Merchandising for Bacon Grease
An experimental artist in the Orlando music scene, Bacon Grease brings her live performances to diverse audiences.
This project encompassed various design elements, including a T-shirt design, stickers, and social media assets to promote upcoming performances.
My role was to create designs tailored to suit their DIY aesthetic and resonate with their listeners. As a fan of their music and the music scene in general, my approach was a made by fans, for fans mentality.
In our initial meeting, the client expressed a desire for the T-shirt design to feature an outline of Bacon Grease during a live performance. Drawing inspiration from neon signs, my concept focused on high contrast and connecting line work.
Recalling my first live experience with Bacon Grease, the overwhelming setup of gear and wires came to mind. There were so many wires. This being the nature of seeing electronic music, using the wiring as a central theme in the design process would be something that fans could relate to. I reflected on the immersive aspects of her live performances, how the beat was built up over time until some kind of order was created out of the chaos of sound. In bringing this idea into the design, creating order out of chaos was also my challenge. With these concepts in mind, a few potential designs emerged during the ideation phase as seen below.
Bacon Grease Uncle Lou’s 2023
Another aspect for consideration was the screen printing process for T-shirts. Attention to line thickness was crucial to ensure effective translation to the medium.
The client was very pleased with the final outcome and expressed interest in expanding the merchandise which lead to the creation of buttons with the same design. The adaptation involved a shift to a circular orientation and the introduction of new color combinations.
This successful collaboration not only exceeded the client's expectations but also expanded the design into additional merchandise, further engaging Bacon Grease's fan base. You can listen here: Bacon Grease
These questions guided my design process:
Which details overcomplicate the design and should be omitted?
Which details should be included for clarity or inferred?
The answers to these questions allowed me to solve this challenge by distilling the design down to essential elements and establishing a flow while paying special attention to overlapping areas and the negative spaces created. Connecting the cords at the bottom created a dripping effect that really rounded out the structure of the design.
Tape deck design for Synth-Pop artist Octodaze.
Octodaze is an emerging Synth-Pop artist in the Orlando music scene. This cassette tape J-card insert was created in anticipation for their upcoming album release party.
The client creates within the genre of Wave music, which incorporates both nostalgic 80’s culture with futuristic technology. Taking this into consideration, my plan was to merge the bold aesthetics of brutalist design with elements of retro-futurism.
To begin this process, I paired their previously used typeface of BD Geminis with a bold block typeface, a contrast that could be unified through the use of italics. High contrast color choices were used to reflect the themes of dystopia and Japanese cyberpunk.
Early on, the client sent me assets including an image of the Japanese superhero Kamen Rider to use for the cover and logo, a throwback to 80’s dystopian film Robocop, for the spine of the tape deck.
The design not only serves as a functional object but also as a statement that prepares fans for the sonic journey Octodaze has crafted.
Listen to their music here: Octodaze
Album art for Quarantine Dream.
The client had shared that the pandemic was the catalyst for this project. While it was a time of fear and great upheaval in our world, it was also a time to spend time at home, reflecting and creating, fleshing out our dreams for the future. With this in mind, I drew a lot of inspiration from dream pop and vapor wave music genres. Incorporating cool colors for the background and lazy Sunday pool side imagery. This same idea is very much reflected in the typography chosen alongside the cover art. To create contrast, I broke up the space by placing the cowgirl image in the center along with her superimposed shadow, using orange for a pop of surprising color.
This design will be used for the client’s album release in 2024.
This album design was created for up-and-coming artist Quarantine Dream. The goal was for the album cover to stand out as a declaration of her arrival in a music industry that has often been perceived as a "boys' club". I aimed to create a visual representation that reflected the duality of the artist’s sound and identity. My approach was to use a juxtaposition of contrasting elements to create a visual metaphor communicating this sentiment.
