Skunk Sessions: "i've been here before" CD Release
North Shore jam band, Skunk Sessions, released their debut album, "i've been here before" on 4/20/21. I worked with the band on CD packaging as well as promotional collateral and social media graphics. Please follow the link to see the full scope of work.
Skunk Sessions: "i've been here before" CD Wallet - Outside
HDRnB T-Shirt Promo
The SOSS team found the perfect color for the new HDRnB tees. Guitarist extraordinaire, Charlie O'Neal, modeled the shirt for our launch ad. I couldn't resist the call of one of my favorite childhood ads. Though, I have to admit, I'm no fan of licorice. So, as great as that marketing campaign was – and it was – it never moved me to purchase their product. Though, I may have influenced many others to do so by singing that jingle incessantly!
I knew I wanted an image of a graffiti-heavy brick wall for the background of this promo. My nephew and sister-in-law took me a really cool abandoned building in the woods of Oregon that was tagged with really beautiful artwork. I took lots of pictures (I may create a collection of that artwork). I don't remember exactly where it was... I'll have to ask them. Anyway, those beautiful images and memories visit me often and were the inspiration for this piece.
In case the connection is not obvious, it's the gorgeous cardinal red of the shirt. I decided to extrude the title text for effect. To soften the effect, further customize the range of color and provide the illusion of movement, I layered a gradient (white to black) with divide blend mode over the 3D extrusion. To highlight the feature text at the bottom of graphic I added a brick color block behind Charlie. To keep the "lines" clean, I matched the weight of the stroke to the brickwork in the image and tapered the shape of the rectangle to follow the line.
"Charlie Says" HDRnB T-Shirt Promo
SOSS Store "Spring" Promo Ad
I think all New Englanders share a deep unconscious love for the color green. Make that any one who lives in a geographic zone that undergoes long, snowy winters! I am partial to grass green. I am always impatient to see my lawn add some blue to the yellow hues it takes on in the autumn. And, then wears all through the winter when it isn't covered in a blanket of white, of course. So I set our model, Sara, in front of a bright, sunny grass laden background.
I wanted to feature both, our model and some of our most popular products, in this ad. I decided to split the graphic with a "pour of sauce" illustration to play off the brand name. However, I was actually thinking of a swirl of soft serve ice cream colored in high-saturation fruity sherbet tones. I wrapped the shape around both Sara and the graphic on the back of the sweatshirt. I added the drop shadow to give Sara something to be standing "behind".
The vector pattern on the product side was laid out to set the sweatshirt hood in the center of a record and to have another front and center. The pattern was created on a white background so I inverted it and reduced the exposure as I wanted the background dark. I layered a copy blended as difference above to lighten the background and tweak color of pattern, ever so slightly. Over that I added two layers of grass green, the first as linear light and the second as saturation and voilà, thus, I adjusted the color to that of the grass photo.
Spring SOSS Store Promo Ad
SOSS Store Launch Campaign
December 2020 SOSS Records launched their Square Store. Below are the social media graphics I created for the launch campaign. Local Salem, MA artist, Sara Ashodian, was so kind as to model the gear. Please feel free to visit the website and to do the right thing, as we so shamelessly and repeatedly avow – SUPPORT LIVE MUSIC.
Henley Douglas Jr. Sirius XM Radio Interview with Meg Griffin
Meg Griffin, a bona-fide radio legend, is one of a handful of DJs celebrated in the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame and Museum. The exhibit honors the greatest personalities to grace the airwaves! Henley Douglas, Jr., saxophonist of the Heavy Metal Horns, was honored to be interviewed on her Sirius XM program, Disorder. Follow the preceding link to find out more about her show.
SOSS Halloween Happenings Promo Card
On the North Shore, Halloween is more than a night of tricks and treats... it's a season! The streets of Salem, MA are packed with ghouls, goblins and gawkers for the entire month of October. The SOSS team roamed through the crowds distributing these handy-dandy show schedules. Listed were some of our favorite haunts offering the region's best entertainment.
