The launch of a new seminal album by UK DJ “Ross From Friends,” A collaborative project between Ross and One Eight Hundred. The Album is derived from a piece of software called ‘Thresho’ made by Ross. It’s a utility that records every sound palyed in the studio. Once the audio level reaches a certain threshold, it’s recording, then stops once it’s below. E.g. “If I just stood up and mashed some keys on the synth right now, it’d record what I just did. It then puts the recording, timestamped, into a folder so you can access it later.”
“Thresho turned my creative process on its head. It allowed me the freedom to experiment without having to think about what the sound I’m developing might become. I’d just be endlessly adding recordings to this ever-expanding sound bank, which I was able to dip into at my leisure However, I began to notice that, over the course of writing the album, this expanding bank of recordings was starting to become like an intricate audio journal. The software had generated a really detailed, timestamped, personal musical memoir. ‘Tread’ is, in part, named after this resulting memoir; the process of writing was continually leaving these prints behind me. And while I think the album serves its purpose in referencing this, I want people to be able to engage with the recordings further to get a deeper understanding of the album’s concept.” - Felix (Ross From Friends)
This act of recording leaves a digital footprint of all of the actions performed in the studio and this act of treading is what we were most interested in representing visually working together on the release of this album. All of the artwork I created were created after many conversations and workshops with Felix (Ross) and are visual represntations of “Treading.”
“Thresho turned my creative process on its head. It allowed me the freedom to experiment without having to think about what the sound I’m developing might become. I’d just be endlessly adding recordings to this ever-expanding sound bank, which I was able to dip into at my leisure However, I began to notice that, over the course of writing the album, this expanding bank of recordings was starting to become like an intricate audio journal. The software had generated a really detailed, timestamped, personal musical memoir. ‘Tread’ is, in part, named after this resulting memoir; the process of writing was continually leaving these prints behind me. And while I think the album serves its purpose in referencing this, I want people to be able to engage with the recordings further to get a deeper understanding of the album’s concept.” - Felix (Ross From Friends)
This act of recording leaves a digital footprint of all of the actions performed in the studio and this act of treading is what we were most interested in representing visually working together on the release of this album. All of the artwork I created were created after many conversations and workshops with Felix (Ross) and are visual represntations of “Treading.”
01 - The Act of Treading
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Art Direction
The artwork began first as a project of art direction and developed more deeply into a project of art direction, album design, branding, live visuals, and social media campaign. Felix first came to me looking for a few directions on what the album artwork could be and after working together we decided to work on all of the streams of work associated with releasing his next album. I designed the cover for a series of three vinyl records, the cd, posters, and tour visuals. This resulted in a few variations to the original cover image which is below, some varying in color palette and format. It also resulted in a series of 6 videos which describe this Act of Treading, the first here on the right.
The artwork began first as a project of art direction and developed more deeply into a project of art direction, album design, branding, live visuals, and social media campaign. Felix first came to me looking for a few directions on what the album artwork could be and after working together we decided to work on all of the streams of work associated with releasing his next album. I designed the cover for a series of three vinyl records, the cd, posters, and tour visuals. This resulted in a few variations to the original cover image which is below, some varying in color palette and format. It also resulted in a series of 6 videos which describe this Act of Treading, the first here on the right.
02 - Imagery
Imagery Selection Process :
02 - Album Design
The double vinyl pressing - cover, gatefold, and back. The cover and back features physical stickers displaying the album name and track list. These stickers can be removed or more can be added, creating some variability to each album cover and a few different options to buy/collect.
03 - Visual Narrative
04 - Additional Assets
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The additional artworks made to promote the album, the first series above the album is placed in a variety of landscapes to reference this act of treading. The original concept was to represent this with the album cover, the physical impact left in nature by humans and the human story associate with this act of traveling and treading. The concept behind these videos is have the physical album itself act as this form of tread or imprint. By placing the album into nature, the physicality of it leaves a mark on the landscape.
Additional Iterations
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Some iterations made along the way in order to receive feedback from Felix and move forward with the design, ultimately we went with something cleaner and more refined than some of these choices.
Additional Iterations
(Click Through Img 1 - 10)
MATTHEW AVALLONE
PORTFOLIO
©2021
©2021