When you work on something for a while, you loose touch with the sense that you are making something someone wants, something quite possibly desirable and tangible.
For the past couple of months, I've been working with the Colt 45 lads on quite a lot of projects. I've gone from posters, to music videos to websites and now to physical releases. I've been working on the design of their EP release for quite a while now, and yesterday it became a reality.
Whilst working the bar at The Brickyard last night, Colt 45 were burning up the stage with a whole basket of new tunes and fan favourites, and even though that was brilliant I couldn't keep my eyes focused on them, or anywhere in that direction at all.
To my right, was the merch table. Laden in t-shirts, badges and stickers, there was also a large stack of CDs but more importantly, there was this EP. The EP I designed.
I couldn't take my eyes off seeing people actually want to buy something I helped produce. It's a strange feeling; having someone look at your work as a final product, seeing it as an item of desire, actively critiquing it as they order a pint of Fosters. It was both lovely and terrifying.
I wasn't scared someone would say something bad about my design, I was just worried people would care. As I do a lot of posters, I've encountered people wanting to own them, by stealing them off the walls; but actively paying for something I've designed – as a consumer – was a whole new world to me.
This project, that had lasted months and took many upon many tweaks had finally become tangible and not just for me. I could see people actively showing it to their friends as if they were proud to own it; of course this is not all my doing because they wanted to own the music too, but I was a part of that pride, I was a part of something I've only ever observed.
And as it turns out, I do quite like how it feels; how the realism of tangibility feels upon your hands.
I'm quite in love with this CD, and even though I've previously expressed that unlike a record, I cannot bring myself to love a CD—but this is something else.
If I had complete creative freedom, I would have done things slightly differently but perhaps I wouldn't feel the same way I do about it. I'm not sure. And maybe it's not the greatest design I've done, but it was the right thing to do for Colt 45, and that arguably makes it the best design I could have done. Either way, I'm pretty chuffed.
I can't find many more things to waffle on about, so I'll close this post with a little perspective.
For many years, I've ignore music packaging as everything was much easier, much 'freer' and much less legal when I got it digitally from the internet. When I started university I started to collect LP under the influence of my buddy James and it quickly grew into quite a hobby, but CD's were still ugly pieces of plastic that I wouldn't even use in placement of rotten coaster.
But when it comes to actually doing design from music packaging; it becomes very clear to me that the format isn't even remotely important. Sure it's how you buy the music, it's how you consume it and it's possibly why you might have bought it—it's important that you bought it. That you wanted to buy it, to own it and to support all involved.
I still don't care for the CD format, but I do care for this one; because I bloody love what we've made.
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