NDVDLS  —  
Techno Collective

TLDR

Brand identity for a minimal techno collective.

Backstory

On a summer afternoon, he had stars in his eyes. Gregory — a man I’d met walking through the forest.

He was laying out his vision for NDVDLS: a minimal techno collective with transcendental values, an obsession for quality & craftsmanship, radical authenticity and aesthetic purity. Above all, Greg was interested in peak human experiences.

I knew I had to do something different for this brand. Vector work would be too sterile.

I went up to my studio (at the time that was my parents’ top floor, which I had almost completely requisitioned — thanks Mom) and went straight for the black paint.

After the initial brushstrokes, I put my fingertips to work, pushing the paint intuitively. More spontaneous. More life. 

What is dancing? Organic rhythm, movement, pleasure. The logo needed this.

I opened the centre drawer of my ancient wooden desk — it was full of doodads, and surely had the tool I needed.

Ball of elastics: NO.
Floppy disk: NO.
The thimble peon from ‘Monopoly’: YES, perfect.

I rolled some texture into the letters, then stepped back, scanned the letters at 1200dpi, inverted the colours and zoomed in.

The details made my hair stand on end. That was it.

As a process, this mix of intention & surrendering to chance operations has been part of my best work. When it works, it feels like magic.

Indie Alt-Rock Show

TLDR

Organized a show & made a poster for it. Seeking $$$ for a student exhibition.
 

Backstory

ACT ONE

We had 3 months to make this happen. 

To track the funding for the graphic design exhibition, we had posted a paper thermometer on the wall.

The temperature at the time:
Summer in Antarctica.

Cupcakes & t-shirts weren’t cutting it; it was time to pull out the big guns: alt-rock concert. My band was always up for it. That was one in the bag. I called up some friends from other bands:

SACHA
“Yada yada yada exposure…” 

THEM
*Poorly concealed groan*

SACHA
“…and free beer” 

THEM
“Sign me up”

ACT TWO

I had an internal dialogue, riffing on the headliner’s name: Bad Captain.

“Where do alt-rock and bad captains intersect? They both get lost. That’s good.”

“Lost at sea… Too obvious. Lost on land… Kind of funny. A map. Let’s scan a map of the wilderness.”

“How do we make that map musical? Repetition. Topographic maps have repeating lines. That'll do. Plus, it's eye-candy.”

Naturally, I chose a masochistically time-consuming objective: 60 hand-printed posters, silkscreened with 4 layers of ink each.

EPILOGUE

1 coerced assistant, 7 coffees & a junior-pack of staples later, the work was on the walls. The show pulled in heaps for the exhibition. High-fives all around.