Devinyl Splits, Vol. 2

SERVICES:

Art Direction, Visual ID, Design, Packaging, Admat

Over the course of 2018, Kevin Devine planned to put out a series of music, entitled Devinyl Splits. The series would consist of six 7-inch albums; Each album would be a “split,” meaning one side would feature a song by him and the other side would feature a song by another artist. Each of the six albums in the series would feature a different artist—so in total, twelve songs over the course of six releases with six unique artists. The artwork needed to have a consistent look throughout the series and Kevin Devine, being a native New Yorker, wanted the art to have a distinctively New York vibe that felt authentic.

REDEFINING THE SYSTEM

It was decided the best approach for handling the fluidity of the collaborating artists would be to develop an MTA-inspired subway system for the series. This gave the art a distinctively New York feel with an iconic visual identity. The design system then allows for an injection of playfulness, using various design elements that would enrich the story being told. For example, the initials of each artist were built into Subway lines and the stops on any given line denoted the song titles.

MAPPING THINGS OUT

A framework was designed to bring the concept to life in a fresh yet recognizable way. Record jackets were designed to be reminicent of MTA signage and the record sleeves were designed to look like the tiled walls visible from subway platforms. Grids were developed for both to ensure consistency across each release. To give the artwork more of an authentic feel and sense of surrealism, each record sleeve featured a different tile colorway. Additionally, unique gritty textures pulled from subway stations were added to each jacket and sleeve.

PROTYPICAL TYPE & ICONIC ICONOGRAPHY

In terms of typography, Akzidenz Grotesk (aka Standard Grotesk) was used for signage throughout the art—as it was the original typeface used in the 1960s Subway system before everything switched to Helvetica. Custom letters were traced and scanned to create the type for the subway tiles. Additionally, line icons were created and a Transit Authority parody logo was developed.

THE WHOLE PACKAGE

Bringing it altogether resulted in clear, consistent artwork that remained flexible until the final collaborating artist was decided on much later in the year.

Each record jacket featured the artist names, their corresponding line icons and the “routes” for their songs were included on the back. The route designs would be reprised for a limited-edition poster, which summarized the series and was made available for all those who pre-ordered a subscription to all six releases.

Each sleeve featured the artist names from the split as if they were subway platform wall tiles. Two of the releases featured covers. To denote this, a signature and sticker were used as “grafitti” on the tiled walls.

SWIPE TO RIDE

The nature of vinyl requires that you own and use a record player for listening. So it was imperative to include a way for customers to download the digital files. This was done by including a custom, Single Ride MetroCard-esque download card in every album. Each card came with a unique download code and included a personal note from Kevin Devine on why he chose to collaborate with the artist he selected for each split.

EXPERIENCING DELAYS

Due to unforeseen circumstances, one of the releases was delayed, leaving subscribers empty-handed for longer than expected. To remedy the situation, Kevin Devine partnered with another artist to release an initially unplanned, Digital-only split. Album art was needed for the release so the release was named and the artwork was created to mimic an MTA Unplanned Service Changes notice.