submission from an arizona band called NIGHTGAUN.... the cover art is credited to Mykil Zep, who made a cool and humorous black and white illustration that fits well with the "Absurdity of Meaning" theme. the type gets a little lost in the line work of the illustration, but i'm pretty sure those were added in after the fact by someone else. that said, i can't help but feel as though this cover would have been so much stronger if he had worked up a nice bold typeface for this cover as well...

the back cover panel and insert art is credited to their guitar player "SBG", he has a much looser illustration style which is kind of charming its own way. it actually kind of reminds me of what every 7th grader's notebook cover looks like after they get into punk. the scratchy hand written song titles really send this thing home...

these covers are professionally offset printed on a coated paper and folded, not glued. unfold the cover for the printed insert inside. man, writing out all these lyrics must have taken some time, but it was totally worth it, cause these two panels look awesome....

check out this grayish-blue marble vinyl! that's pretty rad.... the A and B labels are total type drivers which always feels like a bit of a throw away to me, but at lease they are consistent to the rest of the writing in the insert...

this is a Primitive Future Records release, if anyone has contact info please post it in the comments section....

Omegas - Blasts of Lunacy Lp...

2011-06-01T20:05:00.000-07:00

nice modern design work on this new Omegas Lp.... it's refreshing to see such clean and methodical cover art from such a brutal hardcore outfit. the central image is simply a gradient color circle, prominently displayed large and bold, with the typography remaining small a and understated to anchor it down in the four corners of the cover. very classy, very well done....

these covers were offset printed on an uncoated matte cover stock and professionally assembled. the back cover is a mirrored image of the front cover with the addition of the track listing added in. this was a risky move, cause it all comes down to the strength of the front cover.... it kind of toes the line between "design brilliance" and "just plain lazy", and lucky for them it works really well in this case....

there is also an 11" x 11" 2 sided printed insert, on the front side is the essential hardcore photo collage, gotta love it....

on the back side there is a lyric sheet and then some more photos? this starts to look a little jumbled to me, maybe just leaving it as a lyric sheet with some larger type would have been the better choice....

my copy came on clear vinyl, which is a personal favorite of mine. A side label was a nice and easy tie-in to the front cover....

B side label ties into the lyric sheet. great photo....

overall, a top notch release, go to the Parts Unknown website for info on where to get yours...

New Art Print Available...

2011-05-30T20:51:00.000-07:00

i finished printing another art print this past week.... this one is an 18" x 24" screen printed poster on 100lb cover stock paper, 5 colors in total, titled "Never Enough" . the main illustration was one of the sketches i made for my daily drawing blog Focus On The Negative.

to see more of my screen printed poster art, click here. to purchase this print, click here.

Teargas - The Way Of All Flesh LP

2011-05-25T22:05:00.000-07:00

another great release i picked up recently from australian label Hardcore Victim... Teargas kicked off their US tour last week here in Los Angeles and they were great, so don't sleep on seeing them if they are rolling thru your area!

really nice illustrative art on this release by Murdoch. he has a very clean and bold graphic quality to his art, and i like the way he varies his ling weights to create dimension within his pieces. he draws with just enough detail to keep his pieces interesting without letting them become meticulous or heavy...

the back panel has a continued art theme carried over from the front, and the hand inked song titles add nice balance to the panel. these are folded and glued sleeves on coated matte cover stock...

inside the jacket there is a 11" x 11" double sided insert, also which was professionally printed. on the one side you have ambiance....

flip the insert over for the lyric sheet... not the most interesting to look at, but serves the readability needs well....

more illustration on the A and B labels... can't quite put my finger on what the A label is reminding me of! i hate that!....

Kromosom Demo

2011-05-24T22:16:00.000-07:00

a friend of mine brought this Kromosom Demo back for me from his trip to Australia... these covers are black and white photocopies, love the hand written bold type cover art!

the tapes were professionally manufactured and printed with silver ink. once again, that type looks sharp...

the inner panel of the insert is pretty insane... this whole composition is comprised of hand drawn lines and type! the angle of the lines and the variation between positive and negative space gives the art a lot of really nice movement...

hit up the guys over at Hardcore Victim to get a copy....

Obits - Moody, Standard, and Poor Lp

2011-05-20T22:51:00.000-07:00

when i heard that NYC based Obits would be releasing their second lp this year, i was almost as excited to see what it was going to look like as i was to actually hear it! front man Rick Froberg loaned his art skills once again to grace the cover of what will surely be another classic lp to add to his already impressive catalog of hits.

this record is a bit of an aesthetic departure from his usual layered illustrative style, but still remains an excellent exercise in graphic design. throughout the layout, there are subtle details added in to create the effect of a misprinted or out of registration print job. on the front cover image, the art slides down slightly on an angle from left to right while the type remains straight on, and there is a magenta shadow built into the art to create the illusion of a printing error...

i absolutely love the way Rick works with mixing his typefaces, and this back cover panel has got it going on! the altering between the italic and the condensed font styles makes for a pretty dynamic read, and look at that line of copy type running up the left side of the sleeve! that copy holds the whole composition together. the magenta being nudged out of registration looks really killer here as well....

instead of an insert, they went for a printed inner sleeve, which is always a nice touch. the simple, bold, black and white panel is a nice break from the loud colors of the outer jacket. liner notes rarely look this good....

lyrics would have been cool, but i guess they would have been pretty small.... it's kinda interesting that the inner sleeve was printed on a coated gloss paper and then outer jacket was printed on matte stock, it's kind of the opposite of what you would expect...

pretty sure these A and B labels are the Sub Pop standard issue, can someone confirm in the comment section?

Slavescene ep

2011-05-17T22:51:00.000-07:00

this one's not new but i really liked the art so i'm getting it up on here anyway... excellent use of illustration by Slavescene for their ep on Deranged Records. these cover illustrations have just the right amount of detail to give them character and make them interesting without becoming too serious or losing their naivety. i also really like the effect created by laying the line art over some random halftones and how it brings a little extra color depth into the art...

the covers are most likely photocopies on an 80lb cover sheet, folded not glued... feels right for the art and vibe presented here. the back cover is literally the same panel as the front with just the illustration and song title swapped out, not that it's a bad thing in this case...

there is a folded 8.5" x 11" photocopy insert as well, which provides a small amount of info but mostly just imagery. i could take or leave the collage but all that type next to it is spot on! love the mix of hand-made and typeset fonts going on here...

back side of the insert has 2 goofy / offensive illustrations, but just like the other side, the type is my favorite thing going on here...

bright fucking red vinyl, fuck yeah! i dig the monochromatic color choice for these A and B labels, and also the way the blue pops next to the red, but this whole "fucked up for the sake of being fucked up" image vibe is waaaaay played out for me. i can't help but roll my eyes whenever i see stuff like this (thanks, tumblr!)....

No Static 12"

2011-05-10T21:19:00.000-07:00

Bay Area's No Statik pulled together a nice looking release for their 12" on Prank Records... the cover illustration and layout was created by Moses Saarni, and i particularly like the approach he used on this cover art. it looks as though he painted out sections of his piece with correction fluid to create highlights, and then also went back in with black ink over top of the white.... it's definitely a finished piece, but it still has a really nice raw textural quality to it when you go in for a close look.

these cut and glued sleeves were offset printed on a matte paper stock. the back cover displays the song titles hand written out running down the center in a column. graphically speaking, there isn't a whole lot of visual trickery going on here, just some type and some dots really... but like the front cover, it retains just enough evidence of the human hand to keep it visually pleasing....

the insert is a 11.5" x 11.5" doubled sided sheet of 100lb cover stock. on the front side it's all about the abstract art, it actually kinda looks like it's making a subtle nod to the back cover of
"Damaged"?...

flip it over for the lyric sheet.... very clean, straight forward, and easy to read. also, very cool live photo courtesy of Martin Sorrondeguy, so that rules...

these A and B labels are ruling it! the A side has all the hand written out song titles, nice and bold white on black looks soooo good. this type has just the right amount of imperfection...

B side is more of those handmade dots from the cover and then the one song title for the B side (dude, 6 song A side + 1 song B side = amazing idea)...

nice work guys...

Brain F≠ Ep

2011-05-03T21:57:00.000-07:00

a while back i had posted up the Brain F≠ ep on Grave Mistake, this ep on Static Shock came out right around the same time and definitely seems to be following a similar aesthetic...

the front cover image is another found archive photo... the heavy grain in the image almost makes it look like it could be a picture of a TV screen. the type at the bottom is rather unassuming, but not terrible. when you compare the two records cover to cover, the Grave Mistake ep definitely wins out in my book, but this one is still pretty cool on its own. what it's lacking in design flare is made up for in "dark image" ambiguity...

the covers were printed and glued on a matte paper stock, and since Static Shock is a British label, the inner record sleeve is on that nice thicker paper! i have always loved that detail on European releases...

the back cover has more of that excellent typography work like their other release. despite all those different fonts being used at once, this somehow still comes off looking very controlled and clean. it completely defies design logic, and once again, i am impressed. that upside down crown / not equal sign is pretty epic as well. just having that one symbol thrown in the mix looks so killer...

the A and B labels are all over the font chart as well, and these too are pretty sick. 0.75 revolutions per second, huh?...

there are a few Asian characters thrown in here and there that really add dimension to the type, but i really love the big one on the top of the B side label with the F siting next to it! great juxtaposition...

New Art Print Series..

2011-05-01T13:06:00.001-07:00

i recently finished screen printing a new series of art prints that are now up for sale in my store. these are 4 individual 7" x 7" five color screen prints that were made in a limited edition of only 25 prints....

to see more of my art, click here.

Amber Alerts ep...

2011-04-27T23:31:00.000-07:00

i've been meaning to post this record for a while now, it wasn't until this afternoon when i was looking at C.M. Ruiz blog that i realized that i never got it up. so, here we are, another great record cover by C.M. Ruiz! more of his top notch cut and paste collage work, although this one seems to be missing his signature drawing elements that i love so much. the composition still works great without them though, i love the way he used the type to split the image into four quadrants...

the back panel has some great cut and paste type going on over this photo. that solid black bar along the bottom of the layout does a nice job of grounding the art, without it the white space would just wash everything out.

this is yet another one of those drop-notch sleeves that Imprint is manufacturing, i still love the effect even though i've picked up more records than i care to count this year that all have this design element. between the grain of the paper stock and the chunky halftones built into the art, this is one of the most textural records i've encountered since my copy of The Feederz Lp arrived from ebay 10 years ago...

there is also a tiny-ass piece of shit insert that i am guessing was not created by CMR since it's rather cumbersome and impossible to read. also, it looks like it was created in photoshop and not on a photocopier, so that kinda rules him out as well. seriously, i can barely make out any of the words on this thing, and it's ugly, so they probably should have just left it out....

A and B labels are standard issue, not bad...

you can get this from Sweet Rot Records...

School Jerks Ep...

2011-04-24T11:09:00.000-07:00

i really like the simplicity of this new School Jerks Ep on Cowabunga Records. the covers were beautifully illustrated by Tara Bursey, who also hand stamped a small amount of the pressing with the red School Jerks type. these are black and white photocopied sleeves on a nice 80lb natural cover stock of paper....

half panel folded back has the song titles in a typewriter font, and these things were literally just typed up and scanned in... no adjustments of any kind, not even centered! i love it.

on the inside of the cover you'll find the lyrics to ONE of the four songs on this record, as well as some liner notes... what's funny is that i am pretty sure that this the "Control" ep, so you would think that if they were only going to print lyrics to one of the songs that Control would be the song, but it's not! regardless, i enjoy their off-the-cuff approach to a lyric sheet, and don't really care what it says so long as it looks cool.

A and B labels were scanned straight off your old composition notebooks you used while you were in elementary school.

pick this up from Cowabunga, you won't regret it.

New Works...

2011-04-23T15:15:00.000-07:00

i finally got around to photographing some of the new pieces i have been working on... these are 9"x 14" collages made from the torn up test prints and drawings from my print shop. these will be on display at my next art show here in LA with Cella Gallery, more details on that soon....

to see more of my personal work, click here.

American Sun Demo...

2011-04-19T08:31:00.001-07:00

i got a cool demo submission from a brooklyn based band called American Sun, their bassist Jess put together the art for this layout. for the main cover image, she used one of her oil paintings paired with some ornate blackletter typography. between the deconstructed flag motif, the worn red color story, and the vintage typography, this image reads with a very "classic americana" sorta vibe. it may be a little campy when you break it down, but it all seems to flow well as a whole...

song titles are on the back panel in a bold condensed font, it reads clear and looks strong....

the tapes themselves are a smokey clear plastic shell with a slight red tint to them. all the art on the tape was printed with a very similar red ink, so you really have to hold the cassette in the right light to be able to see it. i'm always a fan of the subtly slick touches..

i should mention that these cassettes were professionally produced and assembled, so all the folds of the insert are perforated... this will always remind me of my childhood collection of metal tapes, which i love. ahhhhhh those were the days.

inside panel is.... minimal. don't get me wrong, i love minimal design, but there could have been a little more info in here. where was it recorded? contact info? favorite pet? no? oh well...

also included in this package was a band business card! that's kinda weird, but also really funny! and, it's done well as well, so here it is....

there you have it, pretty cool demo! you can order yours from Burn Books...

Manipulation - 2nd ep

2011-04-14T22:35:00.000-07:00

Manipulation from chicago just recently released their 2nd ep on Sorry State Records, and there are some consistent themes of dark and abstract imagery being carried over from their first ep to this record. this time they chose a single shot of a burning building as their cover image, and in lieu of typical branding on the cover, a simple piece of red cardstock was then folded around the side of the record for identity.

back cover follows the same idea from the cover.... keep the photo of the destruction nice and big and then utilize your folded tag for all the info. i suppose we could classify the letraset type as a carried over theme as well, since that was their approach to typography on their previous release as well.

a single sheet, double sided insert evokes a very different emotion with the photograph they chose on the art side. in a way, this photo actually makes the cover images even more powerful when you think about them in the context of this photo....

on the flipside, we have a nicely arranged lyric sheet ordered to the center. the negative black spacing on the sides is a little curious. on one hand it kinda feels like a mistake or something, but then again i kinda like it....

standard issue A and B labels, i think it's time to change these things out Sorry State....

pretty sure you can still grab this from Sorry State directly....

X= Demo Cassette

2011-04-12T22:26:00.001-07:00

got a great submission last week from a Pennsylvania band called "X="... it's surely one of the most elaborately packaged demo tapes i've ever encountered... the printed cardstock insert has been fabricated to wrap itself around the tape and then be bolted shut thru the 2 center holes of the cassette with 2 screws.

this layout is all about nailing the fine details.. there are a lot of really nice little design elements worked into the small areas of this layout, so be sure to click into the photos. these next two shots show each panel unfolded... check out how the art has been meticulously set up so that each hole goes straight thru the eyes of the image.

on the inside of the unfolded panel there is a a 1.25" x 1.75" folded 18 page lyric booklet stapled into the cover. here are some detail shots of some of the panels, i like the subtle page warping effect the lyrics have running thru them. it's just enough to keep it interesting with becoming too distracting...

the tape itself has also been decorated with some laser printer stickers...

pretty awesome.... if you want to pick one of these up for yourself, be sure to stop by the bands site.

Jimmy Fontaine X Comune Photo Show...

2011-04-10T12:17:00.001-07:00

photographer Jimmy Fontaine linked up with the southern california clothing company COMUNE to put together a rad little photo exhibit last night in Costa Mesa.... Jimmy grew up in san diego photographing his friends making music and skateboarding and has managed to successfully transition his experiences into a strong career as a fashion photographer in NYC. the group of work shown in the "Everything Went Black" exhibit was a split collection of fashion focused portraiture and live band photography, with the majority of the work showing off his strength in capturing black and white photographs with gorgeous saturation. here are some shots of the free little zine that Comune made for the show, it's a 5.5" x 8.5" folded and stapled book printed on newsprint...

i took some iphone shots of some of my favorite images on display, unfortunately there were too many people inside for me to get a full shot of all the work. these next 2 shots were on the longest wall of the gallery, and the majority of these images were from his fashion and professional work portfolios...

the two rear corner walls of the gallery were where there was a huge photo collage of some of his live band photography. here is a small selection of the work on display...

for more info on what jimmy has been up to, check out his blog HERE.

Night Birds - Midnight Movie Ep

2011-04-05T22:09:00.001-07:00

New Jersey's Night Birds sent over another great release for review a few weeks ago... their newest EP is a concept record titled "Midnight Movies" and features cover art by the great Mike Diana (his website has a pretty amazing story about his life as well as examples of his other work, it's worth the click...) this illustration is so epic, be sure to click in there and study all the little details hiding out....

back cover is really clean and straight forward, which is a nice balance to the wild-style of the front illustration. i like to think that the Night Birds really do just hang around on a roof somewhere in New Jersey with BELIAL from the classic B horror movie Basket Case, but i know they don't. the photo was taken by Max Ryazanski, it could have come down in size a bit since the song titles are a little cramped down there at the bottom, but hey, what can you do...

the insert is a 3.5" x 5.5" 2 sided photocopy on red card stock. man, someone spent some serious hours of their life writing out all these lyrics, but it was totally worth it! check out how good this looks... and THANK YOU for leaving the scribble!

flip it over for the info... it's perfect.

A and B labels look cool, but i wish the "Night Birds" and "Midnight Movies" type had been left straight. having them fall around the big hole looks a little weird next to the rest of the straight type...

there are some serious killer jams on this vinyl, get a copy from No Way Records directly!

Tear It Up art zine...

2011-04-05T19:59:00.000-07:00

this past week, one of my old bands Tear It Up played two reunion shows as a sort of "record re-release" of our "Nothing To Nothing" lp on Six Feet Under Records. since the record layout for the reissue stayed the same as the original, i decided to throw together a little art zine of new Tear It Up imagery as a sort of supplemental content. these 5.5" x 8.5" books are 24 pages and were digitally printed on a xerox machine in an edition of 100 copies. all 100 were given out for free at the two shows. here are some photos of my favorite pages from the book.... enjoy!

The Pheromoans - Midnight Watchdog Ep

2011-03-30T22:13:00.000-07:00

let's do a really quick post tonight before i have to go draw some shit and go to bed.... this Pheromoans ep caught my attention a while back but i never got around to posting it for some reason... but when i posted the Vaccuum EP last week and was talking about the cool little cut away detail on the back cover was it reminded me that i needed to post this record on here as well.

very nice illustrated composition on the front panel with some nice and sloppy hand written type. it's interesting that nothing on this cover seems to be centered or even straight on the page. this lack of concern for formalities is rather refreshing, and while i am sure it was intentional, it still comes off effortless somehow. well done...

lots more to look at on the back.... there is that cut away i was talking about in the previous post i made last week, does anyone know who is manufacturing these covers? it's offset printed on watercolor paper and then die-cut and glued, and it's easily my new favorite type of 7" record sleeve. i just love feeling the tooth from the paper when you pick this thing up, very cool. back cover has more of that sloppy inked out hand writing for the song titles and then even less of that same style of illustration from the front....

A and B labels are a standard issue from the record label, but they look decent...

sadly, no insert, but i bet it would have been a hand written masterpiece! pick this up from Sweet Rot Records directly....

Vaccuum Ep...

2011-03-24T21:08:00.000-07:00

love this new Vaccuum Ep on Lengua Armada Records.... great abstract collage based art that was cut and pasted together with some ransom note typography to go along with it. it's the perfect punk formula for making record cover art that was done here with just the right amount of personal style. there are a lot of nice little details built within all the art for this record....

more photo based abstract art on the back panel.. these jackets were spot color offset printed on what feels like a watercolor paper and then were die-cut and glued. i love the little cut-away on the top of the back cover and also the rounded corners, very classy!

this insert is so rad... this is a 6.25" x 11" folded piece of vellum, printed on one side to be a lyric sheet. love the way all the type was spaced out around the photo, and it looks as though the whole thing was typeset with letraset! leaving the scribbles in was a solid move too... awesome job!

blank A and B labels and no paper sleeve, kinda like the minimalist approach...

Tear It Up Poster....

2011-03-23T08:36:00.000-07:00

i recently designed and screen printed this poster for my old hardcore band Tear It Up. we are getting back together to play 2 shows this week on the east coast in support of 6 Feet Under Records re-releasing our "Nothing To Nothing" lp.

this is a 3 color screen print on 80lb 18" x 24" black linen paper and can be purchased HERE. to see more of my work, click here...

Too Fast To Live, Too Young To Die.

2011-03-17T23:00:00.000-07:00

i finally got over to Subliminal Projects today to check out an awesome group show called "Too Fast To Live, Too Young To Die". it featured work by just about every name you can think of that was associated with crafting the look, style, and attitude of the early days of the DIY punk and hardcore scene in southern California. while much of the show consisted of work you have most likely already seen reproduced somewhere else before, the experience of viewing these classic images in person was unparalleled to any book or magazine and well worth the trip.

while there was an overwhelming amount of great work decorating the gallery walls, the pieces i was most excited to see and was ultimately most impressed with were the new collaboration works done by Shepard Fairey and Raymond Pettibon. i personally love the style of both these artists so it was rad getting to see them come together on this project. the work was largely Raymond's signature watercolor and illustration that was then collage and spray paint detailed by Shepard...

speaking of Shepard Fairey, his recent portrait of Henry Rollins was up for viewing as well. i love the way he layers into these large scale collages that he has been producing over the last few years, this thing looked sooo sweet in person...

Winston Smith brought a collection of some of his original flyer collages and Dead Kennedy's related artwork to show. i always enjoy seeing his work in person...

half the exhibit was photo work, and just about everyone brought their best Black Flag images. here is what Glen E. Friedman brought to the table...

Jenny Lens had a few photographs on display as well, this might be my new all-time favorite from her body of work...

there was also a great selection of Edward Colver photographs, which was my favorite part of the photography selection. these three of Edward's stood out to me...

lastly, there was an LA centered flyer installation by "Fucked Up & Photocopied" author Bryan Ray Turcotte. there was a good mix of your classic favorites as well as the more obscure flyers, here is a small sampling of what was on display....

this show will be up for another week or so, be sure to check it out if you live in the LA area...

SUBLIMINAL PROJECTS GALLERY
1331 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Gentleman Jesse & His Men Ep

2011-03-15T23:05:00.000-07:00

i thought this was a pretty cool concept for cover art on this new Gentlemen Jesse & His Men Ep. it's basically just a recreation of a Georgia drivers license, only it's been abstracted by the fold of the cover and in the process creates a nice random and kind of sparse layout. take a look at the front cover, i love that the photo lands just off center on the panel and you get that nice hint of type coming off the spine. man, that photo makes my face hurt...

the back panel is where all the type lives. all of the text has been altered to contain the necessary information in the same typeface and ordering style of the actual license. this panel is slightly off center as well thanks to the fold....

here is a shot of the whole cover unfolded...

A and B labels are standard issue for Hozac, but the yellow paper mixed with solid red vinyl actually looks pretty sweet...

for more info on this release, check out the Hozac Records site.

Bitchin Bajas / Moon Duo Split EP

2011-03-13T22:49:00.000-07:00

i'll be honest with you, i have no idea who these bands are, i haven't listened to either side of this record and most likely won't, and i'm ok with that. i picked this up recently at Amoeba 100% because i loved the collage art on the jacket. in my past experiences with this form of art based record buying, i am usually quite disappointed with the records on a musical level, so i'm just not even going to go there...

so yeah, check out this collage work, this thing has got it all going on.... those broken up lines look insane with all this black and white saturation happening, and i love the way they handled the type too. when you have such a heavy art piece going on i'm always a fan of small and out of the way type...

ohhh and this back cover is killer too! look at that single hairline of white running into the center image from the side... without that line this thing would be shit, but it perfectly breaks up that huge sea of black and then also balances the whole composition. epic....

i wish i knew who to credit for this record art, but unfortunately there is no insert.... which is a shame considering how awesome the jacket is, i would bet that the insert would have been pretty great as well.

A & B labels are a bore, but the printed black paper sleeve was a nice touch...

here is what the Permanent Records website had up for info about their release:

We here at Permanent Records couldn't be more delighted to be sharing with you our very first Record Store Day exclusive release, a split 7" between (the brand new CAVE side project) Bitchin Bajas and Moon Duo (featuring Wooden Shjips' guitarist Erik 'Ripley' Johnson). CAVE and Wooden Shjips share a lot in common, but their respective side projects make an even better split pairing. Each band specializes in minimalist, repetitive psych that's obviously influenced by krautrock. However, they differ in that Bitchin Bajas focuses on melodic repetition while Moon Duo is heavier on the rhythm and quite a bit darker. This is Bitchin Bajas' debut release. Moon Duo has released three critically acclaimed records to date. Both tracks on this split are exclusive to this release, which is limited to 750 copies, never to be pressed again.

NY Rules Compilation

2011-03-10T20:36:00.000-08:00

i got a nice little package in the mail from an old east coast friend last week... Max from Burn Books sent over the this very slick NY RULES cassette compilation he just released, check out this envelope it was sent in...

yeah, this cassette came in a 9" x 14" screen printed envelope! that's nuts.... here is a shot of the front of the cassette, aesthetically this kinda looks like a budget 80's tape you might have received free with purchase in your order from BMG or something.... pretty funny. file under: so bad it's good.

the back panel text ordering could have been a bit cleaner, but it does the job... i do love the A and B indicator symbols.

the actual tape itself is a yellow professionally manufactured and printed cassette, and this thing looks sweet! i'm liking the font mixing between the bold, the outlines, and the fine inside the A and B indicators... it all comes together beautifully right here.

the single panel layout inside the front cover is dedicated to the band credits.... fully justified type was a good choice, but it could use a bit more space between the edge of the type and the outer key line that holds it all in...

oh yeah, did i mention that this thing comes with a huge poster too!?! this 22" x 30" poster was offset printed on newsprint and is sure to piss off your mom when she sees it hanging on your bedroom door.

max and his Burn Books partner Alex put this whole thing together, including all that fancy horror make-up. they are solid dudes worthy of your support, so pick up your copy of this release here. it's currently in its' second press of 250 copies and will not be repressed...

Deep Sleep - "Turn Me Off" Lp

2011-03-03T23:26:00.000-08:00

it is with great pleasure that i bring you a new blog post on a top notch release, the brand new Deep Sleep Lp! i've loved every record these guys have put out (musically as well as visually) and i'm elated to finally get a review up on this site...

if you've been keeping up with this blog over the past 2 years, it most likely will come as no surprise to hear me say that i love a band with both a strong and consistent aesthetic, and Deep Sleep continues to dominate in category as far as current bands go. each record layout is tigthtly conceptually crafted by their singer Tony, who has a remarkable knack for transforming 1950's film stills into compelling punk imagery. while all their cover art has been great, the use of repeated and split imagery on this cover really elevates it to a new level while also revealing an evolution of process...

these covers were professionally offset printed and glued on a nice coated cover stock paper. back cover is pretty straight forward, a simple live shot collage of the four members and then the song titles neatly arranged down the center. clean and easy....

the insert to this record is a 12" x 24" fold out poster which was also professionally printed on a coated paper. the main art side is a continuation of the front cover idea, pulling more vibe from 50's film idols for all you nostalgia buffs, but more importantly it the continued use of repetition. pretty nice looking poster if you ask me...

flip this bad boy over for the lyric sheet, and watch out cause tony is a master when it comes to utilizing a letraset type sheet. those crisp helvetica song names looks so good with the typewritten lyrics too, i'd actually have a hard time deciding which side of this insert to hang on the wall....

black and red labels on white vinyl is pretty juicy. side A gets all the info across...

side B label is where the eye-candy lives, nice little cut and paste job over here...

you can pick this up from the Grave Mistake site...