A jump straight into the sound of the underground rave culture, this package design connects the digital to the real world in more ways than one. Upon first presentation of the dust cover, you will notice it is made of a thick, clear vinyl that was printed using a half-tone type of technique. This color exploration is a chaotic expression of the intricate layered music that Sharkey creates. The fact you can see the record through parts of this sleeve was an intentional move to explain the music to an outsider of the culture. Once you open it, the same colors sort of “pop off the page” or “explode” as a way to further express the interaction of the music as an experience. The colors are computer-centric along with the type faces used. The typeface is called Input and the colors are what we know as pure CMYK. In addition to this, I hand lettered a few scetions to explain that the music has more than one “feeling” design wise. Paired with this package design was a one-scroll informational webpage to house it all. It moves with you as you move and even has an exploration into the music as a visual-motion graphic. The experience design of Hardlife is most defiently a journey into the music of the underground.
The music is called Freeform, a underground grungy and energetic music genre found in the warehouse parties of the rave scene. The package design transforms this music in three ways: The outside of the packaging is layered and bright; it has an image of bracelets you would in these warehouses, hidden, to describe the techy look and feel of the music. The inside of the packaging acts as a explosion to the inside of “the music” where it transforms from a static, modular design to one that has looked like it has transformed and became “acidic” like the sound of the music. As for the record itself, I chose to create a limited edition vinyl and not a compact disk because a record is exactly what a DJ will be using at these underground events. The envy of disk-jockeys is their vinyl/music collection – Slap this record on your Technics and watch the eyes of the people around you stare in envy and interest.
Credits: Music by Sharkey
