Making Of: Sleep Museum – Across This Open Wound CD artwork

Greetings!

As my new website is nearing completion, here are a few words about the last design I made.

Robert Anthony, from minimal wave act Sleep Museum, asked me last Autumn to design the layout of his new compilation (I provided the full artwork of his previous LP White Like Summer Sutures in 2012) on Cold Beats Records. I immediately knew it would be a great joy since he usually gives me complete freedom over the visual aspect of his music. Of course, it also means having to deal with my greatest critic – myself.

We agreed on using a large-ish A5 cardboard sleeve, so there was room for another full artwork that would unfold on both sides like our previous collaboration.

It was time to put these mountain ranges I have been photographing for so long to good use.

The Austrian Brandnertal like you’ve never seen before

The first version of the layout had the tracklist coming from above, much like a Chinese landscape painting, sadly it felt a bit flat since there is no “action,” so to speak, in the image. Instead I opted for a topographical approach.

The complete artwork. Is it a map? Is it a tracklist?

With the additional double-sided leaflet came the opportunity to contrast the cold vastness of the layout with a warm organic core.

Incidentally (but not coincidentally), both the photographic project and the painting I pictured in the leaflet are named Fields. On the back of the leaflet there is an extra text by Robert Anthony.

Since I still haven’t got a hold of my artist copies, please see below Robert’s pictures of the final release. You can grab your own copy from the Cold Beats Records Bandcamp.

Next, or until the arrival of the new website, we could take a look at this medieval-themed project I have been working on for a while now.

Thanks for watching!

PT.