Kate Gibb has recently completed the cover art for ‘Living in Patterns’, the latest album from the band Pollyn. The artwork, which also extends to artwork on the disk itself, employs the geometric and washed-out screenprinted style for which Kate is best known. The album is out now and was recently Rough Trade’s record of the week.

26 January, 2012 - Posted in Art Direction & Design, Illustration, Kate Gibb, Music | | Permalink

Congratulations to Michael Kiwanuka who has come top of the BBC Sound of 2012 list which aims to showcase the best rising music stars for the year ahead. The Sound of 2012 list was compiled using tips from key UK-based music critics, broadcasters and bloggers. Now in its tenth year, previous winners have included Jessie J, Adele, Mika, Ellie Goulding, Corinne Bailey Rae and Keane. Big Active design has been working with Michael Kiwanuka since early last year – his current single ‘Home Again’ is out now and we are currently completing the design for his debut album which will be released in March. The album also called ‘Home Again’ sounds amazing – so nice one Michael – respect and best wishes from all of us…

06 January, 2012 - Posted in Art Direction & Design, Music | | Permalink

Mat Maitland has been invited to exhibit as part of Art Vinyl 2011. The show, at Jonas Gallery in Brussels, features the best album sleeves of 2011, and includes Big Active’s work with Noah and the Whale, Das Pop, Nero, and Sneaky Sound System. A range of Mat’s personal work is running alongside the album covers.

01 December, 2011 - Posted in Art Direction & Design, Illustration, Mat Maitland, Music | | Permalink

The Nominations for this years Best Art Vinyl Awards were announced earlier this week and include four vinyl album sleeves created by Big Active Design; Das Pop ‘The Game’, Nero ‘Welcome Reality, Sneaky Sound System ‘From Here To Anywhere’ and Noah & The Whale ‘Last Night On Earth’. The entire shortlist of 50 sleeve designs for the award will be celebrated in exhibitions across the UK and Europe from November 2011 to February 2012.  You can vote for your favourite design at www.artvinyl.com – the winning albums will be made public in January.

11 November, 2011 - Posted in Art Direction & Design, Music | | Permalink

TMDG in Argentina celebrated it’s 10th anniversary earlier this month. The design conference held annually in Mar Del Plata was launched in 2001 by Seba Acampante and Pablo Gonzalez Diaz Pacheco – and has since grown to fill a stadium venue attracting over 6000 visitors from all over South America. This year’s line up of speakers included David Carson, Jeremy Ville, Ian Anderson, Dr Alderete, Elliot Tupac, Unconvention, Hojun Song, Massimo Vignelli and Gerard Saint from Big Active. We’d like to extend our thanks to everyone involved for their passion and hospitality. TMDG Rocks – that’s official! Click here to see some of the highlights.

26 October, 2011 - Posted in Art Direction & Design, Gerard Saint, Music | - Tags: TMDG 2011, Trimarchi 2011 | Permalink

Big Active’s Mat Maitland describes his blog - Leopard Tree Dream - as “a crystal ball of record covers from my private collection…”. With frequent and insightful postings, celebrating the eclectic image-making that defined landmark releases by the likes of Grace Jones, Blue Oyster Cult and Vangellis, Mat shares his enthusiasm for an inspirational period of album sleeve design. Enjoy.

Above: GRACE JONES “MUSE” (1979) Art Direction by Grace Jones & Richard Bernstein. Cover art by Richard Bernstein.

05 September, 2011 - Posted in Art Direction & Design, Mat Maitland, 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

Does Lady Gaga’s seemingly uncompromised approach to collaborating with a new generation of visual conspirators owe a massive debt of gratitude to the fearless partnerships of the master protagonist Grace Jones? Why are these enduring alliances with design so important in redefining the boundaries of style in music? As part of the run up to the launch of this year’s D&AD New Blood, Big Active’s Mat Maitland shares his thoughts on music’s most iconic creative partnerships as part of the ‘Behind The Idea’ series in today’s Metro newspaper. See MetroLife page 43.

28 June, 2011 - Posted in Art Direction & Design, Mat Maitland, Music | | Permalink