The Zaum of Mr Brown

The Zaum of Mr Brown has moved

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Brown) — Tue, 26 May 2009 10:38:00 +0000

Hi everyone, it's been difficult keeping up to date with my blogs, day job and life generally, so I've streamlined my blog to my personal site. I'll be updating regularly with very similar content and some extra stuff thrown in for good measure. This site won't get any further updates so feel free to check out the new blog here, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the new blog as much... feel free to leave comments. Thanks, Mr Brown.

Thievery Corporation - Versions Artwork by Matthew Curry

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Brown) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:20:00 +0000

Matthew Curry is a GRAMMY Nominated® designer, illustrator and painter that resides and works from his studio in the Washington DC area and is the principal of the design studio, Imagefed.

Thievery Corporation's Versions Cover Artwork was designed in a joint collaboration by Curry & friend and fellow designer, Neal Ashby. The packaging has been featured in the 47th Design Annual of Communication Arts and was recently nominated for a GRAMMY for Best Recording Package.

You can check out more of Matthew Curry & Imagefed's work here.

Spiritualized - Let it Come Down Ltd Edition Sleeve Design

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Brown) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:24:00 +0000

I've recently featured Spiritualized limited album covers for Ladies & Gentlemen and the latest album A&E whilst neglecting Let It Come Down, well, I got one in the post this week so decided to do a feature.

Farrow had seen the work of sculptor Don Brown who's work is focused on his wife Yoko. During the same period, Pierce (Spiritualized) had been reading some psychology about the workings of the brain and I got interested in the idea that when you see an image of a face that is concave, your brain is so used to seeing eyes and noses that stick out that it finds it impossible to read.

Brown then created a portrait of Yoko that could be indented into the limited edition plastic case. Although Farrow didn't create the image, he has said producing this case was much more rewarding and enjoyable than Ladies & Gentlemen.

(I'll be adding more photos of this soon)

Concept and design: Farrow/Spaceman.
Sculpture: Yoko by Don Brown, courtesy of Sadie Coles HQ London

Favourite Movie Posters - Part I

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Brown) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:24:00 +0000

I've recently been posting more movie posters on here so I wanted to feature my favourites over the last few years, which will no doubt over time date way back to the early 1900's. Each post will include 10 posters starting with these below. I've not seen all of the movies listed and the film itself is no reflection on the poster design. Enjoy. Please feel free to comment on any you may like or dislike.

Coen Brothers pays homage to Saul Bass

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Brown) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 10:49:00 +0000

I've been a massive Coen Brothers fan since their debut movie Blood Simple. New posters of their up and coming movie First After Reading have recently been released and what can I say, wow! It clearly pays homage to the legendary works of Saul Bass who's posters included the likes of Hitchcock's Vertigo, Otto Preminger's The Man With The Golden Arm & Anatomy of Murder and Billy Wilder's Love in the Afternoon to name a few, all of which I've featured below for you to enjoy.

Burn After Reading will hit theaters on September 12th 2008.

If you haven't seen the trailer yet, check it out here.

I've included the mentioned posters which may have inspired Burn After Reading's poster design below, starting with one of the best classics of all time, Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo.

This is one of my favourite movie posters, Otto Preminger's Anatomy of Murder.

Otto Preminger's The Man With The Golden Arm.

Billy Wilder's Love in the Afternoon

Another recent movie poster which has been influenced by Saul's unique style was the poster for Before the Devil Know's you're Dead

The little floor is mine

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Brown) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:58:00 +0000

I've been tagged by Miss White to do the Six Quirks Meme(The title of this post is the strange English translation of the German title).

The rules are:
1. Link the person(s) who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules in your blog.
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs letting them know they've been tagged.

• If I eat any form of chocolate, it has to be from frozen, I can't stand warm chocolate and not even refrigerated is cold enough! I also can't eat chocolate bars normally, I have to bite around different parts of them like removing the chocolate first, or eating certain layers in order.

• I have a 'slight' case of OCD, I can't bare having dirty fingers, grease or spillages on my skin. If I eat a packet of crisps i have to split the packet from end to end so I don't get the grease on my hands, and I can't eat fast food without using a napkin to protect my hands. If I ever indulge into a fast food restaurant I leave feeling rather violated and require a good wash & scrub to remove the grease and smells.

• I enjoy an unhealthy yet significant amount of seclusion to the world. I love spending times with my friends yet isolating myself away for days really relaxes me, de-stresses me and brings out my creativity... (I'm starting to sound a little crazy)

• I love to hate things. It could be anything from people to tv commercials & programmes, songs or entertainment venues. I find it's like witnessing a car crash, I can't get enough and rather than distancing myself from things I don't like I enjoy complaining about how much I cant stand them. (I'm not sure that's healthy)

• I pluck my facial hair with my fingers. It's more of a subconscious habit.

• I can never buy 1 or 2 items which could form a set of something. For example, if a band released an album I liked, I would have to buy all of their albums. Or if a novelist wrote a book, I have to have their entire collection, or if i bought shower gel and can't decide on a scent, I buy them all.

I think after trying to think of these quirks, I have realised I am completely but happily insane.

I'm tagging these people: (ok, so it's not 6 people as the rules says)

London Shots
Katize
Made In Mundo

Spiritualized - Songs in A & E Album Art

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Brown) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 18:42:00 +0000

This week, I managed to pick up a special edition copy of Spiritualized's - Songs in A & E. I featured Ladies & Gentlemen previously on the blog, which was designed by Mark Farrow who has again teamed up with Spiritualized's Jason Pierce to create the new album sleeve.

The main designer of the project Gary Stillwell's inspiration for the new album cover comes from Jason Pierce's near to death lengthy spell in hospital with pneumonia. Songs in A&E comprises of a 32 page booklet consisting of photos of Pierce on various drips and lots of needles.

Farrow and the main designer on the project, Gary Stillwell, were struck by the beauty of these functional objects. “The idea was to elevate them and draw attention to them,” says Farrow. “They are incredible things … on a completely la-la level I love the fact that [in the photographs] they look like pinned insects, they take on a beauty when you see them presented in that way...”

Please comment, how do you think it compares to the previous sleeve designs of Ladies & Gentlemen and Let it Come Down?

MUTO by Blu - Redefining Street Art

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Brown) — Wed, 14 May 2008 23:03:00 +0000

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

First of all, sorry for not posting for ages, I've been ridiculously busy but found something well worth posting about.

MUTO is an ambiguous animation painted on public walls in Buenos Aires and Baden, and was created by Blu.

Banksy "One Nation Under CCTV"

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Brown) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 18:07:00 +0000

Banksy has struck again in perhaps his most ironic piece of work yet. Seen painted on the side of a post office, his slogan "One Nation Under CCTV" was conducted behind a large fence with CCTV (surveillance camera) coverage. The job required the construction of three stories of scaffolding to complete the job and represents one of Banksy's boldest attempts and the irony is brought on by the fact this was all happening under the "eye in the sky" surveillance cameras.

How this was painted on a post office we will never know, but with the increased publicity and large sums his works command, maybe somebody willingly turned the blind eye?

Shepard Fairey does George Orwell

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Brown) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 10:55:00 +0000

Since recently discovering the works of Obey's Shepard Fairey, I was extremely excited to see he has now been commissioned by Penguin Booksto design two new book covers for George Orwell classics, Animal Farm and 1984. They will be available from 3 July.

The art of Eric Tanner

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Brown) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:21:00 +0000

This is the fantastic work of Eric Tanner, a California based illustrater. You can find out more about Eric on his blog, in the mean time i've posted some of his art and some quotes about each piece. His blog can be found at http://erictanart.blogspot.com/

"I finally finished up that Indy piece for Acme Archives. My idea here was to create something that looked as if it came out when the movie took place, circa 1936. I was heavily influenced by Mexican film posters from the 30's & 40's."

"It was quite the honor to get to work on these characters that I've followed since I was a kid. In the end, it became a combination of the stuff I did for Incredibles and them old German film posters."

The work of Adam Neate - There's not a lot that comes free in london

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Brown) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:13:00 +0000

Adam Neate has been producing 'Free Art' around the streets of London since 1999, either leaving a single painting or a series leaning or hung against random walls.

After many years of painting illegal graffiti pieces, Neate switched to the works as an alternative form of public art.

Rendered in acrylic and spray-paint on canvas or found materials, each painting is unique, although often suggest ideas for further compositions.

For more work on by Adam Neate, visit his website at www.adamneate.co.uk

Parov Stelar // CD Covert Artwork

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Brown) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 21:58:00 +0000

Parov Stelar is one of my favourite musicians and not only have I been admiring his music over the last few years but also his CD Art. They poccess such an elegance, a film-noir quality.

If you're not familiar with Parov Stelar aka Marcus Füreder, he Lives and works in Linz / Austria, signed to Etage Noir label. His musical style takes the freedom of jazz and combines it with the groove of house and breakbeat.

Check out his music here www.myspace.com/stelar1

Parov Stelar Official Website www.parovstelar.com

Etage Noir Website www.etagenoir.com

Making Myspace a prettier place - cheap quality myspace design

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Brown) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:00:00 +0000

Hi, sorry for the plug but I thought it was worth posting about. I've been busy as usual making that very rare myspace page look remotely pretty, and am now offering it as a service.

Price for a myspace page design starts at £100. As long as you have your own artwork I can implement in your £100. If you require band artwork designed for the page then obviously that is an additional cost.

You can view our mspace page design here www.myspace.com/zaumbrown

More details here www.zaum.co.uk

Blood Red Shoes + Voilet Voilet + These New Puritans

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Brown) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:30:00 +0000

I went to a triple bill gig on April 1st, it was a fantastic trio of bands for one night. The headliners were Blood Red Shoes, a 2 piece from brighton. Laura-Mary Carter (guitar / vocals) and Steven Ansell (drums / vocals) played an absolute stormer, the crowd were wild. I really like some of the artwork I've seen so far, here an image from their website. Some of the artwork on their T-Shirts & Bags is lovely, see more of it on their website www.bloodredshoes.co.uk

These New Puritans were the second act of the night. a four-piece ‘magic wave’ band from Southend-on-sea, consisting of Jack Barnett (vocals, guitar, computer, sound), his twin brother George Barnett (drums, tapes, percussion), Tomas Hein (bass guitar, sampler, backing vocals, percussion) and Sophie Sleigh-Johnson (synthesizers). They mix indie with samplers and electronic experimental sounds.

Check out more of their music here www.thesenewpuritans.com/

Violet Violet was the first support acts for Blood Red Shoes on the night, and they were absoultely fantastic. I really liked the artwork on the their cd cover, it has such a nice homemade feel to it. Feel free to check out their music at http://www.myspace.com/violetviolet1

The Art of Levi van Veluw

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Brown) — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 22:16:00 +0000

Netherlands´ most promising young talents, Levi van Veluw. Since having graduated from the Artez Art School in Arnhem the Netherlands, Levi van Veluw has enjoyed a remarkable amount of success in a short period of time.

Levi van Veluw´s photo series are self-portraits, drawn and photographed by himself: a one-man-process. His works constitute elemental transfers; modifying the face as object; combining it with other stylistic elements to create a third visual object of great visual impact.

Check out more of his work here

Alberto Seveso - Illustrator / Graphic Designer / Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Brown) — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 22:00:00 +0000

I'm a massive fan of Italian Alberto Seveso, his design and illustrative style is just glorious. You can check out more of his work here http://www.burdu976.com/

A Very Wintery UK Spring - Photo Set

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Brown) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 22:58:00 +0000

It was a very cold day today, suprisingly so for the end of March in the UK. I just had to get up and take some photos at 8.30 this morning. You can view all the photos from today's shoot here

Helvetica by Gary Hustwit / Blu-ray Limited Edition "Record" Package Designed by Experimental Jetset

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Brown) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 22:45:00 +0000

I've found The Helvetica documentary by Gary Hustwit on Blu-ray in this fantastic Record Package.

The Helvetica Blu-ray high-definition disc in a special limited-edition package conceived and designed by Dutch design team Experimental Jetset. The 12" gatefold record cover holds a 4-panel Blu-ray disc insert in one side and a fold-out poster (60cm x 60cm / 23.5" x 23.5") in the other. The whole package comes in a custom black cloth record bag.

Only 1,500 copies have been produced, and this edition will not be reprinted. Each copy is signed by director Gary Hustwit. Ship date: May 6th.

If you're feeling flush, this lovely set will set you back $150, and you can order it here

Leaves & Flowers by Federico Galvani

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Brown) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 22:51:00 +0000

I found this artwork in the Ornate edition of BIS Publishers' Graphic magazine. It was created by Federico Galvani of Happycentro+Sintetik, this is my second feature from the Italian creative studio, a very beautiful piece.

Mürmür - Barrucchi 92 CD Sleeve Artwork

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Brown) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 22:30:00 +0000

I stumbled across this cd sleeve designed by an Italian based creative studio Happycentro+Sintetik. The Artwork is for a band called Murmer, I can't say I know anything about them, but the artwork is lovely. I will be checking out their music very soon.

Aaron Slater - New Website Design

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Brown) — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 18:59:00 +0000

Sorry I haven't posted for a while, I've been busy working every waking hour on a new website for Aaron Slater in time for the release of his forth coming debut album.

I was pretty much given a blank canvas to work with in which the terms 'ying yang', 'retro', 'modern', 'contradictive' were thrown around loosely and this was the result.

>> Visit the site live to hear his music and check out my hard work :)

Star Wars Series 1 Episode 1

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Brown) — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 20:16:00 +0000

I got myself a Tamron 70-300mm lens with a macro setting which I've been playing around with on my Pentax K10D. I decided to take some photos of a few vinyl toys i've had sitting around. After all, what else can you do with them ;) You can view the full size images on my flickr account here >>

My 30th Birthday Post

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Brown) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 15:39:00 +0000

Hi Everyone, I had a great birthday this week, and probably the best I've ever had in terms of presents as a collective so I decided to post some of my favourites. I know everyone loves to take a sneeky peak into someones life window ;)

First up is the best card of the day, this said so much about me before I left my fulltime employment for the joys of freelance.

A friend bought me this genuine 30 year old French Military shoulder bag complete with starter badges, I've always had a few badges of my own and never knew what to do with them, problem solved, great present.

I actually run a business offering professional cd sleeve design and band art, so this was a great book for inspiration. Simply entitled 'Album' compiled by Nick de Ville includes some fantastic artwork, loving the vintage jazz covers.

WOW! Check this badboy out! A Polaroid 1000, takes SX-70 Land Film. Does it work? I have no idea yet, I'm yet to get some film, but I really really can't wait!

A friend bought me 'Street Logos' by Bristol based graphic designer Tristan Manco. There's some really fantastic art in here ranging from 'Bäst' to 'Space Invader'.

How cool is this custom mix tape with the most eclectic tracklist I've ever seen ranging from Stereorobics - Miss Piggy, Thats not my name - The Ting Tings, Pinball Number Count - The Pointer Sisters, Umbrella - Manic Street Preachers, If - Bluetones, Cake - The Flumps and many more crazy tracks. Great fun :)

Meiji sweets, I've not tasted these yet but I loved the packaging.

I got a couple of these little fish, I had one of these before but it died after a few weeks, hopefully I can keep these ones a bit longer.

John Ross 'Blood'

noreply@blogger.com (Mr Brown) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 21:25:00 +0000

This is part of a collection by photographer John Ross entitled 'Blood'. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be disturbed by these images, but I found them absolutely amazing. They have this dark graphic book feel to them yet an amazing gloss coating. To view more of this collection or more from John, please visit his website at www.johnross.co.uk/