2012 ReVisited (The best of a year in music) by Previsited on Mixcloud

Creativity rarely runs a linear path, most creatives have artistic passions outside of their profession. As for myself, I turned my photography into a professional side gig that I share with our clients at times, but my passion for music is strictly separated and I only let it surface to this level once a year as I reveal my yearly ‘best of’ compilation. Take a listen, I am sure there are many new sounds you may enjoy, including a remix of Depeche Mode by yours truly (as ‘Happiness Won‘ together with my music partner in crime). With this last post of the year, and a little glimpse into my other creative passions, I want to wish all of you happy holidays and a great start into 2013! Let’s make it a creative one!

For a great lesson on how to immediately connect with your audience (and audiences captured via immediate viral spread), watch this video. I took it with my iPhone at the concert of the legendary band James at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles last night. In a strategy that became a staple of the band’s entrance to their own concerts, the lead singer, sometimes accompanied by the band, starts the show in midst of the crowd (Figure A), slowly making his way onto the stage (Figure B, for your convenience), connecting with the non-die-hard fans in the back of the room, hence winning over the entire audience within the first 2 minutes of the show.

A simple move one might think, but it creates such an immediate and intimate connection with the audience that the beginning of their performance is met with such roaring response and high engagement levels, which most bands dare to enjoy during their second encore. For a large band, like James, to play incredibly tight and in perfect sync it takes effort and practice. They are a business and understand that their entrance can make the concert an immediate success, in the room as well as over the internet. Not a bad move for a band that is regarded as ’80′s’ to most non-followers. Watch the video and see how the lead singer, Tim Booth, connects with each person, how he takes time to look in their eyes and does not move on until he connects with the people who are standing in the very back of the large theater.

There is a lot a brand can learn from how James captures their target audience, but you should also keep it in mind when you prepare your next presentation to a larger audience.

All it takes is to form a deep, often personal and unconventional connection at the very beginning of the encounter. The band James knows that and it is one of the reasons they have been ‘in business’ for 30 years.

Enjoy the video and make sure to catch up with James’ music:

It is interesting when you listen to the 80′s pop genre. The music you know, you think of as ‘amazing’ and then once you hear B-sides or tracks on full lengths that you have not been exposed to, they sound, well, dated. Or shall we say ‘cheesy’, and often plain embarrassing.

The same holds true for the record sleeve designs, as you can see in the examples below:

We see all the 80′s had to offer: The haircuts, the neon, the bad typography, the ‘wild’ angles and effects. Sadly, the same forgettable design is to be ‘heard’ on a lot of the tracks that are hidden behind those album covers.

Yet my  top two 80′s albums, Depeche Mode’s ‘Music For The Masses’ and U2′s ‘The Joshua Tree’ seem to be immune to what is going on around them, in sound as well as design sophistication.

There seems to be a formula. Timeless compositions equal timeless designs. Great artists, regardless of their background and genres know to stay away from styles and trends and like working with like minded individuals or firms. It seems that they create work solely with inspiration that comes from within, a gut instinct, driven by just one fundamental thing: a strong concept.

Looking through design annuals of the past years this thread holds true. Trends become a big wash and the only items that truly stand out are new concepts; fresh ideas that are followed through with a smart and appropriate design solution.

Designers, let’s live by this rule! And for those Entrepreneurs and Marketing Managers looking to hire an agency; this might be an important variable to consider when interviewing the agency that creates your brand atmosphere, so that come 2011, no one feels that your brand feels ‘oh so 2010′.

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