Recently in Marketing and Package Design Category

Last week, I wrote about the eight album cover designs that have been created for Arcade Fire's forthcoming album The Suburbs. The album is scheduled to be released on August 3, 2010 and the various covers will be shipped to customers at random.

I have since learned that the art direction was done by Vincent Morisset, the design by Caroline Robert and the photography by Gabriel Jones. I also found a cool Flash animation that shows the various designs on the Arcade Fire website. Just move your mouse over the image below and enjoy the show.

The forthcoming album by Canadian rock band Arcade Fire is going to be released with eight versions of the album cover (right). The Suburbs is scheduled to be released on August 3, 2010. It is currently being sold as a preorder at various online retailers, including Amazon.com.

Those purchasing the album online will not be able to choose which version of the cover will come with their CD or LP. They will be shipped at random. Of course, those who choose to make their purchase at a brick and mortar outlet will be able to select the cover they prefer.

The covers are all a variation of an image that features a car parked in front of a suburban home. It is too bad they didn't have a contest for fans to submit photos of their own homes for use on the cover. That certainly would have increased interest.

Last year, 30 Seconds to Mars released their album This is War using 2,000 photos submitted by fans online. That makes eight seem like nothing in comparison. Imagine if they had used 2,500 photos of houses submitted online by fans. Perhaps it would seem like too much of a copycat promotion.

The album cover that is being distributed for sales and promotion is the one with the palm tree and the drak red and green colors. I think it is the stringest of the eight images. The other seven seem kind of dreary.

Today, the design blog TAXI wrote about an interactive Digipak-style case developed by a Swedish design agency that creates a sort of design when opened.

Designed by Hubero Kororo for a new musical project by Ivan Palacký, 'Uceroz' is an interactive album cover that sees ink staining the snow-white cover with just a tear of the package's seal.

The ink that is contained within the album will be released once the album package is opened, a result of a mechanism the studio bills as its own "authentic construction".

Source: TAXI

While it is an interesting CD package design concept, I am not very impressed with the resulting ink blot. It looks more like a random spill. It would be nice to see someone come up with a more advanced version of this, perhaps using multiple colors.

In 1962, legendary pop artist Andy Warhol caused quite a stir in the art world with Campbell's Soup Cans, thirty-two canvases each featuring a painting of a Campbell's Soup can (right). Each painting represents a diffferent variety of Campbell's Soup.

I saw Campbell's Soup Cans in the 1980s at an Andy Warhol exhibit in Los Angeles. Like most of Warhol's work, the scale was surprising. The canvases take up a huge amount of wall space. It can be seen on permanent exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The paintings at MoMa are arranged in the order they were introduced to the public by Campbell's.

Campbell's Soup Cans was one of the first major pieces that uses a branded product label as fine art. It led to an entire series of Campbell's Soup can paintings by Warhol. There have been dozens of parodies and tributes of the work over the past 48 years.

I do not know how many album covers have been based on Campbell's Soup Cans. Two recent exampes is Soup by The Beautiful South and The Housemartins and Dog Food by Mondo Generator.

A version of the collaboration by The Beautiful South and The Housemartins actually came in a soup can. I have seen an alternate cover that looked more like a copy of the Warhol painting. I assume it was changed due to copyright issues.

The Mondo Generator cover more closely resembles the Warhol original. I think it stands up better as a parody of Warhol rather than an imitation.

The Beautiful South and The Housemartins - Soup (2008)

Mondo Generator - Dog Food (2010)

Posted by: zeefritz

Scissor Sisters posted a promo video for their new album on YouTube yesterday. Nightwork will be released tomorrow and this is a very creative way to generate publicity for the release.

Over the last couple of years, collectable vinyl records have experienced a new popularity. In response, many record labels are producing vinyl albums and singles that include colored vinyl, custom packaging, and other features that appeal to collectors.

Big Dada Recordings recently released a unique limited edition LP that has several features designed to appeal to collectors. The Bedford Park LP by the Infesticons includes a screen printed outer sleeve that has been hand signed by the record's producer Mike Ladd. Some copies feature extra scibbles and lines written by Ladd during the signing. The inner sleeve features a model battle scene designed by Ladd.

The LP package was designed Oscar & Ewan, the East London creative design firm of Oscar Bauer and Ewan Robinson. They have created some amazing music packages for Roots Manuva, Offshore and an unpcoming release by Jammer that features a live elephant (definitely worth checking out).

The Bedford Park LP is on heavyweight 180 gram vinyl and the package includes download codes for digital tracks. A YouTube video demonstrates how the limited editon packaging was produced. Those of you who are interested in package design will certainly want to watch it.

I just found this video that demostrates the unboxing of electronic muscian BT's latest CD. The 2 CD album comes in a super jewel case, with special black CDs and a 12 panel foldout booklet created from original art by Aaron Jasinkski.

The album cover (below) was recently voted the Best Album Cover for the Week in our AlbumArtExchange poll.

American Favorite Ballads Vols. 1-5 by Pete Seeger (right) won the award for Best Album Packaging at the Independent Music Awards held in January 2010. The winners were selected from 50 album, song, music video, and design categories that included thousands of submissions. The judging panel comprised 80 influential artists and music industry professionals, including Tom Waits, The Black Keys, Ricky Skaggs, Pete Wentz, Mark Hoppus, Aimee Mann, Suzanne Vega, Judy Collins, and Zooey Deschanel.

The packaging was created by Tri-Plex Packaging Corporation for Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.

Universal Music Group announced today that they will be releasing a special reissue of The Rolling Stones' classic album Exile on Main St. in three editions. It will be sold as a single CD featuring the original 18 tracks, a deluxe edition with 10 bonus tracks, and a limited edition package that will include vinyl LPs, a 30-minute documentary DVD and a 50-page photo book (example right).

The Universal press release claims that the bonus CD contains "never-before-heard tracks" and is slated to be released in conjunction with the documentary film. According to Rolling Stone magazine, the tracks include Plundered My Soul, Dancing in the Light, Following the River and Pass the Wine, produced by Jimmy Miller, the Glimmer Twins and Don Was and alternate versions of Soul Survivor and Loving Cup. The reissue is scheduled for release on May 18, 2010.

Exile on Main St. is considered to be one of the best rock albums of all time by many critics, including Rolling Stone. What the album doesn't have is particularly memorable cover art. The original LP gatefold cover featured a series of 12 perforated postcards and images by photographer Norman Seeff. It is a good example of having too much of a good thing. There are just too many interesting images crowded into a single project.

I came across this cover for a Lady Gaga remix album that is being released in Japan on Amazon.com today. The album is priced at $37.98 in the U.S. store and there is no track listing in the item description. It is scheduled for release on March 3, 2010.

The cover reminds me of the one used for Rihanna's Wait Your Turn single. The covers features somewhat similar poses and background color. However, it is clear which artist was able to pull it off.

While Rihanna appears to be humiliated by the partial nudity, Lady Gaga is facing the camera with pride. The Rihanna cover almost makes me feel guilty for looking at it. That certainly isn't that case with Lady Gaga's The Remix.

On January 25, the United States Postal Service released a special edition of Ella Fitzgerald's classic album, Love Letters From Ella. The album is being released to promote the use of mail during the Valentine's Day season as well as Black History Month and will be available exclusively at a select group of 3,200 Post Offices across the United States and online.

First issued in 2007, Love Letters From Ella is a collection of love songs recorded with some of her favorite collaborators, including Count Basie and his orchestra, Joe Pass and André Previn. The special edition CD includes a full reproduction of Fitzgerald's commemorative USPS postage stamp, available for the first time since its original issue.

The USPS has released other CDs, including a 2009 holiday compilation. CDs are an easy-to-display point of purchase item. I will be interesting to see what kinds of projects they will take on in the future. I can imagine that future CDs will be released at the same time as commemorative postage stamps for recording artists.

Yesterday, Akon released a new single that features something new in cover art. Oh Africa has an advertisement for Pepsi on the cover. In addition to a photograph of Akon, shirtless and wearing body paint, the cover has copy that reads "Refresh Your World" and the Pepsi logo.

Pepsi partnered with Akon, Hilson and award-winning Soweto Gospel Choir to create the single as a benefit for underprivileged African youth. Even though Pepsi sponsored this project, this is the first time that I have seen a corporation place an ad on the cover of a charity single. It seems kind of tacky to me. I just hope that we won't see Akon and Hilson standing on stage with Pepsi executives and delivering a giant check to African children.

Each year, a Grammy awards is given for Best Recording Package. Although it is early in the year, I suspect that the package designed for The Stimulus Package by hip hop artist Freeway and produced by Jake One will earn a nomination.

Check out the creative package design in the YouTube video below. The CD package is designed to look like a wallet, complete with money, credit cards and a download card for the instrumental versions of the songs. The Stimulus Package is scheduled to be released on February 16, 2010.

The forthcoming Valleys of Neptune single and album by the late Jimi Hendrix features an original watercolor painted by the rock guitar legend in 1957. According to an article on musicradar.com, the single (right) uses the actual watercolor and album art combines the watercolor with a photograph by the late Linda McCartney.

The single will be released as a vinyl 45 on February 9. The album will be released as both a vinyl LP and CD on March 9.

According to the article, the watercolor is one of over 100 that Hendrix did while he was in high school. It is an impressive work of art from a young student. It is interesting to know that Hendrix was multi-talented.

Valleys of Neptune is a collection of unreleased tracks, most of which were recorded between February and May 1969.

I don’t know very much about the band Neon Trees. There is a bio on the Mercury Records that is very short on substance. What intrigued me about the band was coming across a limited edition color vinyl version of their forthcoming single Animal on Amazon.com.

I find it surprising that a limited edition single like this would be used to market a new artist. I can imagine people buying something like this for U2 or David Bowie — established artists with fans who are eager to buy collectors items. It would be interesting to find out how many of these get sold. The single is scheduled to be released on February 9, 2010.