Via our good friends at The Rundown.

Based on us just having spent 3 months designing for music as a group, it was reassuring to see today’s digital music fans being very opinionated, and also quite savvy, about design and brands that are being built around their favorite artists as new albums are being released.

Three of my favorite creative collaborators, Depeche Mode, U2 and Anton Corbjin, sparked this blog entry. Depeche Mode’s soon to be released single design to the upcoming ‘Sounds of the Universe’ album is, well, let’s face it ‘wrong’. I will not bash it more then others have already done before me, but it is amazing to see fans’ mock-versions appearing online when the single will not even be released until April 6th. As a bonus I throw in the design of the full-length, just so we all understand the depth of the design issue at hand. Anton Corbjin is the backbone of the visual re-launch of the Depeche Mode brand in 2009, and it shows that an amazing creative force with a unique vision for the moving image, does not immediately make a good graphic or brand designer. Or typographer of course:

The mock ‘remix’:

The full length album design (NOT a mock-version):

U2’s just as eagerly awaited full-length feels like the opposite to me and I was taken by its beauty and modern simplicity, yet the equal sign disturbed me mainly because of Coldplay’s very apparent and frequent use of the ‘trade fair’ symbol. Yet, as you can read here, fans of photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto and U2 had their own strong opinions.

And the ‘trade fair’ logo as seen in tattoo form:

The power of brand building, seen in one of its mass market - and most competitive and critically viewed - forms.

On that note I salute our friends at Audiolife for having launched their web site recently. The power of music and design, displayed in a visual language that, we hope, shares common ground.

We all have different inspirations that trigger creativity, this is one of mine and I am happy to share it with you ~ maybe you will download 2008 re:visited and it mighty become your soundtrack to 2009. Enjoy:

Side A

01 bubbles ~ james // 02 lights & music (single version) ~ cut copy // 03 time to pretend ~ mgmt // 04 a hundred kisses ~ she wants revenge // 05 lost! ~ coldplay // 06 farewell ~ greg laswell // 07 the golden floor ~ snow patrol // 08 water song ~ zach gill // 09 librarian ~ my morning jacket // 10 let it be me ~ ray lamontagne // 11 stepping stone ~ duffy // 12 you got it all ~ stereo mc’s

Side B

13 get my nails did ~ tobacco // 14 you’ll find a way (switch and sinden remix) ~ santogold // 15 the kids don’t stand a chance (chromeo remix) ~ vampire weekend // 16 blind (radio edit) ~ hercules and love affair // 17 disco lies (the dusty kid’s fears remix) ~ moby // 18 council estate (drums of death remix) ~ tricky

(I took inspiration for the title from one of the first vinyl singles I ever bought back in the 80’s. If you are not familiar with the song ‘being boiled’ by Human League from 1978, take a listen and remember that this was recorded in 1978!)

A 20 second iPhone application download later you find yourself creating music. Or music re-creating your environments. Or you find yourself under the influence of digital drugs, as the creator of the software puts it. A very exciting, creative and stimulating, yet simple, idea that is hard to explain, so i let the creator struggle through it himself.

Too bad I did not know about this two nights ago when I found myself proposing to my then-girlfriend, now-fiancée, because I would have recorded the whole situation. It would have surely made for a unique wedding song…

After Coldplay’s videos have been unbearingly bad lately, the director had to pull out a special trick to stun the masses with the video for ‘Lovers in Japan’, which premiered yesterday. It turned out being a plain unimaginative copy of Picasso’s classic piece. Sadly it will still be a huge hit because most main stream music fans will not even know Picasso’s genius experiment.

All these unconventional items include a cool car-freshener-lookalike that features a download code of the MP3’s. A smart way to get fans to collect one - or all - and to offer merchandise before actual live dates. Also an innovative way of creating a more personal and artistic ‘brand atmosphere’ for the band, as well as making a statement of re-inventing how music can be published, packaged and monetized, while making fans ecstatic and creating a buzz.
Thanks to our ex subleasee and current client (we are currently working on a re-design of their web site), the ever so wonderful pals at blik, for sending over samples of the wall decals, which you can, among other items from the series, view below.

For another in-depth write up, as well as the band’s thoughts and imagery of all pieces of the release-bundle, go to pitchfork, where I found the photos.