mohair_printwork
blofeld_printwork
_what
_how
_tags
the pony collaboration_record sleeve
_what
_how
we here at version have been following the pony collaboration since they formed back in 2003 and have been strong supporters of their unique brand of wonky alternative country music. james scallan, the lead singer of the band whom is a friend of version from years past got together with us to collaborate (as pony so often like to do) on a creative venture to encapsulate all that went into those recordings but in graphical form. i think that between us and the pony collaboration we have created a perfect package for those wonky alternative country tracks. enjoy.
their debut album is out in april 2007 on series 8 records.
_link
_tags
65daysofstatic - destruction website_website
_what
_how
_features
- adapted wordpress-based news blog
- javascript driven time-based selection style-sheet system
- CSS / xhtml / javascript design
- custom .flv player
- custom 'ejectable' mp3 player with 'resume' cookie system
_link
_tags
dance parties [remix]_website
_what
_how
_features
- action script 3
- papervision 3D
- cursor driven remix interface
_link
_tags
65daysofstatic_promo video
_what
_how
_tags
protomen_website
_what
_how
_features
- full-screen flash interface
- original music by the protomen
- original hand-drawn graphics by john delucca
- new protomen logo
- countdown clock
_link
_tags
perry danos_website
_what
_how
_features
- flash mp3 player witth 'resume play' functionality
- javascript slideshow with flickr-based content
- xml-based mp3 playlist player
_link
_tags
protomen_logo
_what
_how
_tags
protomen_record sleeve + poster
_what
_how
_link
_tags
makeup and vanity set_record sleeve
_what
_how
_link
_tags
the pony collaboration_record sleeve
_what
_how
james, the head of the pony collaboration, came to us with a few photographs he had sourced as a starting point for the art direction on their second album. visually, the route we took was to show the new album as reflection of their first. this is especially apparent with the cd itself which reflects a more sombre outlook than the jolly pink one from their first release. both james and version wanted to take the visual cues from the first album and reflect it as if seen in a forgotten dirtied mirror, very much like the source photography he gave us.
their new album is out now on series 8 records. the new digital single will be out in may 2010.
_link
_tags
big black delta_short film, record sleeve + poster
_what
_how
jonathan bates, better known for his part in the fantastic band mellowdrone, recently got back in touch with us regarding a 'new thing' he was working on. as luck would have it, it was some seriously rich and rewarding new music. the kind which fills the mind with images pretty fast. well, the next thing you know we're watching the thundercats intro in total awe, debating wallpapering our apartment walls with TRON screenshots, and obsessing over UFOs. how one thing lead to another is neither here nor there, but it turns out we were all down with this new thing ... and it was taking us places.
what then ensued was the constant, rapid exchange of music for artwork, much the way a choir does their psalms and responses. there's no question in our minds now that big black delta was the only name you could use to sum up the music, what inspired it and everything we'd ultimately made together from that point forward. cut then to just a few days ago. cut right to the moment when we slung the cover you see above onto the proverbial coffee table. cut to us all looking at each other like we knew it was time. yep, ufologists were about to get some melody in their google.
additionally we shot and edited a short film to accompany the release of the song IFUCKINGLOVEYOU. it was shot over a couple of days around independence day in los angeles. the idea was simply to capture everything we got up to in the short time we had, be that searching the night sky for flashing lights, watching dan akroyd talking about UFOs on youtube or jonathan bates making strange noises on his studio floor. we hope the end result, if nothing else, makes you feel like all these things are related. not forcibly, but maybe with a little serendipity.
_link
_tags
65daysofstatic_record sleeve
_what
_how
_link
_tags
daft punk_website
_what
_how
_features
- html5 / javascript UI
- keyboard input based triggers
- ascii art source code
- topspin E4M integration
_link
_tags
sonoio blue_record sleeve + print
_what
_how
now we say 'artwork' as opposed to 'design work' because he was particularly interested in the looser, more painterly / emotional elements of our work over some kind of cleaner, tighter design effort. modwheelmood (his previous band) had been heavy on the minimal design / die-cutting and this time, the record being much more personal to him, alessandro wanted a more cathartic, hand-made quality.
we talked for a while and decided that we should try to create something that had a european quality to it - something that harked back to alessandro's roots. combining this with a visual device that we felt was most honest to the lyrical content on the record, we came up with the two matisse-esque characters you see on the cover, who are trying to cover up the holes in their chests. the colour choices were then informed in part by the colour of the buchla synth itself. the pencil marks are that of my father thomas newbolt, who's drawings we cut up and relocated elements of for the sake of adding more movement / life to the collage.
_link
_tags
war widow_record sleeve
_what
_how
a huge thanks to photographers alex alekseenko and matt sundin, without whom this project would have never come about.
_link
_tags
sonoio red_music video, record sleeve + print
_what
_how
furthermore alessandro was toying with the idea of a music video this time and asked that we might pitch a few ideas to him for a couple of different songs on the record. we came up with 3-4 ideas he chose the most 'live performance' based concept that we had and soon things were under way. the video was for the song enough, which to us was one of the songs that immediately jumped out on the record when hearing it for the first time. once more we recruited the talents of matt sundin (who helped us shoot the 65daysofstatic and war widow album covers) and soon after alessandro was flying to new york to shoot the video with us in brooklyn.
you can read more about making the artwork + video here.
_link
_tags
big black delta_record sleeve
_what
_how
_link
_tags
polinski_record sleeve + music video
_what
_how
the discussions for how to handle the artwork for the album started years before the record was even a twinkle in his eye. we'd talked at length for years about films, musics, books, games and designs that appeal to us for whatever reason. whether it be the books of jeff noon or the cassette loading games of sinclair zx spectrum, there was an innate understanding of what this solo project would demand in terms of artwork the moment the demos started to come together.
the final artwork started with us coming up with a story that would capture paul's feelings about various things and how he wanted to translated those into a science fiction tale of some kind. the next step was padding that story out with various touchstone visual elements and then translating those into a series of panels that we could use for the album and any singles. the first image we put together turned out to be the album cover as it is now, and this went onto influence paul's approach to making the music. he then sent us more demos that inspired the creation of more panels, and so the back and forth went until we had enough to illustrate the story / world we had created.
the music video for the album's first single, stitches, was an attempt to bring back the feeling of using the zx spectrum computer, whilst detailing some of the album's narrative elements. more details on the making of the video to follow soon.
_link
_tags
