Archive for October, 2009

I don’t do much actual design on Moodgadget, mostly just thinking up the concept for the covers and work side to side with the designers sometimes. This series is one that i’m pretty proud of done by Alex/HeadUp[he posts a ton in the comment sections on the ISO50 blog] and I, the goal was to have a strong 2-D iconic image that was related to the genre a bit but also a weapon in a way (i.e. disco having a razor for your hardcore late night clubbers and a razor also being a weapon in a way), a changing 3-color color scheme, and simple consistent text layout, kind of like a label for a vinyl but digital only. The series will come out in 3’s and each being a different round and we’ll go up to 12 and this hopefully will help define genres in the electronic music world. Below is a little more info on the series:

“Moodgadget has caved in to its most savage and pugilistic desires to see electronic genres battle to the death, leaving the listener with the sense of euphoria you get from watching your favorite kung-fu flick, or that adrenaline rush that comes from a flare-up of tempers.

Songs are presented as Rounds, a one-two-punch of tracks from the opposites sides of the spectrum. In Round 1, experience Dubstep tracks from Guardian and Shigeto, Round 2 features Alt Hip Hop from Mux Mool and Charles Trees, and Round 3 brings Disco producers Worst Friends and Mogi Grumbles into the ring.”

Shigeto – Beat It Up – BUY

Charles Trees – Exodus – BUY

Worst Friends – Ski Hive – BUY

Resident Advisor swooped in probably grabbed the best musician at the moment to do a Halloween themed mix for us, Fever Ray. I just don’t remember them contacting her since i’m her boyfriend and all and I should of known about this (just kidding, only in my dreams). Another great perk that comes along with the RA Podcast’s is the short interview, here’s a few snip its from it:

RA: What came first with Fever Ray, the music or the aesthetic? And how do they two inform each other?
Fever Ray: Music always comes first. It is the difficult part. The visual aspect of Fever Ray is more of a great hobby after the hard work is done.

RA: What have you been working on recently?
Fever Ray: I have been touring with Fever Ray and with The Knife I am just about to finish the studio version of the opera, Tomorrow in a Year.

TRACKLISTING
Neil Young – Guitar Solo 1
Yo La Tengo – Everyday
Journey To Ixtlan – Corpse On The Mesa
Jad & David Fair – Nosferatu
Zola Jesus – Devil Take You
Bruce Haack – Mean Old Devil
Krause – Duo Canopolis
Burial Hex – Will To Chapel
Suicide – Ghost Rider
Amadou & Miriam – Ja Pense À Toi
Shackleton – Death Is Not Final
Entombed – Night Of The Vampire
Maddalena Fagandini – Interval Signals
Burundi: Musiques Traditionnelles – Chant Avec Cithare

DOWNLOAD THE MIX HERE

Fever Ray – Halloween Podcast

These spreads from Newwork Magazine are exceptionally awesome. At first I wasn’t sure why I was so taken by them, but I think it’s a combination of the following factors: sole use of (mostly) black and white, implementation of a strict grid, lots of little type details throughout, and a sophisticated and effective use of negative space. Newwork Magazine (ink on paper / 32″ x 23″) is put out by Studio Newwork.

Thanks to everyone for coming out to the workshop last night, I had a great time talking with you and meeting everyone afterwards. Also thanks to Heydays who spoke at the event and designed the die-cut poster (above); very inspiring work which I’ll be posting more on soon.

I haven’t had a chance to take many pictures yet but I did get to tour the offices of Tank Design who had some very interesting artifacts all around.

It’s been a great time so far — in spite of my being sick the whole time. I’m resting up for the Tycho set at Insomnia tonight, hope to see you out there!

Today might be one of the finer selections in a while on the experimental/dense end, some real nice songs that should ride out all the way thru. I’ve only heard good things about Kranky’s one man show White Rainbow, glorious builds and thick lo-fi looping and nearly each song at 15 mins! just what I wanted, looks like Best Of ’09 candidate. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

When I heard Tim Hecker + remix I was all over these, cold and airy yet soo appealing.

I just figured out the F*ck Buttons sound, i’m really glad they followed thru with a similar sound on this record, makes them more of a leader of this sound in my eyes.

I know some of you might not like this Vitalic sound but i’m hoping this record can knock Justice off their high horse, the production is really strong and I feel like Vitalic has some substance compared to Justice especially the other songs on the record, it might be clubby but the attention spent on certain sounds to make a party jump off puts a smile on my face.

White Rainbow – Tuesday Rollers and Strollers

Bell Orchestre – Water Light Shifts (Tim Hecker Remix)

F*ck Buttons – The Lisbon Maru

Vitalic – Poison Lips

A few Decca record covers done by ISO50 favorite, Erik Nitsche. I was browsing Flickr for some or Nitsche’s work and I came across the massive assortment of images here, compiled by BustBright. I am in love with the type on these, especially the “Schlusnus sings” typeface. I’m not sure what it is but it amazing. And I always love Didot — if you browse the rest of the archive, you’ll see a lot of that.

After a very long couple days, I’m finally here in Tromsø for Insomnia. Please excuse the bad photo, there were these incredible landscapes on the way in but all I had was my little Canon Elph and it was very dark. As you can see, the Elph doesn’t handle it very well… Suffices to say, the pic doesn’t do this place justice; I’ve never seen anything like the view from the plane tonight. I have the big Nikon out now and hopefully I can get some good shots of all the amazing design and typography here over the next few days and maybe some better landscapes on the way out. I walked around a little bit this evening and this place is incredible. It seems almost fake, I don’t know what I expected but it wasn’t anything close to this. Wish I was staying longer.

Just a quick note about the video situation a lot of you were asking about in the workshop post: I will see what the organizers have planned tomorrow, but I’m not sure if they are set up to record. I will be doing similar workshops in Amsterdam and Toronto coming up though so I will try to get one of those taped properly.

Time to rest up for tomorrow, my sleep schedule is all wrong right now. Hope to see some of you tomorrow at the workshop.

Spencer Nugent posted an interesting article on the Levels of Sketching over on IDSketching (that’s his image above). I don’t know a lot about industrial design, or the complex role sketching appears to have in the field, but I was really interested to read a little more about it. What came to mind immediately was the sketching process we are constantly encouraged to go through at graphic design school. I am always terrified of this part and try my best to avoid it (which is impossible). Of course, though the role of the sketch is different in this case — as it serves as a rough internal mock up rather than a deliverable for a client — it’s importance remains of a high level (for a number of reasons, many of which Milton Glaser explains in this video that’s been floating around the last couple weeks).

The sketching process for the project I mentioned a while back has been pretty intense. Recently I’ve been working through countless concepts and designs, sketching my hands off. I was lucky to figure out my direction/concept early on, but it’s taken me forever to figure out the right way to render it. This has meant ENDLESS amounts of sketches and crappy little mock ups. I guess I lack the patience to sketch well, and my process book looks like I was drawing blindfolded, drunk, and with my off hand.

Seeing the way industrial designers sketch, I am truly envious. To be able to render something that detailed and precise, without a computer sometimes, I can’t imagine. Of course, I am reacting this way because I grew up designing with the computer. “Process” to me has always meant keyboard and mouse, not pencil and paper. I recognize this as a potential weakness in my workflow, and have been trying really hard to incorporate sketching into this project. Results have been here and there so far, and I wonder if I will ever be able to develop my sketching ability to where it’s consistently worthwhile.

I know David Airey for one is a big proponent of sketching, and has written many interesting articles on the subject. How do the rest of you feel about sketching when it comes to the graphic design process? When starting a project (especially a logo design for example), do you start with pencil or mouse (or the hybrid, Wacom Tablet)?

Wow. just wow. this new single from The Horrors is one of the more subdued but catchy singles of the year. I know I know the band’s aesthetic or how they carry themselves might not be everyone’s cup of tea but musically its just refreshing, at times it reminds me of why I loved U2’s Achtung Baby or INXS when I was really young and I have to name drop those records because everyone else is saying Joy Division. The video below is simple and stylized pretty well, good lookin’ band.

Ariel Pink melts together some of the more popular sounds that we’re the softer side of the 70’s but adds that lo-fi touch. He would be the last character i’d expect to use a saxophone but makes it work, can’t wait to buy this record.

Zomby is one of the more well known dubstep guys in the US I think because of his digital releases get a ton of love on iTunes US and eMusic, he can be hit or miss for me but Digital Fauna grabs me right away with its catchy drive, nothing reaching for attention, and this switch up to shuffle right in the middle of the song.

You know how if you sometimes see something more than 7 times and then you finally are like okay i’ll buy in and I guess i’ll check it out, that’s how it was with Fruit Bats. I’m still on the fence of if I like it, I guess I can add it to my upbeat Americana folder, in there with America and a few Old Neil Young songs I like….there, not to shabby, maybe i’ll put it on cassette and drive cross country with it.

The Horrors – Whole New Way

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Can’t Hear My Eyes

Zomby – Digital Fauna

Fruit Bats – The Ruminant Band

The Horrors – Whole New Way video

I just arrived in beautiful Newark for a brief layover before the second leg of my trip. I’ll be flying into Oslo and then on to Tromsø for the Insomnia Fesitval. I’m doing an ISO50 workshop on Friday at Verdensteatret Cinematek. The workshop is free (thanks to Insomnia, Tank.no, and Grafill) — you can register here.

I’ll be covering a lot of ground during this one, walking through the process of creating the new Tycho album cover and talking about graphic design in general. Space is limited so be sure to register.

I’ll also be playing a Tycho live set at Insomnia on Satuday night. Hope to see you all out there. I just finished one of the worst salads ever at the Sam Adams Brew Club at Newark and they’re calling for first boarding so I’m off to Oslo. See you in Norway.

ISO50 Workshop Registration (free)
Insomnia Festival Tickets

Photo via NTMY