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Design Category
Promotional design and advertising, 1996
Design firm
Warner Bros. Records (Burbank, California)
Collection
(1997) Sound Off: The Top 100 CDs, Music Videos and Print Collateral
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When I initially discussed the project with Richard Patrick, his first request was that the record look as far from Trent Reznor’s Nine Inch Nails graphics as possible. I tried to create a simply designed, humble graphic, not unlike packaging for ballpoint pens, auto parts, pharmaceuticals, etc. — labeling that is merely intended to label and create a strong identity system.
I tailored the typography toward eastern bloc graphics from the ’40s and ’50s. I had Chris Bierne photograph the boy with the fingers in his eyes, which for me worked wonderfully for surprise and contrast with the typography. I chose dulled-down red, green, and black to emulate common pen inks and to create a very simple palette.