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music

MAVS_time_record sleeve

cover
cover
back cover
details
details 2
_what
record sleeve for the nashville-based band, makeup and vanity set.
_how
when makeup and vanity set released endless destiny we started talking to them about music videos for the record. matt pusti told us he was looking for a video for the song "time," which was also one of our favourites on the record. we'd previously worked with film director drew lint on his feature film M/M, and he immediately came to mind for this project. 

we reached out to drew and he was into it. soon we were going back and forth with him exchanging ideas for the piece. fast forward to a few months later and we're all sitting here in awe of the video he'd made for us. matt pusti then said he was going to make an EP in support of it, with "time" as the title track. the great folks over at data airlines agreed to put the EP out on vinyl, and asked that we might make a record sleeve that used images from the video. we hope you dig the results.
_link
makeupandvanityset.bandcamp.com/album/time-data099
_tags

you drive_such a perfect thing_record sleeve

cover
_what
record sleeve for the nashville-based band, you drive.
_how
you drive were asked to write a song for the third season of the girlfriend experience. the song they wrote was used in a virtual reality orgy scene, and makes for quite the beautiful crescendo. excited to develop another aesthetic for you drive, we began by visualizing three lyrical phrases from the song: "go on and hit them with the haymaker lover," "put your mouth where you money" and "i am a new machine." in doing so we explored the idea of creating and packaging a synthetic being using just a flatbed scanner, some coins and an obliging friend. the song is called "such a perfect thing" and you can listen to it via the link below.
_link
youdrive.bandcamp.com/track/such-a-perfect-thing
_tags

MAVS_heart of batman_record sleeve

cover
back cover
inside closed
inside open
back
booklet 1
booklet 2
booklet 3
booklet 4
booklet 5
booklet 6
booklet 7
booklet 8
booklet 9
_what
record sleeve for the nashville-based band, makeup and vanity set.
_how
matthew pusti of makeup and vanity set is scoring more and more films these days. this time around he was asked to score a documentary made about the making of the original batman: the animated series. to celebrate the release of the soundtrack on record store day, we teamed up once again with sound machine records to create something pretty special. the result is a visual expression of the aim of the documentary and a fresher take on the typical batman symbolism.
_link
makeupandvanityset.com/heart-of-batman
_awards
runner-up in the best record store day vinyl category for the making vinyl packaging awards.
_tags

MAVS_breaking news_record sleeve

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

MAVS_up and vanished season 2_record sleeve

cover
_what
record sleeve for the nashville-based band, makeup and vanity set.
_how
continuing our long-standing devotion to offering makeup and vanity set the best packaging we can, we were very happy that he canned our initial attempts at making a cover for up and vanished's second season. it was in throwing out all of our original ideas that we stumbled across this idea for cover you see here now. the burnt photograph and the flower both represent elements of the podcast's true crime narrative and they collage together to further expand upon that same narrative.
_link
upandvanished.com
_tags

MAVS_shadow circuit_record sleeve

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

MAVS_brigador vol. I_record sleeve

_what
record sleeve for the nashville-based band, makeup and vanity set.
_how
makeup and vanity set was asked to score the forthcoming video game brigador. the game developers, telefuture and yk records to release two volumes of the soundtrack on vinyl and other formats. what you see here is the sleeve artwork we made in collaboration with jack monahan, the game's own 3D graphics artist.
_link
makeupandvanityset.com
_tags

MAVS_wilderness_record sleeve

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

MAVS_charles park trilogy_record sleeve, poster + trailer

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

MAVS_88:88 VHS_packaging + poster

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

MAVS_never let go_record sleeve

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