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single

bbd_uncertainty is delight_record sleeve

cover wrapped in plastic
cover
_what
record sleeve for the los angeles-based band, big black delta
_how
jonathan bates of big black delta asked that we might make the record sleeve for his new LP. the record is called "adonai", which means "lord of all lords". it's quite a thing to listen to.

the finished recordings have existed for a year or so now, and for this reason the album artwork has been something that jon and caspar have had time to work and rework as they saw fit. the final result is a science-fiction-tinged salvador dali, wassily kandinsky and max ernst-esque digital painting.

the cover here for the album's first single, "uncertainty is delight", is a taste of what's to come. you can listen to the song here. 
_link
bigblackdelta.bandcamp.com/track/uncertainty-is-delight
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BBD_reworks vol. 1_record sleeve

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
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bbd_4_record sleeve

cover
back cover
vinyl mockup
_what
record sleeve for the los angeles-based band, big black delta.
_how
the record cover for big black delta's fourth LP was made in collaboration with the photographer and filmmaker matt sundin.

in the fall of 2019 matt, jonathan bates (singer and songwriter of big black delta) and caspar went to death valley together to take some time off. later when jon had finished his latest album he expressed an interest in using the images from that trip for the album's accompanying artwork. thus every image you see through the album's packaging and the digital singles that went with it, were images taken from this trip. in particular the cover image was taken by caspar, whilst every other image was taken by matt.
_link
bigblackdelta.bandcamp.com/album/4
_tags

BBD_tragame tierra_record sleeve

_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
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BBD_RCVR_record sleeve

cover
_what
record sleeve for the los angeles-based band, big black delta.
_how
RCVR is the second single from big back delta's sophomore LP, trágama tierra. it features guest vocals from none other than debbie gibson. in our opinion it's one of jon's finest pieces of work, not least for it's wendy carlos-style rendition of a paganini violin solo.

the music and lyrics are what inspired the artwork you see here. 
_link
bigblackdelta.com
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BBD_side of the road_record sleeve

side of the road
_what
artwork for big black delta's single, side of the road.
_how
inspired salvador dali's galatea of the spheres and discussions about how to evolve the big black delta 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

BBD_ifuckingloveyou / betamax_record sleeve

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
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BBD_self titled_record sleeve + poster

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

BBD_IFUCKINGLOVEYOU_music video, record sleeve + poster

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

mellowdrone_angry bear_record sleeve + poster

cover
back cover
poster
wide
_what
artwork for mellowdrone's second LP, angry bear
_how
mellowdrone called us one evening in march wondering if we were at all interested in working with them on the artwork for the follow-up record to 'box', an album which we'd played into the ground obsessively for who knows how long. work began immediately with discussions about what the new record was saying and where the band were at now. turns out they were the same age as us and into all the same stuff (david lynch, fist of the north star etc.). we then toiled for a while on an idea and passed it over to them. it was the right direction. we then produced 2 more pieces in a similar vein that formed a narrative around the core concept and produced templates for both cd + vinyl. the vinyl doesn't contain the third and final panel of the artwork, but it does have a blue plastic disc and a nice design idea for navigating which side is which.
_tags