Artists Honor 2016's Best Albums With Reimagined Cover Art

Artists Honor 2016's Best Albums With Reimagined Cover Art

MIKE O'DONNELL / EDITOR

No one can deny the joy of year-end lists, with their ability to help you both comb through the past 12 months of your life and catch up on all the goods you overlooked. WNW Members and music fanatics Eric R. Mortensen and Richard Perez are here to feed your fix with a unique spin. They're the minds behind 10x, which sees visual artists celebrating their personal top ten albums of the past year with reimagined cover art. This year, Eric & Richard intentionally decided to enlist a total of 19 visual artists. As Eric tell us, "So naturally we bumped it up to 19 artists this year, which was a totally intentional number and had nothing to do with anyone dropping out last minute. Totally meant for it to be 19."

It's amazing how well the project turned out, considering Eric and Richard are constantly trying to one-up and undermine each other in the interview below. They credit the brief they sent out to the artists. By setting certain parameters, the overall collection has an added touch of visual cohesion since the music selections are very eclectic. "We try to keep it simple, but coordinated. Fixed color palette, inclusion of a small logo, some basic rules as far as acceptable selections (no reissues, only releases from the current year, etc.) Some participants bend these rules, but that is half the fun."

Take a look at the past editions of 10x in case your "favorite albums of 2015" Spotify playlist is looking a little underwhelming. And remember that the next edition of 10x is only 12 months away. Eric & Richard are just as excited as you because their friendship depends on it. Because as Eric puts it, "As soon as the clock strikes midnight on December 31st, Richard is back in my crosshairs." That's a natural result of two freelance creatives with similar aesthetics going head-to-head for the same gigs. Richard, firing back with an "I’m shaking in my winter boots," explains: "I think there were at least two times this year where it came down to Eric or us at Skinny Ships. We settled it in the streets."

 

Tell us a little bit about your creative backgrounds. Who are Eric Mortensen and Richard Perez, and how did they get here?

Eric: I got into graphic design through music. My brother was in a band. All my friends were in bands. Even our mailman was in a band. I don’t know, someone told me The Postal Service was a music group. Anyways, I couldn’t play anything but I knew how to draw cool ska guys in photoshop. Now I get paid to draw cool ska guys for clients like NASA, Google, and Facebook.

Richard: I was introduced to the wonderful world of design in high school when I was the layout editor of the school paper.

Eric: Richard told me he took the layout editor position to impress girls.

Richard: Yeah that didn’t work out. Anyway. I went to SF to study design, snagged a studio gig at Office, before going out on my own. Somewhere along the line, I started focusing more on graphic illustration. Now I work with my partner, Jen DeRosa, under the Skinny Ships moniker. Where we get to do cool stuff for Google, Facebook and not NASA. NawSA.  

WNW Member Mark Weaver

Adam R. Garcia

What is the 10x project, and how did it get started?

Richard: The 10x is an annual illustrated list of visual artists’ favorite albums of the year. The first was 10x10 in 2010 and originally posted to flickr (remember flickr?). Sharing just a list of my favorite albums seemed a little plain, so I jazzed things up with some illustrations.

In 2014 Eric joined the project and it’s all been downhill from there.

Eric: He means downhill like downhill skiing. You know, jumping off hills in neon colored outfits, crossing skis together in midair while an electric guitar wails kinda stuff. It’s just Richards’ weird way of saying I made the project cool.

Richard: In 2015 we upped the ante and asked a few fellow illustrators and designers to join in, bringing the number up to 10. It was a blast seeing what other creatives were listening to that year.

Eric: So naturally we bumped it up to 19 artists this year, which was a totally intentional number and had nothing to do with anyone dropping out last minute. Totally meant for it to be 19.

Richard: Yes. 19 is a nice round number.

Maxwell Holyoke-Hirsch

WNW Member Richard Perez

What are the kinds of guidelines that you pass off to the artists?

Eric: We try to keep it simple, but coordinated. Fixed color palette, inclusion of a small logo, some basic rules as far as acceptable selections (no reissues, only releases from the current year, etc.) Some participants bend these rules, but that is half the fun.

 

What are some of the lessons you learned in previous years that helped the project evolve this year?

Richard: Just general time management. When it was only Eric and I working on this I remember we would both be working the night before to have artwork ready for the next day's post. Eric somehow managed to corral 19 artists this time around.

Eric: We also invested a lot more time into making the website more engaging... 10x16 is a huge leap forward from 10x15. We were lucky to work with Joey Maese to develop something special this year.

Erik Marinovich

WNW Member Jessica Hische

Are you both musicians, or do you just love the ways that music can intersect with the visual arts?

Eric: I don’t play anything but I know Richard has a little OP-1 keyboard. I like to imagine he composes exclusively for the audience of his two cats, and that his shit is really good. Like super progressive shit for cats.

Richard: This is true.

WNW Member Simone Noronha

Grace Danico

 

What are your 3 favorite album covers of all-time?

Eric:

  1. Haha Sound by Broadcast (Artwork by Julian House)

  2. Out of the Blue by Electric Light Orchestra (Artwork by Shusei Nagaoka)

  3. Power, Corruption and Lies by New Order (Artwork by Peter Saville)

Richard:

  1. Court of the Crimson King by King Crimson (Artwork by Barry Godber)

  2. Power, Corruption and Lies by New Order (Artwork by Peter Saville)

  3. Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space by Spiritualized (Artwork by Farrow)

 

What are your 3 favorite albums of all-time?

Eric:

  1. Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys

  2. Graceland by Paul Simon

  3. Blue Album by Weezer

Richard:  This is tough, but at this precise moment:

  1. Odelay by Beck

  2. The Beatles by The Beatles

  3. Low by David Bowie

Nate Utesch

WNW Member Damien Correll

Are you always listening to music while you work, or do you prefer zero distractions when you listen to music?

Eric: I consider the ability to listen to my own music while doing my job to be one of the greatest luxuries one can be afforded.

Richard: Lately it seems to be 80% music, 20% podcasts coming through the office speakers. But some aural distractions are always needed.

WNW Member Chris Muccioli

WNW Member Eric R. Mortensen

Do you guys collaborate on other projects, or do you just join forces each year for 10x?

Eric: Because of our similar aesthetic approaches we tend to bid against each other on projects throughout the year. 10x is a time when we set down our swords and come together in collaboration to defeat our common enemy: seasonal affect disorder. But let me be clear… as soon as the clock strikes midnight on December 31st Richard is back in my crosshairs.

Richard: I’m shaking in my winter boots. But yeah, we’re usually competing for the same gigs, I think there were at least two times this year where it came down to Eric or us at Skinny Ships. We settled it in the streets.

Mike Davis

Mackenzie Brookshire

Who are some other WNW members whose work you admire, and why?

Both: I think we would love the opportunity to highlight some of the amazing 10x participants who are also WNW members:

Mark Weaver, Chris Muccioli, Damien Correll, Jessica Hische, Simone Noronha, Grace Danico, David J. McMillan, Shawna X

 

Anything else you’d like to add?

Eric: Buy some new records in 2017!

Richard: ✌

Justin Pervorse

Alana Louise

Anna Hurley

WNW Member David J. McMillan

Are you a WNW Member with new work, exhibits, products, or news to share? Email us!

WNW CONNECTS: THE COLLECTED WORKS & STARRY

WNW Connects:
The Collected Works & Starry

WORKING NOT WORKING

We love when creatives and companies come to us with Working Not Working success stories. Makes us feel all warm and fuzzy. The recent collaboration between design studio The Collected Works and startup Starry is a perfect example, especially given the impressively sleek and innovative outcome. Starry, which offers a pioneering touchscreen anti-router with perfect WiFi, used the WNW platform to discover and hire The Collected Works with the challenge of "visualizing the internet."

Below, we talk to Collected Works duo Justin Colt and Jose Fresneda, and Jane Huschka and Don Lehman, Starry's Creative Director and Head of Product Design. The conversation's pretty insightful, hearing from both sides simultaneously as they walk us through each step of the collaboration, from first contact to finished product. The Starry team tells us what they saw in The Collected Works that made them a perfect fit, and how the creative studio ultimately exceeded their expectations. The Collected Works duo goes in-depth into their creative process for this project, which included bringing in fellow WNW all-star Nick Hum. 

P.S. Interested in connecting with Starry and The Collected Works? Good news: Starry is hiring. "Don is looking for Product Designers. Jane is looking for Art Directors, Designers, and Copywriters. Definitely reach out if you’re reading this and are interested." And The Collected Works is down to meet up. "If you want to talk about a project, are starting a studio of your own, want to explore the virtual reality, or just want to chat, we make time whenever we can. Hit us up!"

 

Tell us a little bit about your creative backgrounds. Who are Justin Colt and Jose Fresneda and when did you start The Collected Works?

We met each other at The School of Visual Arts when we were both pursuing our Masters in Design. During school, we often collaborated on assignments, and generally helped each other out as most of the students in the program do. We were also taking on occasional freelance work. It was beneficial to team up as it made us seem more legit as a partnership. We were also both working part time at other studios in the city. Jose was working with Dark Igloo, and Justin was with Milton Glaser.

When we graduated in 2013 we were at a bit of a crossroads. We could take full-time design jobs or take a chance on starting our own studio–a personal goal for both of us. We had one client at the time with a project budget that could keep us afloat for a month. We took the plunge and started The Collected Works together. We applied what we learned in school, at Dark Igloo and Milton Glaser, and hustled to find as much work as we could. That was 3 years ago. Since then we’ve been lucky to not only stay afloat, but work with really talented people on rad projects.

 

Who are Jane Huschka & Don Lehman and how did you both wind up in-house full-time at Starry?

Jane is the Creative Director and part of the founding team at Starry. She’s specialized in branding, marketing, visual and experiential design. Before Starry in 2014, she was with much of the same team at Aereo. Previously she worked at the small branding agency called RED with clients like the NFL, Civic Entertainment Group, and Apollo Theater.

Don is Head of Product Design (UX & ID) at Starry. His background is in industrial design and user-centered research. Before Starry, he ran his own design studio, More/Real, working with clients like SiriusXM and Rubbermaid. He also happened to be a big fan of what the team at Aereo was building (which, as Jane would say, is how he was lured in).

We met in early 2015 when Don first joined Starry. We were excited to work together for a ton of reasons. We saw what a huge project and opportunity it was. We’re the type of designers that are very comfortable wearing a lot of hats, so working at a startup is appealing to us. But most importantly, we’re both passionate about making people’s lives easier. If there is a way to make anything we touch more useful and delightful, we will find it.

Since the very beginning, everything has been incredibly collaborative. We started small with finite resources. We worked together on everything. Engineers, developers, designers, marketers… anyone who could contribute would. We’re slightly larger now and it’s still the early days, but we strive to work this way. We’re all on this fantastic mission to make something great.

Had you heard of Starry when they first reached out to you on WNW to help with the design of their new router?

Collected Works: We had very little idea of the concept, the project, or really anything Starry was planning to do. This was prior to announcing anything publicly, and they were still working with a secret codename. In our first meetings, we didn’t know if Starry was a product, a service, or anything about their general mission. We did know it was going to revolutionize how we use the internet, and was founded by an incredibly talented team. After we said we were onboard, and they felt we were a good fit, we got all the info.

 

Can you give us a little insight into how Starry got started and what its core mission is?

Starry: The internet is amazing. But internet service? Not so much.

So we set out to reinvent how you get the internet. We’re creating radical technology that’s wireless, fast, affordable, and easy to use. Just one company for everything you need including your service, products (including Starry Station), and support. We think people deserve more choice and a better experience.

If building our own ISP from scratch sounds insane, believe us, it is. But everyone here is scary-smart. Most of the founding team (including Jane) came out of Aereo, the internet-TV service that allowed you to stream over-the-air TV (the kind you usually need an antenna for) to any device. Kind of like Netflix for broadcast. It was considered slightly controversial, and after spending several years fighting the broadcast companies, Aereo ultimately lost its case in the Supreme Court.

Obviously, that’s quite the way for a company to end and you would think something like that would’ve forced the core team to call it quits. But the amazing thing about this group is that we didn’t just rest on one great idea; we moved on to the next. Like how to use millimeter-wave technology to deliver Internet through the air! After Aereo closed its doors, we immediately started the development of Starry Internet.

What was it about Collected Works’ WNW Profile that most stood out to you?

Starry: All of their projects have such a unique look and feel. They’re smart. Thoughtful. Bold. And even though Justin and Jose are both classically-trained designers, everything they create feels so totally fresh and playful. We hadn’t planned to hire a studio to help bring our wireframes to life (at the time, Jane was looking for a full-time designer to bring in-house) but we came across their profile on WNW and felt right away like they were the right match.

Was there a particular past project in their portfolio that clued you into the fact that they were the right fit?

Starry: For us, what really stood out about the Collected Works' portfolio was the combination of experimental and practical work. On the experimental side, we appreciated their Nike light paintings, the sound visualizations for Red Hot, and the countless little animations that they’ve sprinkled throughout their portfolio. That was something neither of us could really capture in our wireframes and we hoped that their imagination would help bring the experience we’d designed to life.

What was the brief?

Collected Works: In short, the objective was to “visualize the internet”. That’s a really broad question, but an exciting one. At this point, we knew Starry was building a touchscreen router, called Starry Station, that was part of a bigger internet ecosystem. It also had a larger objective: to help people understand how they’re connected to all these devices in their home.

The router itself was already beautifully designed, and now they needed to figure out the UI for the touch screen. This is how people would interact with and understand what was connecting to their network. How do you show a complex web of devices? How do you interact with them? How do you quickly understand your internet health? How do you fix problems when they occur? These were some of the challenges we needed to figure out.

Starry: When we started our collaboration with the Collected Works we had a fistful of wireframes and early prototypes but knew we needed help if we were going to redefine a category. Our competition? The router. Your stereotypical ugly, black, blinking box. A device designed by utility companies – not something you’d set out in your home that's kind of scary for the people who use it.

So we asked Collected Works to imagine we had designed a router that was easy to use. Fun to set up. At a glance, it could tell you that your internet is working, what devices are connected, and what’s using the most bandwidth. And when there is an issue, it could tell you how to fix it. On top of that, make it beautiful and intuitive. A touch magical. Something that belongs in a home, not in a science lab. Easy, right?

 

Did Starry give you a lot of freedom to run with it? Or was it a very collaborative process?

Collected Works: Overall it was the best sort of collaboration. We could run with ideas and come up with lots of different directions we could take the project. On our end, we did a lot of animation mockups of what a visualized internet looked like. Sometimes it was a blob. Sometimes it was a chart. There’s really no definitive right answer, so it was all about playing with and testing a lot of different options. Then we’d all get together and talk about what made sense. We’d also talk about what was possible from a technology standpoint. This was also awesome because the Starry development team could build and test these prototypes we were conceptualizing at the studio.

Did you find inspiration from other products in this arena? Or were you in more of a futuristic sci-fi frame of mind when “visualizing the internet”?

Collected Works: During our initial research sweep we found a lot of examples of what NOT to do. Most data visualization, especially in this field of internet speed and usage, is incredibly clunky and confusing. We needed to make this information understandable and engaging. It needed to feel more organic, almost like the router was a microscope, looking at the DNA of your internet. Soft shapes, simple color logic, and data visualization that was easy to understand were all the underlying goals.

 

What were some of the challenges of delivering the goods on this brief?

Collected Works: One of the challenges off-the-bat was to staff up as a studio so we could handle the workload. As it’s just two of us over here, one of the first things we did was hire a friend of the studio, and WNW all-star, Nick Hum. Nick had helped us with a few other projects, and he was a perfect fit for this one. We also really liked that everyone involved was from the WNW community.

Secondly, for the work itself, everything we proposed (all the UI, animations, charts, graphs, interactions and screens) needed to be incredibly flexible and able to accommodate any user's home network. So, a visualization for a network with 3 connected devices had to work just as well as a network with 30 devices. This took a lot of testing and prototyping to get just right. Which meant a lot of collaboration with the Starry team, to code and test what we were prototyping.

Finally, time was always ticking. The Starry team had a hard shipping date that was rapidly approaching, so we needed to be really efficient with our time.

Tell us about the finished product. How does it work?

Collected Works: Starry Station is a router that allows users to control and understand their WiFi like never before. It’s a powerful piece of hardware that’s beautiful enough to put on your desk, and simple enough for your parents to use. No more blinking lights to decode, just a better way to stay connected to the things we love.

On the Starry Station touchscreen, there are a variety of different visualizations. “Ambient” view is the default screen, which represents connected devices as floating orbs. The more devices connected to your network (phones, computers, printers, TV, etc.) the more floating orbs. In the center of these orbs is a number (from 1 to 100) that we call your “internet health score”. This number represents how healthy your connection is. A variety of factors can influence this–from internet speed to the number of devices online. Overall, ambient mode gives you an at-a-glance view of your internet. You can see it from across the room, and understand if everything is cool, or if something is going wrong.

The secondary state is what we call the “1-foot view”. This is when you tap on the screen and the orbs and health score transitions to a simple dashboard. From here you get a detailed breakdown of your internet and can fix any issues. You can see what is connected to your network, and how those devices are using bandwidth. You can test your internet speed, and see your usage over time. You can also add or remove any restrictions, such as disabling your kids' devices until after they finish their homework.

In the end, the UI eloquently and simplistically answers a very tough challenge–to visualize the internet. Starry Station works so well that we use it every day, here at the studio. 

In what ways did Collected Works surprise you?

Starry: The Collected Works surprised us in a lot of ways, but what really stands out is how collaborative and unflappable they were. Despite the ridiculously tight timeline we’d set for ourselves and, admittedly, a constantly shifting set of deliverables. What you would call stereotypical startup problems. :)

This project could have easily turned into one of the worst experiences ever, but it didn’t. They met deadlines and exceeded our expectations every time. We’re still very proud of how much we were able to accomplish in such a short amount of time.

When searching for and discovering creatives, what do you look for first in a portfolio?

Starry: Outside of great work? The ability to explain and rationalize a process and the decisions made – whether it’s product, design, or copy. Attention to detail and craft. The desire to do something great.

 

Who are some other Working Not Working members whose work you admire and why?

Starry: We’ve had the pleasure of working with and interviewing quite a few talented WNW individuals over the last year. Aside from Collected Works, we’ve collaborated with Sarah Lim and our own Justin LaFontaine is a member.

Profiles we admire include the talented Leta Sobierajski (who just gets geometry), Mike Lacher and Todd Lamb (who just get the internet)...the list goes on. We do a lot of our recruiting on our own so there’s a chance you’ll hear from one of us if we like your work.

What’s next for Starry?

Starry: We recently started a beta program for our internet service in Boston. After that, hopefully coming soon to cities across the US.

 

Anything else you’d like to add?

Starry: Yes! We’re hiring. Don is looking for Product Designers. Jane is looking for Art Directors, Designers, and Copywriters. Definitely reach out if you’re reading this and are interested.

Collected Works: Thanks so much to Working Not Working for the continued opportunities, parties, lectures, connections, and adventures. You’ve really been a pivotal part of the studio.

Other than that, we’ve been very fortunate that many studios, agencies, designers and people we look up to have made time to meet with us and lend advice. We like doing the same whenever possible. So, if you want to talk about a project, are starting a studio of your own, want to explore the virtual reality, or just want to chat, we make time whenever we can. Hit us up!

Are you a WNW Member or company with new work, exhibits, products, or news to share? Email us!

THE ALL-SEEING TRUMP'S CREATORS WILL SHOW YOU AMERICA'S FUTURE

The All-Seeing Trump's Creators Will Show You America's Future

MIKE O'DONNELL / EDITOR

Plenty of WNW Members have found really creative ways to get involved in tomorrow's election, putting in the hours on their own time with money out of their own pockets. No project better sums up this socially and politically charged artistry and workmanship than The All-Seeing Trump. With a nostalgic nod to the 1988 film Big, in which a wish-making machine named Zoltar morphs a kid into Tom Hanks, the All-Seeing Trump machine comedically looks into the future and offers 30 terrifying misfortunes scheduled for when he's elected into the White House. The concept is inarguably genius, matched only by its execution. 

Below we talk to WNW Members Jon Barco, Andy Dao, Bryan Denman and Nathaniel Lawlor, who together created the All-Seeing Trump. They tell us how the idea was born and why the attention to detail was essential for the intended effect: "From the tiny hands (with one making Trump’s signature 'OK' sign), to the evil glowing eyes, to the 'receive your misfortune' plaque around the ticket outlet, every tiny detail was critical...They’re what separates good execution from great execution, in any medium." The creators also go into the process of balancing humor and discomfort, and how the latter can be an especially effective tool. "It was a lot of trial and error to find the sweet spot where we can entertain and make people laugh, but also stick them with a really dark insight that makes them a little uncomfortable."

You can expect to see the All-Seeing Trump tomorrow outside of Trump Towers, and possibly appearing on NowThis’s Election Day Livestream. After that, the machine will travel to the Joshua Liner Gallery for the final week of their Trump-themed show, which concludes on November 12.

Oh yeah, GO VOTE!

When did you first realize the equally comedic and terrifying potential of a Donald Trump and Zoltar union?

Independently, we had started thinking of what we could do to speak out against Trump, how to put our specific skills to use, and we had a few different creative ideas. But this one rose to the top, because it seemed the most conceptual and potentially viral, because of the nostalgic connection to the film Big. And honestly, there were some misgivings in the early stages of concepting. Was the idea clever enough? Did it make its point clearly? But that's common with creative ideas; you have to work them a bit, and spend quality time pressure testing them. 

Can you give us a little insight into the process from there? Who built this highly-detailed machine? What were some of the specifics that you were adamant about seeing? 

The machine was fabricated by Characters Unlimited, the company that makes Zoltar and other fortune-teller machines you see at places like Coney Island and Fisherman’s Wharf. We initially spoke to some other production companies, but for authenticity, which was highly important to us, we decided it would be best to start with the people who already make these. Why fake it when you can have the real deal? We see this a lot in our industry, like when directors will use a Red camera and then affect the footage in post to make it look like a VHS camcorder from the 80s. And it never does! We're much more of a fan of just using an actual camcorder from the 80s. So we used Characters Unlimited, and we may have been the most particular customers they’ve ever had. From the tiny hands (with one making Trump’s signature “OK” sign), to the evil glowing eyes, to the “receive your misfortune” plaque around the ticket outlet, every tiny detail was critical. We hired our own sculptor to sculpt the head, and lots of other specialists and friends for all the other details: the custom human hair wig, the SFX paintjob on the face, the handmade curtains and tiny MAGA hat, the hand-painted lettering on the cabinet. We could go on and on about the details. Details are so important, they’re what separates good execution from great execution, in any medium.

“There are 30 ‘misfortunes’ in total and the set-list can be customized depending on the location we’re in. For example in front of Planned Parenthood we played a lot of misfortunes having to do with women’s issues and Supreme Court nominations and ‘disgusting dogs.’”

How many pre-recorded answers are housed inside of the All-Seeing Trump? Was it fun coming up with them? Any surprises or challenges?

There are 30 “misfortunes” in total and the set-list can be customized depending on the location we’re in. For example in front of Planned Parenthood we played a lot of misfortunes having to do with women’s issues and Supreme Court nominations and “disgusting dogs.” Writing them took quite a while, with many drafts and rounds of revisions, just like writing anything else. We watched WAY too much Trump footage in order to learn his cadence, his rambling manner of speaking, and his (very limited) vocabulary. It was a lot of trial and error to find the sweet spot where we can entertain and make people laugh, but also stick them with a really dark insight that makes them a little uncomfortable. Everyone laughs when Trump says, “I build the best deportation trains, I really do.” But then they wince when he follows it up with, “My trains are so much better than the ones the Germans used.” Making people uncomfortable was always part of the goal. It’s a really powerful tool that we can almost never use in the commercial world.

Obviously this was a great idea with equally impressive execution. But did you expect the amount of media coverage that the All-Seeing Trump ultimately received?

We spent so much time and put so much love into the idea, our ultimate fear was that we’d put it out into the world, and then… nothing. It would just fizzle out. But in reality we expected at least something would happen. And we got lucky. A journalist was walking to get coffee past our very first location, and she immediately wrote up the story for Gothamist. From there, it escalated, and by the next morning, we were getting press requests from tons of outlets, big and small. So the makeshift PR plan we had in place actually got usurped organically, which was great. We didn’t have to do much PR work in the end.

“Even the Trump fans got a kick out of it. Most of our time has been spent in friendly territory, and if we learned one thing, it’s that Manhattan really hates Trump. What a bizarro world when rural America gets behind a rich city slicker, and the city he’s from can’t stand him.”

Any surprising reactions? Any angry reactions? Did you worry that someone might try to assault the machine?

We definitely worried about angry people trying to assault the machine, especially when we took it to a Trump rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. We actually hired two bodyguards to stand next to the machine, dressed as Secret Service. But ultimately even the Trump fans got a kick out of it. Most of our time has been spent in friendly territory, and if we learned one thing, it’s that Manhattan really hates Trump. What a bizarro world when rural America gets behind a rich city slicker, and the city he’s from can’t stand him. 

 

What are the most important messages that you want to send with this project?

The All-Seeing Trump pretty much speaks for itself—a future with a President Trump is a bleak future. Initially, the little fortune tickets that pop out were going to act like an end card on a TV spot, reading “There’s No Future In Trump. Vote, Volunteer, Spread the word.” But then we realized that was our advertising training getting in the way. We asked ourselves, what would Banksy do? And the answer was obvious: Keep the experience dark all the way through. Don’t talk down to your audience. People will draw their own conclusions. That’s how we landed on putting “misfortunes” on the tickets, too. From that point on, the whole idea really gelled.

Have you ever dabbled in guerrilla art or politically-charged work before? 

Yes, members of our group created Occupy George to highlight wealth distribution inequality, Good Day Blimp, which raised money for Ice Cube’s charity, and a few other projects as well. 

 

Will the All-Seeing Trump be making any appearances on Election Day?

Yes, we’ll be out, probably at Trump Towers, and possibly appearing on NowThis’s Election Day Livestream. After that it’ll go to the Joshua Liner Gallery for the final week of their Trump-themed show, which ends on November 12.

 

What’s next for you all?

All four of us are back freelancing, with no immediate plans for the next idea. This project was a ton of work, but it was really fun and it definitely made us want to work more on our own projects, so we’ll see what happens. Let’s just get through this god-awful election first.

 

Anything else you’d like to add?

We’re lucky to work in an industry with so many smart, talented people all around us. We called in many favors and so many people stepped up to help us. Heard City, Cosmo Street Editing, and Future Perfect Music each volunteered their resources, rallying behind the idea and the cause. And so many others, from producers to business affairs to PR. The project really made us think, if we spent half the effort we spend selling soda and cellphones and cars on our own creative endeavors, we could make a lot of really cool stuff.

Are you a WNW Member with new work, exhibits, products, or news to share? Email us!

Judge These Books By Their Covers, Designed By Alex Trochut

Judge These Books By Their Covers, Designed By Alex Trochut

MICHAEL O'DONNELL / EDITOR

Throughout your life, a lot of people have probably told you, "Don't judge a book by its cover." It's a pretty great saying, and applies to just about everything in life, except maybe books. Especially if you're looking at the new work from WNW Member Alex Trochut. Just his contributions to the design of the brand new Penguin Galaxy Series should be enough for you to want it on your shelf. The books could be hollowed out and it wouldn't matter. But sure, the inclusion of six of the most renowned science fiction and fantasy classics, like 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke and Dune by Frank Herbert, is icing on the cake. If you have a heavy preference for gritty realism, and a distaste for escapism to faraway worlds that offer intelligent insights into the one around us, then don't judge these covers by their books.

Below, we talk to Alex about this brief from Penguin Classics, and how he used the texts themselves to create such timeless covers that stand on their own and dovetail with perfect cohesion. "The most challenging part was to find that common thread across all the books that allowed them to be expressive enough to create a certain level of abstraction and visual excitement, and yet accomplish the function of being readable."

Alex also tells us about his approach to his design practice and why he tries not to have a signature style. "I try to change as much as possible (it's a survival technique). I like to discover a new visual language on each project, or at least try to. In the end there is the same hand and mind behind all works. My content comes from the style itself. As a designer, I don't have a specific message to express myself, but I like to express myself with the message."

The individual hardcovers hit shelves today. In the event you go with buying the Penguin Galaxy Series Box Set, available November 15th, you won't even be able to judge the books by their respective covers, because they're housed in a fittingly futuristic jewel-box lucite showcase.

 

Tell us a little bit about your creative background. Who is Alex Trochut and how did he get here?

I’m from Barcelona and moved to Brooklyn 4 years ago. I’ve been a freelancer for the last 10 years. I’m a one-man team, but I collaborate with other freelancers occasionally. I move on the surface of different disciplines: illustration, graphic design, typography, lettering, art direction, 3d, photography. I like to get lost on every project, looking to get a new experience or tool out of each venture.

I look at what I do as digital crafts. I create images, most of the times images you can read. There is an academic foundation on my lettering work, but always departing toward a subjective side, looking for my own rules (and mistakes).

2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke

2001: A Space Odyssey is a timeless enigma that raises questions that scape the human comprehension. Therefore the front cover plays with the idea of a solving a game with the reader. The back cover teases the reader even more to decipher an impossible group of modular pieces that belong to the front cover. This lettering forces the reader to solve a two-second riddle, and turn the cover 90 degrees in order to read it.

What was the inspiration for your design of the Penguin Galaxy Series? Did you draw from the texts themselves, or more from science fiction book-covers of the past? Or something else entirely?

I started by reading the books (listening to them actually, as audio books, due my lack of time and slow reading skills. It's about 3000 pages of content).

The series had to be consistent in style, so the first thing was to find a visual language that could work across all titles. All of them except for The Once and Future King were sci-fi based, so a lettering style made up of lines was a flexible enough approach to allow each title to become its own world, and frame the whole collection as sci-fi themed.

Once learning about each story and coming up with a style that would help to unify the collection with diversity, the creative process was different for every book. Some were more rational and straightforward, towards visualizing a concept with letters, based on a narrative or a contextual element. So, for Neuromancer I would use the idea of glitch, for 2001: A Space Odyssey a text that looks cryptic or alien forcing you to turn the book in order to read it. In other cases the process was more of a happy accident, where the design process of the letterforms was actually the trigger that created the idea behind the cover. For example, in Dune just by using the “D” rotated 90 degrees, the word appeared as a perfect representation of Arrakis, being a point of intersection between four main powers.

Dune by Frank Herbert

An intricate political story of emperors, dukes and barons. Futuristic but with the same ingredients of a medieval epic story. The lettering has a hint of Egyptian jewelry designs inspired by the desert.

DUNE is, as a word, a quite special puzzling structure of letters that allow you to read 4 different characters by simply rotating 90 degrees the “D” shape. I thought this logo, in some way, speaks of the strategic nature of Arrakis, a planet where different parts intersect from different points of view and interests. This design is used in the back cover.

What kind of research and preliminary explorations informed decisions throughout your creative process?

Since this collection was not going to use any illustration and the letters itself would have to illustrate the cover, the most challenging part was to find that common thread across all the books that allowed them to be expressive enough to create a certain level of abstraction and visual excitement, and yet accomplish the function of being readable.

I listed different themes and concepts from each book, so I knew what goals were key for the style to adapt individually, and from there it was a matter of getting lost on each cover and trying to be as expressive as possible within the limitations of the line style and using only letters.

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

Focused on Gethen (the frozen planet) and its androgynous society, these letters are duplicated and transparent, inducing to be interpreted as ice and the duplication of the same type of gender.
On the back cover we see the androgyne symbol.

What were some of the challenges of bringing your vision to life?

Working with foil stamping had its limitations on contrast and stroke thickness. Once the designs were done, the printer came back saying that all designs had to be modified in order to meet the needs for printing foil correctly. So that was a learning experience. No foil can be printed thinner than 0.5pt.

Neuromancer by William Gibson

William Gibson created the concept of “Cyberpunk”. The future that Neuromancer pictures isn’t clean or sleek, its low-key and obscure, mutated into a hybridization of all kinds…The glitch aesthetics is a good way to capture this mix between human and machine, physical and digital, humanising the machines and mechanising humans to make a hybrid of both. The typography has a technological nostalgia using the colors of an old screen.

In terms of your practice, do you approach book covers differently than album covers and posters?

I think this collection came in as a very unique and brave brief from Penguin Classics (Paul Buckley), who wanted 100% typographic covers. This itself set up a scenario of endless possibilities to explore and many other limitations, which is what created such a creative challenge for me.

I would not think each format or field demands different approaches. I think you can design a record as a book cover if that is something that translates well to the spirit of the record. I think each format has different advantages and limitations. Overall it is a matter of navigating throughout these limitations and making the maximum impact. I don't believe a lot in rules and preconceived ideas. In the end rules are just validated opinions that lead to conclusions that apply to most cases; but when it comes to creativity in a personal approach, they can be your worst enemy.

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein

The concept is based on the crash of perceptions based on behaviours, traditions, and religions that the book expresses in the differences between Mars and Earth. The words “Stranger in a” appear facing an opposite directions as “Strange Land”, confronting the subject and the context.

How would you describe your creative style? Do you recognize a signature style that links all of your projects, or do you try to excuse yourself and approach each project as its own entity?

I try not having one style. I try to change as much as possible (it's a survival technique). I like to discover a new visual language on each project, or at least try to. In the end there is the same hand and mind behind all works. My content comes from the style itself. As a designer, I don't have a specific message to express myself, but I like to express myself with the message.

 

Are you a big sci-fi fan? What’s your favorite book from the collection?

I enjoy it, but I would not call myself a big fan or an expert. I enjoyed all of them for different reasons, but Neuromancer was probably the one that sparked my imagination the most.

The Once and Future King by T. H. White

This book cover is the result of merging the line style of the collection with a medieval style lettering. The icon of the sword is on the back, appearing half-hidden, referencing the sword in the stone.

While we're on the subject, what’s your favorite science fiction film?

Mmmm, Alien and Prometheus are probably at the top of my list.

 

What are you working on now?

I’m trying to get myself more familiar with new tools like 3D.

 

Anything else you’d like to add?

Thanks for the interview! ;)

 

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