Michael Kiwanuka’s debut album ‘Home Again’ is out now. The record was produced by Paul Butler of the Bees, features photography by Benjamin Etridge and sleeve design by Markus Karlsson and Gerard Saint at Big Active. As we reported last month Michael was the winner of this year’s BBC Sound of Poll – much deserved given his undeniable talent. We hope that such an early expectation of success will not distract from the acclaim that this album truly deserves. We love this record. Do yourself a favour – go and buy it.

14 March, 2012 - Posted in Art Direction & Design, Gerard Saint, Markus Karlsson, Music | | Permalink

British electronic dance act Nero have scored their first UK Number 1 with the single ‘Promises’. The track is taken from the duo’s brand new album ‘Welcome Reality’ which is released on MTA/Mercury/Universal this week. The cover imagery “inspired by classic sci-fi movie posters” was created by Markus Karlsson for Big Active.

15 August, 2011 - Posted in Art Direction & Design, Markus Karlsson, Music | - Tags: Nero, Welcome Reality | Permalink

Big Active has just been awarded a Gold Prize at the European Design Awards for our art direction and design work on Mark Ronson’s ‘Record Collection’ album. The awards were announced by Ugne Skonsmanaite at a ceremony held in Vilnius on Saturday. The work was described by this year’s jury as “the perfect way to reference the musician’s influences and the collecting habits of the customer”. This trophy marks the latest in a run of nominations for the project at this years design awards – it was also short listed as a finalist at the Design Week Awards in March, and is currently featured in the 2011 Creative Review Annual. The 2011 European Design Awards book will be published next month.

16 May, 2011 - Posted in Art Direction & Design, Gerard Saint, Jasper Goodall, Jesse Auersalo, Markus Karlsson, Mat Maitland, Music, Parra, Will Sweeney | - Tags: European Design Awards | Permalink