How we delivered
Some background information
Frequency Theater is the electro/metal/industrial project of Nate Butler.
Back in August 2009, Nate was getting ready to release his first effort under that moniker, Fly Gallery. We’ve been fortunate enough to be the ones he contacted to collaborate with him on the design of the package for his EP.
What was needed was simple yet extensive:
- A brand needed to be established for the band
- The layout of the album packaging needed to be created, based around a photoshoot realized by local photographer Bryan Chris
- A tour poster and merchandising needed to be created for the Fly Gallery Tour
Creating the brand
We started by crafting the brand for the band, under the constant input of Nate. His set of references musically span from Depeche Mode to Nine Inch Nails, and including an enormous amount of things in between. His visual references are gravitating around similar interests. We decided to establish an industrial, cold and slightly vintage brand. One of the biggest source of inspiration were the Work Progress Administration’s posters of the World War II era. The typeface we used is actually a recent clone and synthesis of the typefaces that can be seen on these posters.
We created a clean and a distressed version of the logo, in order to fit the various uses we would need it for.
The album package
The booklet
Once the branding was established, we moved on to the album’s booklet. The cover was to be based upon this photo of a dead, mummified bee (photo © Bryan Chris Photography).
We decided to just add the logo and the album name, in the same typeface. The other page is where the liner notes and track list find their place. While designing, we found an image of a speaker we loved and decided to use. After a few manipulations, it became this 3 colors, stamp looking element that is now a main brand element and that’s used live, projected behind the band.
The traycard
The outside of the traycard features a portrait of Nate, alongside of the tracklist, the url of Frequency Theater’s website and various copyright notices.
The tour posters
After the album package was approved, the tour posters were next. We modeled their aesthetic on the album’s design, in order to help increase brand awareness and to release a consistent ensemble.
We also created a variation of them for the Red Post advertising system, that’s quite present and used around Goshen, IN.
Later, and in order to lower costs for the band, we created a “blank” version of the poster, where the band can write the date and venue information by hand.
The apparel
A band that tours without merchandising isn’t cool. We created a couple of simple designs, focused on the FT logo.
