slum sociable: music branding

goals

To create a typographic logo and album cover art for a little-known musician. I chose Slum Sociable, an alternative/indie duo with a layered, shoegaze-inspired sound.

process & results

The logo is typeset in Helvetica, but warped until it looks almost watery. This captures a feeling of slow, smooth movement, while also synthesizing retro and modern aesthetics—all aspects of Slum Sociable’s music. The album covers take aesthetic inspiration from the sound and lyrics. Listen to each song and read about its design below.

“Life is Free” has a siren-like sound which feels cyberpunk and dystopian. The the album cover has a red and blue color palette to emulate sirens, but for the dystopian feel, the design takes inspiration from postmodernism—a design style I view as almost nihilistic in its attitude about modern society.

“All Night” is a more literal representation of the lyrics. The type is either handwritten or part of the photography, formed by real-life objects on an unmade bed lit by lamplight.

Finally, “Don’t Come Back Another 100 Times” makes use of minimalism and negative space to represent its clean, slow, sweeping melodies. It also uses imagery of crumpled and ripped paper to symbolize frustration (with that something or someone that keeps coming back).