CASE STUDY: Incognito music packaging
12" and CD cover
No Time Like The Future was the fifth album that I designed for jazz-fusion funksters Incognito, and it was also the most involved. In addition to the CD format there was to be a 2-disc 12" vinyl, the standard (but increasingly redundant) cassette, another 2-disc 12" vinyl of remixed tracks and finally a limited edition vinyl format consisting of four 12" remix discs bound together in a slipcase.
The main design used light to convey movement and modernity, the sort of shifting, sliding images gleaned from a moving subway train, or flashing past the neon of a nocturnal cityscape.
CD inner design (12-panel roll-out format)
I decided to use a rollout format for the CD ‘booklet’ rather than a ‘stapled page’ style as this would provide a wider canvas to lay down acres of these shimmering light patterns. For the same reason, the images were allowed to drench the inner bags of the standard 12" vinyl which were printed on a heavier-weight board than normal inner bags.
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12" disc 1, inner bag (front & back)
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12" disc 2, inner bag (front & back)
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Finally, the regular 12" was printed with a satin finish to give the item a classier tactile quality than would have been gained from a high gloss.
The remix vinyl formats
Talkin’ Loud Records wanted to make the two ‘remixed’ vinyl formats distinct from the regular 12" copy of the album to avoid any confusion in the mind of the customer. Also, for odd reasons of their own, they opted to move away from the images used on the regular release.
Regardless of this, if there is one way to please a record company it is by putting the artist’s name very large in the top half of the sleeve.
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‘remixed’ LP cover (also used for 4-disc ltd. ed. set)
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‘remixed’ LP inner bag (front & back)
NB. The limited edition had pain white inner bags.
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Bonus feature!
As previously mentioned, a lot of early designs for this sleeve got rejected. Here are just a few of the 20 or so also-rans:
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Client:
Talkin’ Loud Records
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