I’m excited to share my work for Pygmy Lush’s release, TOTEM. Brothers Mike and Chris Taylor of Pygmy Lush and pageninetynine contacted me in mid December 2024 and asked about my interest in doing artwork for their upcoming album. They said they were fans of Dazzling Killmen and the artwork I did for them, especially the album Face of Collapse. That album was released in 1994, and I was flattered that there was still a regard for that artwork.
Decades ago, I lost interest in doing record illustration and design when packaging fell to digital, but the Taylor brothers were interested about multiple physical formats, including a 12 inch LP, and I became interested. Although my last record work was 20 years ago, I quickly found myself excited and inspired when designing the album. Returning to this kind of work was more fun than I could have predicted, and with the enthusiastic support of Persistent Vision Records, I believe the packaging to be quite special.
The album is in LP, CS, and CD digipack formats. The LP and CD are printed on uncoated matte paper stock, with the LP having the added touch of copper metallic foil over the band logo and album title. The vinyl record is available in three different color varieties.
The back cover of the LP and CD, like the cover of the album, is a tintype image of an original sculpture. I will be creating posts in my studio blog at a later date on how these were made.
The LP has a 12x24 full color insert, and the CD has a similarly designed booklet, both on matte paper. The frame design was drawn in pen and ink and colored with scanned watercolor washes. The strawflower pattern is meant to tie into the cover and is my first pattern design in a very long time. It too is colored with scanned watercolor washes.
The inside of the LP and CD fold out into a large tintype image with hand drawn ornament. Like the cover, this sculpture was created for the album and photographed using my antique equipment: a 1903 Century No. 2 camera with a 1900 Dallmeyer 3A lens. The boarder ornament and moth were drawn in pen and ink.
The side A and B record labels contain elements of both tintypes. For side A, the record player spindle passes through the eye of the raven.
With gratitude, I wish to thank the Taylor brothers, Pygmy Lush, and Paul Hansbarger of Persistent Vision Records for their belief in me. It was a wonderful experience to be a part of.