(v)
(v_i)
(version_industries)

music
front cover
back cover
front cover vinyl mockup
back cover vinyl mockup
_what
record sleeve for the los angeles-based band, big black delta.
_how
it's been over a decade now since jonathan bates called us and asked caspar to do all the artwork for a new band he was starting called big black delta. working with jon has been one of the things that has kept caspar sane over the years. when jon sends us new music it's time to put the pencils down, get up from our chairs and dance. these acoustic versions of some of the best big black delta songs were no less effective. the opening lyrics of the new version of "betamax" coming as they are from an older, wiser and more weathered mr. bates, somehow carry more weight than ever before.

the artwork came easy. jon and his team approved the very first draft caspar put together. the idea was to reduce the big black delta imagery to the simplest forms, and let those forms succumb to gravity's pull; as we all do in the end. in this way we hoped the artwork would appear to be as reflective on the past, aging and the nature of all things, as these new songs are.

you can listen to the record's first single here, and you can preorder the vinyl edition here.
_link
bigblackdelta.com
_tags
main title
_what
title sequences for the feature film, aftersun.
_how
a few days before the 2022 cannes film festival producer adele romanski reached out and asked if we had the time to create the title sequence for a new film she had produced called aftersun. we connected with the film on a numer of levels and immediately committed to the work.

caspar sent the director, charlotte wells, some typeface ideas based on the film’s overall mood and his experiences of growing up in the 90s. they then began work on customizing and animating the chosen typeface in a fashion that charlotte and he felt appropriate to the tone of the film. all the while caspar’s brother josiah got to work on creating the end crawl.

you can read more about our involvement in the project here, and you can watch the titles themselves here.
_link
artofthetitle.com/title/aftersun
_tags
_what
poster for the short film, prep.
_how
producer raymond knudsen returned and asked us to make a poster for his new film, prep. this time raymond was in the director's chair and his film is a frenetic, personal insight into the world of body building. we loved the film and presented a range of poster ideas for raymond to choose from. he selected the one you see here. the collaged juxtaposition was our attempt to tackle the particular psychosis suffered by the protagonist in the film.
_link
bigbluepictures.com/soon
_tags
record sleeve
_what
record sleeve for the nashville-based band, the protomen.
_how
the protomen sent us their new song, "the fight," and we got to work. the band are always clear on the imagery they want to accompany their music, and john delucca and caspar do their best to realize that vision.

this time around the band needed a new logo as well as a revised visual aesthetic. john drew the cityscape you see here, and caspar drew the logo typeface and the rest of the layout. the aesthetic references are we're sure very obvious to some, but above all we hope you find it all a fitting visual accompaniment to the song.

you can listen to "the fight " here.
_link
protomen.com
_tags
title card 3
title card 1
title card 2
title card 4
title card 5
title card 6
title card 7
title card 8
title card 9
_what
titles for the feature film, the inspection.
_how
long-standing collaborator elegance bratton reached out and asked that we assist him in creating titles for his debut feature film, the inspection, which was to be produced and distributed by A24 films. the film is a personal story based on elegance's own experiences as a young, gay man who, rejected by his own mother, entered the military as a way of getting off the streets of new york and finding some self respect. what transpires is a drama that illustrates the complexities of being a homosexual in the army and a parable of self discovery and definition.

we sent elegance a series of typographic ideas for the titles and elegance picked the styles you see here. the resulting mixing of typefaces used, to us, suggested the idea of being a sensitive man in a tough military environment. both typefaces are beautiful and imperfect in their own ways and together suggested in this way the film's overall narrative. elegance then asked that we colour the text gold to reflect his feelings about how he felt about the story. 
_link
a24films.com/films/inspection
_tags
white on black logo
_what
logo for the new york-based company, fraude films.
_how
wells watson jr. reached out to us and asked that we might create an animated logo for his new company, fraude films. after presenting various ways in which to visualize his company's name, we all settled upon the one you see here. created by giulia bertolino and caspar, the animation is a result of some digital type design, and plenty of printing and scanning. 
_link
fraudefilms.com
_tags
magazine cover
_what
redesign of the new york-based film journal, filmmaker magazine.
_how
this the winter issue of filmmaker magazine further evolves the overall approach we've taken with the redesign, both inside and out. this time around charlotte gosch and i introduced some new typefaces to the magazine and used their large family of styles to talk about how a magazine of this kind has different "voices," be those the the voices of the filmmakers being interviewed, the magazine's writers or the magazine's designers.
_link
filmmakermagazine.com
_tags
_what
title sequences for the feature film, waves.
_how
director trey edward schults had a few ideas about how the opening titles for his new feature film, waves, should look and feel. he was keen to capture a certain, particular "florida feeling," the US state in which the film had been shot. in turn we suggested that a neon flicker of orange on top of the beautiful opening shot of the girl on her bike would hint nicely at the darker film to come. after finding the right colour, placing and treatment of the titles, we offered him some typeface options and he chose the one you see here.

for the closing titles trey had some unusual, abstract b-roll footage he'd shot in pre-production and we suggested we scroll black type through it so that at times the words literally got lost in the darker colours. this was one of those rare projects where everything we did the director and A24, the film's production company, loved straight off the bat.
_link
a24films.com/films/waves
_tags
magazine cover
_what
redesign of the new york-based film journal, filmmaker magazine.
_how
this the fall issue of filmmaker magazine further evolves the overall approach we've taken with the redesign, both inside and out. after the summer's "pandemic digital-only issue" charlotte gosch and i wanted to celebrate the return to print with an experimental design. we explored the idea of "spatial depth," as hinted at in the magazine's logo, within the pages of a magazine. we blurred images and laid them over other images to give a sense of light, projected films and so on. we then used a brutalist-style chiaro scuro approach within the magazine's layouts to talk about what it is to move through space, particularly when entering the cinema to see a film in the darkness.
_link
filmmakermagazine.com
_tags
magazine cover
_what
redesign of the new york-based film journal, filmmaker magazine.
_how
this the summer issue of filmmaker magazine further evolves the overall approach we've taken with the redesign, both inside and out. this time around, due to the global pandemic and printers being closed down, we redesigned the magazine for digital viewing only. charlotte gosch and i therefore changed the format of the magazine to suit the scrolling experience, as opposed to the physical page turning experience.
_link
filmmakermagazine.com
_tags
cover vinyl mockup
_what
record sleeve for the nashville-based band, makeup and vanity set.
_how
'breaking news' is the 4th record in a series of imaginary soundtrack albums by matthew pusti, AKA makeup and vanity set. it is the first record in a start of a new trilogy, but a part of a larger series under the name 'charles park'. the narrative of this record is based more around a criticism of the american news media. based on a short plot synopsis from matt, long-standing collaborator john delucca and i set to work on creating a cover that we felt set the tone of the movie inside matt's head. the result of that work you can see here.
_link
makeupandvanityset.com
_tags
LP cover
vinyl
cd
cassette
CD cover
digital cover
_what
record sleeve for the berlin-based musician, alessandro cortini.
_how
old friend and long-standing collaborator, alessandro cortini, asked us to take care of the logo and design the layouts for his new album, volume massimo. photographer emilie elizabeth had already shot the beautiful cover photographs you see here when we joined the project. it was then our task to frame these images with a rich yet minimal design aesthetic that further harmonized with the album's overall tone. in the end we went with three different covers for the album - one for the vinyl, one for the CD and one for the digital / streaming edition.
_link
store.mute.com/browse/mute/products/alessandro-cortini-volume-massimo
_tags
still
_what
end title sequence for the feature film, the song of sway lake.
_how
we met director ari gold at a party on his rooftop. in discussions about his forthcoming new film he revealed he was looking for a title sequence. sharing a love for the filmed title sequences of saul bass, we agreed to stay and touch and discuss things further. a few weeks later producer alexandra byer, cinematographer shabier kirchner and i found ourselves upstate filming by a lake. not long after that were cutting the sequence you see here into the film. the piece combines almost every aspect of what we do as a company, from record cover design through to film direction.
_link
swaylake.com
_tags
_what
redesign of the new york-based film journal, filmmaker magazine.
_how
with issue 104 of the magazine we decided to revamp the filmmaker logo once again. we didn't want to change the concept of it, but more the way in which we'd previously executed it. the original rendition had been hand drawn and this revised edition was more machine-made. the result is more refined and, we feel, a more fitting translation of our original concept.
_link
filmmakermagazine.com
_tags
cover
back cover
package mockup
_what
record sleeve for the nashville-based band, makeup and vanity set.
_how
"the future past. lights on a horizon. blood in your veins. old visions. low frequencies fading across night. the roar of the masses. the reflection of bulbs overhead, on printed plastic and steel. a fight to survive, all or nothing. shadow circuit."

this was the story matt pusti (AKA makeup and vanity set) had written and was thus scoring the soundtrack for when he created this album. what you see here is the logo design and record sleeve artwork we created to reflect this narrative.
_link
makeupandvanityset.bandcamp.com/album/shadow-circuit
_tags
cover
_what
record sleeve for the berlin-based band, sonoio.
_how
for this the third and final sonoio release, alessandro cortini asked us to produce artwork that offered a more cinematic visual than last time. after much discussion we landed on the idea of building a film set, lighting it and photographing it. we then reached out to long-time collaborator, the photographer matt sundin, and got to work sourcing all the necessary materials. the final cover offers both a commentary on the dual translations (italian and english) of the album's title, 'fine,' and a visual suggestion of the sonic and lyrical nature of the music. 

the record is available through dais records on vinyl, cd and all streaming services. if you have the means, we cannot recommend a physical copy of the record enough. it offers a rich accompaniment to what is already a really beautiful listening experience.
_link
sonoio.org
_tags
cover
back cover
_what
record sleeve for the nashville-based band, you drive.
_how
you drive is a new band formed by long-term collaborators of ours, makeup and vanity set, and the singer / song-writer jasmin kaset. a few months ago they approached us to create their debut album artwork. the plan for the record was to release it on vinyl. after listening to the record for some time we took a feeling for the overall tone and some lyrical fragments from the songs, and decided to make a series of still life photographs that we'd then insert into the jacket design in one form or another. working in collaboration with the photographer, jeff brown, we sourced various objects, built a series of sets in our studio and got to work arranging and lighting things. we then created abstract interpretations of the same photographs and used those as counterpoint pieces throughout the layouts. the resulting package we feel speaks to the music in both direct and indirect ways.
_link
you-drive.co
_tags
_what
record sleeve for the los angeles-based band, big black delta.
_how
the cover for big black delta's 2nd LP, tragame tierra, was the 'last man standing' after trying a series of ideas that attempted to capture the subtler qualities of the new tracks. in the end we settled on a minimal aesthetic, colours that jon felt were closer to his sensibilities these days and a photograph jon liked of himself taken by jeff brown, and we developed things from there.
_link
bigblackdelta.com
_tags
cover
cover + records
back cover
inside spread
detail
_what
record sleeve for the nashville-based band, makeup and vanity set.
_how
2 years in the making, wilderness is the new album from our good friends and longstanding collaborators, makeup and vanity set. the artwork stems from the narrative matthew pusti wrote for the record has he composed it. a combination of bespoke photography and extensive digital collage-work, it's perhaps our most involved record sleeve to date.

the record features the talents of many friends including big black delta, the protomen, witchoria and joey ciccoline. the short film accompanying the record's release and is featured in part in the album's video trailer above.
_link
makeupandvanityset.com
_tags
_what
poster for the feature film, valley of saints.
_how
director musa syeed got in touch and asked that we watch his film with a view to creating a poster for it. we were moved by the picture and set to work exploring 2-3 different visual directions that touched on key themes in the film. the design you see here is the one that musa felt closest to. it attempts to capture the sense of conflict surrounding the decisions the main character had to make in the story. pauline fourest was the lead designer on this project.
_link
valleyofsaints.com
_tags
poster
_what
film poster for the feature film, two step.
_how
long-time fans of alex johnson's film work, we were delighted to be asked to do a poster for his debut feature. set in austin texas, this thriller takes queues from the cohen brothers and pulls no punches. we all agreed from an early stage that some kind of brutal 'dance of death' diagram might be apt. the result makes good use of a casual, behind the scenes photo that their production team had kicking around. 
_link
twostepfilm.com
_tags
charles park trilogy album cover
charles park trilogy poster
_what
record sleeve, poster + trailer for the nashville-based band, makeup and vanity set.
_how
telefuture records approached makeup and vanity set with the idea of re-releasing their popular charles park records as a trilogy box set. the moment the project got a green light john delucca, joey ciccoline and ourselves were put to work in tying the overall package together visually.

john was sent a few paragraphs detailing the narrative behind each album. he then started to create a poster that we could divide into three halves, to represent the three parts of the story.

we were asked to create the logo, cover and overall packaging for the record. the logo we made is pretty self-explanatory, but the packaging was a subtler affair. utilizing the bokeh affect often seen in films when the camera is focussing on objects in the foreground, we realized we could represent each part of the trilogy with a different coloured circle. in this way the cover image could say a lot with very little, and each record within the packaging could be differentiated by its own red, blue or brown graphic.

joey was then sent the logo and proceeded to shoot the necessary footage to create the teaser trailer for the trilogy, this clip was the first promotional piece released to the general public. once released the limited edition box set sold out in 2 days, but you can still purchase the album digitally here.
_link
makeupandvanityset.com
_tags
_what
record sleeve for the nashville-based band, makeup and vanity set.
_how
the threat of anthony scott burns and makeup and vanity set collaborating on a project together had been growing at an exciting rate. finally with the forthcoming release of burns' sci-fi short 'manifold,' we get a preview of things to come in the form of the score he asked makeup and vanity set to write for it. including two new, unreleased tracks, the score is now an EP soon to be released on telefuture records.

what you see here is the sleeve artwork we created to support the release. the record is available now for preorder here.
_link
makeupandvanityset.com
_tags
single cover
_what
artwork for white sea's single, they don't know.
_how
we've been chatting with morgan kibby of white sea and m83 about collaborating for some years now. opportunities have come and gone like black dogs running at night. that was until a few months ago when she told us her new record was done and it was called 'in cold blood'. listening to it confirmed that our hearts had started racing for good reason - this was as close as she could have possibly come to our sensibilities, and we had to seize the moment. what you see here is the artwork for the first single, 'they don't know,' which in many ways foreshadows the more elaborate work we've done on the album cover. patrick nagel meets david lynch meets american psycho, if you will.
_link
whiteseamusic.com
_tags
poster
_what
posters for the feature film, memphis.
_how
based on our previous work on PAVILION, the film's director tim sutton invited us to the set of his new feature MEMPHIS. once again he asked us handle the films posters, title sequence and online promotion. the poster you see here was created using a photograph that caspar took on set. the image is of the film's start, willis earl beal.

you can purchase a physical copy of this poster here.
_link
memphis-film.com
_tags
detail
wide
_what
record sleeve for the sheffield-based band, 65daysofstatic.
_how
wild light is 65daysofstatic's sixth LP. presented with manifestos, poems, drawings, prints and transcripts of studio discussions about the concept of 'wild light', we set about producing a piece of work that we felt best encapsulated these ideas whilst also touching on how it felt to listen to the music itself. the result is something we're very proud of, and we hope is something that will change in meaning when you hear the music itself.
_link
65daysofstatic.com
_tags
cover
outside spread
inside spread
detail
wide
_what
artwork for surachai's LP, embraced.
_how
we were introduced to surachai by alessandro cortini of SONOIO. a fierce individual, surachai makes a form of black metal that he calls plagued metal. whatever you want to call it, his dark, aggressive and intricate songs take you to a very particular place.

for his latest LP he asked that we tackle the artwork. ordinarily, given the pre-established hallmarks of the black metal scene, this is something we might not have jumped at immediately. however given surachai's taste for esoteric artwork (formerly employing the likes of bridget driessen and sarah sitkin to handle the task), we knew he would be open to an entirely fresh interpretation of his music.

you can read more about the making of the artwork here.
_link
surachai.org
_tags
side of the road
money rain down
_what
artwork for big black delta's single, side of the road.
_how
inspired by a salvador dali painting and discussions about how to evolve the BBD aesthetic as we approach the foot of the mountain that will eventually be the second LP, this cover is in some ways perhaps the band's most figurative yet. the human eye instinctively sees faces in abstract patterns, and of course it's no incident that that is what you might see here. however what you take from it as you listen to the song is of course your decision. either way we hope you enjoy the experience.
_link
bigblackdelta.com
_tags
cassette cover
inside spread
_what
artwork for the protomen's cassette single, i drove all night.
_how
the first single from the protomen's forthcoming covers record was the roy orbison song, i drove all night. the song was of course chosen because of how directly it tied in with and expanded upon the band's long-running, conceptual narrative. in the same fashion the artwork had a very clear path to follow. once again employing the talents of john delucca, we set about creating a design that both expanded on the protomen's story, but also paid homage again to many of their key influences. releasing it on cassette only was of course the final gesture that completed the project.

if you're interested you can read more about the development of the artwork on our blog. otherwise by all means grab a copy of the single here, whilst stocks last.
_tags
IFUCKINGLOVEYOU
betamax
_what
artwork for the singles off of big black delta's debut LP, BBDLP1
_how
after signing to nerve management, big black delta have been set to release a series of singles both on vinyl and digitally. challenged with a way of making these releases unusual in some way, given some of the songs have been out for a while, we suggested that perhaps each release's artwork tesselate with the next. this way all the singles can form a larger image once they've all been collected. at the time of writing two releases have been put out, IFUCKINGLOVEYOU and betamax, which you can see here.
_link
bigblackdelta.com
_tags
poster
VHS + poster
VHS
VHS 2
_what
VHS tape and poster for makeup and vanity set's film soundtrack, 88:88.
_how
this was a project that started out with MAVS sending us demos and whispering things about it possibly being a film soundtrack. we were then contacted by the film's director, joey ciccoline. joey showed us the film and sent some ideas he'd had for possible directions for the artwork. included in his package was a poster for the 1985 kid's science fiction film, the explorers. this poster single handedly informed the initial designs we created for the film soundtrack. these designs were then scrapped when joey then expressed interest more in a design that told you less about the narrative, and gave you simply a sense of mystery. 

fortunately MAVS then had the idea to do a parallel release in the form of a limited edition VHS cassette and poster. this would then come out later than the official film artwork, and give the original pieces we created a place to live. a tangent universe if you will.

you can see photos of the VHS tape here.
_link
8888film.com
_tags
cover
tenacious d show poster
_what
record sleeve for the nashville-based band, the protomen
_how
here's another one of the many fruits of our on-going collaborations with the protomen. the band played a tribute night in nashville, TN, back in late 2010 and the recordings came out so well they decided to release it. performing as 'queen' for the night, we decided to recreate the iconic 'queen II' record cover in a studio in brooklyn. the photography is by long-time (v) collaborator matt sundin, and the logo work is by M L hope. we handled the art direction, post-production + layout duties. 
_link
protomen.com
_tags
BBDLP1 cover
detail
poster
_what
artwork for big black delta's debut LP, BBDLP1
_how
continuing the very fluid back and forth between us and jonathan bates, this the cover for the forthcoming BBDLP1 is our attempt at capturing the immensity that is this new record. whether you are listening to the lush love song that is 'capsize' or the vastness, heaving space trip that is 'BBD3', we wanted the cover to echo both the inner workings of jon's mind as well as the beautiful, dark recesses of the universe. no longer the man with his head exploding on the cover of mellowdrone's 'angry bear', we now step deeper inside that thinking and in doing so reach much further out into space as we get involved with his obsession with UFO folk-lore and his desire to be taken away from his planet by whatever means possible.
_link
bigblackdelta.com
_tags
album cover
stitches single cover
awaltzoflight cover
poster
_what
artwork and music video for polinski's debut album, labyrinths
_how
paul wolinski is one quarter of the experimental musical machine that is 65daysofstatic. polinski is his more purely electronic side-project.

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 sinclair ZX spectrum computer, whilst detailing some of the album's narrative elements. paul and caspar wrote the video's story, which expanded upon the lyrics jonathan bates from big black delta was singing on the song. john delucca then beautifully redrew and further illustrated the graphics caspar had made for the vinyl record's packaging in pixel art format, and josiah newbolt then animated those graphics.
_link
polinskimusic.net
_tags
EP cover
_what
artwork for makeup and vanity set's EP, never let go.
_how
working with makeup and vanity set continues to be a very exciting, fluid and rewarding process. this time around, in terms of a brief, we were given the recordings themselves, informed that the release would be out on cassette only and asked that we try to echo a visual from the VHS era of home entertainment. old enough to have lived through a great portion of the VHS and cassette eras, we understood how this record would sound when fans heard it and very much where it was coming from in terms of cinematic narrative. the decision to in some way make it photographic and involve some sort of backlit misty scene came very quickly, and was undeniably influenced by our shared love for shows from that era like twin peaks and the x-files. so it was then a matter of building that out with a combination of photographic elements and a series of photoshop brushes and textures. finally, the typography came about as a result of wanting something elegant and not too cliche, but that would also feel a little like film credits.

you can read more about the making of the artwork here.
_link
makeupandvanityset.com
_tags
EP cover
poster
_what
EP artwork + music video for the LA-based band, big black delta
_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
bigblackdelta.com
_tags
cover
poster
_what
artwork for the protomen's second album, act 2 - the father of death
_how
everything about this record cover + poster had to be bigger and better. the moment we heard act 2 we knew the protomen had taken things far beyond anyone's imagining, and that we were under a huge amount of pressure now to produce artwork that echoed that through & through. we were aware of john delucca's work after collaborating with him on a previous poster for the band, and hired him once again to produce the fantastic 'streets of fire' inspired drawing you see above. we then took care of the sleeve + poster layouts and also put together the 24 page booklet that would detail the story behind the music on the album.
_link
protomen.com
_awards
making vinyl awards 2018 finalist in 4 categories
_tags