Hasta La Ideas

A lunar-themed design for Texas band Reckless Kelly’s album Long Night Moon was named Best Record Package at the 56th Grammy Awards last night, beating sleeve designs for David Bowie, Jay-Z and Metallica.

The packaging for Long Night Moon was designed by sisters Sarah and Shauna Dodds, founders of Austin-based Backstage Design Studios. It comes with a UV light which can be used to reveal hidden codes printed in glow-in-the-dark invisible ink, and a 12-panel poster insert featuring a lunar map surrounded by moons, each representing the moon phase on the night of a significant date in the making of the album or the band’s history.

Stars dotted around the artwork represent various constellations, while moons on the back cover depict lunar phases on the date each track was written. Hidden codes include the chords used in each track and a story made up of selected lyrics from each song. Backstage Design Studios also received a Grammy nomination for their circus-themed packaging for Reckless Kelly’s previous album, Good Luck & True Love – you can see images and read more about the making of Long Night Moon on the studio’s website.

Also nominated was Brian Grunert and Annie Stoll‘s design for New York band Geneseo’s album, Automatic Music Can be Fun, created with band members Zac Decamp and Mike Browne. As well as some striking black and white imagery, the fold-out packaging features lyrics printed underneath scratch-off material. Certain words from each track were left uncovered, making a poem, and Decamp and Browne created a bonus track out of the uncovered words. To download the track, users had to scratch to reveal clues hidden in the packaging:

Fellow nominee Brian Roettinger also concealed lyrics under scratch-off material in packaging for Jay-Z’s album, Magna Carta…Holy Grail. The album is housed in a transparent slip case which contains three four page spreads and a 28-page photo booklet featuring images of the artist. The artwork was unveiled at Salisbury Cathedral in July last year, where the album was placed in a glass case alongside the real Magna Carta. A bold marketing move from Jay-Z – and a puzzling one from the Cathedral.

Jonathan Barnbrook’s artwork for Bowie album The Next Day received a nomination, too – you can read about the concept for the album’s design here and view more images of the packaging on Virus Fonts’ website (packaging uses Virus’ Doctrine typeface).

The final nomination was Bruce Duckworth, Sarah Moffat, Brian Steele & David Turner’s black, white and red design for the sound track to Metallica’s Through the Never tour film. The cover symbol uses the lightning bolt ‘M’ from the band’s original logo, drawn by lead singer James Hetfield:

TurnerDuckworth also designed the identity for Metallica’s previous album, Death Magnetic, and the promotional material for the Through the Never Tour.

Best Boxed/Special Limited Edition Package

Two out of the Grammy’s 78 awards categories celebrate music packaging – the second, for the best boxed or special limited edition package, was awarded to Simon Earith and James Musgrave for their deluxe edition of Wings’ 1976 album Wings Over America.

It’s certainly packed full of content, with an 80-page book of drawings by artist Humphrey Ocean, a 60-page photographic journal documenting the ’76 tour, a 136-page replica tour book and a 112-page book featuring editorial by David Fricke. See each item in detail in an unboxing video here:

Also nominated was Ross Stirling’s deluxe edition of Mumford & Sons album, The Road to Red Rocks, which comes in a gold foil-embossed case housing a 96-page book with interviews and footage from the show:

Charles Dooher and Scott Sandler’s artwork for the deluxe box set of Rolling Stones album, The Brussels Affair, which includes a watch, a lithograph signed by Mr Jagger and a book containing rare and unseen images from the 1973 tour:

A box set for Mayer Hawthorne album How Do You Do, featuring 12 7″ vinyls in individual photographic sleeves and accompanying plastic display sheet:

And my favourite, art director Masaki Koike’s design for The Smith Tapes – a limited edition collection unheard interviews with musicians, artists and cultural figures from the 1970s which was funded through a Kickstarter campaign. Each disc is housed in an individual case with a retro graphic cover and the box set comes with a cassette-shaped USB stick and exclusive print:

You can see more images on Koike‘s website or read more about the project at thesmithtapes.com

While each of the winning designs are very different, there are some similarities: winners and nominees in the Best Record Package category all feature either an interactive element or monochrome cover design. Koike’s work for the Smith Tapes is the most visually striking in the deluxe and limited edition category, but the Wings box set isn’t a particularly surprising winner given the wealth of content and behind the scenes footage included in the sold out package.

To see last year’s winning designs or the full list of Grammy categories, click here.

What if your gadgets knew how you were feeling? The Rapport project aspires to achieve just that! It’s all about facial expression. You look at it, it looks back at you and suggests some music. It understand whether you like it or dislike the tunes, and depending on your face, it either cranks it up or changes the music! Similarly, it communicates its own “feelings” with familiar expressions. Watch it in action —>

Designers: Joe Smith, Yeawon Choi, Yifei Chai, Yuchang Chow

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Yanko Design
Timeless Designs – Explore wonderful concepts from around the world!
Shop CKIE – We are more than just concepts. See what’s hot at the CKIE store by Yanko Design!
(Emotional Intelligence was originally posted on Yanko Design)

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Designer Ariele Faber has carved an innovative path in the field of pattern design. Her brainchild, Cerebella Design, brings to life the beautiful details of specimens as viewed under the microscope that are often invisible to the naked eye—until now. Each of the items you see here were inspired by biological samples that made their way from the science lab to the art studio. This Valentine’s Day get a chance to WIN neckwear of your choice by simply answering the question below!

To WIN a Cerebella Design for you (or your Valentine), simply answer this question:

• What is the next biological specimen you would like to see on Cerebella scarves, neckties and bow ties?

So far Cerebella has developed nine unique patterns, including Pollen, Obelia, Moon Jellyfish, Tapeworm, Starfish Eggs, Pseudoscorpion, Frog Skin, Whale Skin, and Trachea. Tell us what should come next!

Contest Rules

• Standard Contest Rules Apply
• Contest Closes on 29th Jan midnight PST

More About Cerebella Design

• Cerebella Design recently launched a biology-inspired neckwear line and currently has a bank of nine unique patterns that exhibit specimens in a wide array of color combinations.
• Patterns are applied to bow ties, neckties, and scarves, each individually crafted in the USA.
• The process uses cutting-edge photomicroscopy imaging techniques and digital textile design technology.
• Cerebella promotes science education through art by introducing this innovative design process to students in K-12 schools
• All products are currently available for purchase at http://www.cerebelladesign.com.

You can follow Cerebella Design on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, and/or sign up for the monthly newsletter to get the latest updates and contest information!

 

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Yanko Design
Timeless Designs – Explore wonderful concepts from around the world!
Shop CKIE – We are more than just concepts. See what’s hot at the CKIE store by Yanko Design!
(Valentine’s Day Giveaway: Win a Biology-Inspired Scarf, Bow Tie, or Necktie by Cerebella Design was originally posted on Yanko Design)

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In this age of digital displays, it’s hard not to appreciate the old-school aesthetic of a nixie tube. To individually bend ten different digits out of cold cathode neon tubes, then stuff all of them together in a little glass dome, is perhaps needlessly labor-intensive but provides a clearly legible readout with an Edison-bulb vibe.

Sydney-based Duncan Hellmers is of the same mind. “[Nixie tubes] fit in well with today’s aesthetic trends but still retain that sense of nostalgia and sentimentality,” he writes. “I’d seen quite a few tube clock designs online, but couldn’t find one whose character matched what I was after, so I decided to design my own.”

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