SInce coming back to university in September, one of my most listened to, and most looked at CDs is Paramore's Brand New Eyes (Art direction and photography by Ryan Russell). The art direction is pretty seamless and reflects the band's aesthetic and the sound for this album. The booklet comprises of eleven photographs linked to one o the songs. The photograph reflects the subject and tone of each song while retaining a unified style. The slightly unsaturated colour and contrast of some of the images give them an almost vintage feel. All have an eerie air about them which almost draws me in more strangely. The typography has also been carefully considered. The small serif font means the type doesn't intrude on the photograph but stands out enough to be read and add to the page. Certain sections are also in capitals, bold and italics for emphasis as well as small details like (in Playing God) lonely is purposefully set outside of the mirror frame and out of line with the bulk of the text, a physical representaion of the lyrics.
This album has been quite a large influence on the book about myself. Although the illustrative style is completely different, I wanted to make sure the type was considered and each image entirely reflected the song, not a self indulgent series of photos of the band which is where a lot of albums are heading.
The art direction was lead by designer and photographer Ryan Russell. His website is:
http://www.ryanrussell.net/
I might well do a blog later on his personal photography, it really is beautiful, and he also has my absolute dream job.
Some spreads from Brand New Eyes:
My CD Collection (I need more storage!):
I feel the same way, although I don't buy CDs so much any more, I do love getting them if there's some nice packaging involved. I think more music artists need to embrace good album sleeve ideas in order to get more people to buy the physical copy.
ReplyDeleteSome bands release some nice deluxe packages with books, DVDs etc attached to the CD which is nice, but then you get some artists that go a bit crazy with it all and bring out something really awesome and unique. Just off the top of my head, Tool's 10,000 Days album came with stereoscoping lenses on a flap on the front that could be used to view the artwork inside in 3D.
Paramore's album artwork's great too, I love the matt finish on the booklet with the vintage pictures, really has a nice feel to it, and as weird as it sounds I bet the stock smells lovely haha.