"Art Direction by..." means that the artist calls the shots and oversees (directs) the art in it's entirety. These are the projects that we love the most, because there is never the standard 'too many chefs in the kitchen' issue that can sometimes pop up in other arrangements.
Stop Rock and Roll is one of those "Art Direction by..." projects, albeit on a smaller scale overall than most. The Charismatics gave us this one and said "Do what you do. It's called
Stop Rock and Roll. Go to it." Brainstorming ideas, it was decided, given the material, that the best route for this one would be POP. An icon that kept popping into mind: Elvis Presley. What better way to
Stop Rock and Roll than the execution of its King. The cover concept was born. Darren Paul then illustrated the cover, a silhouette of the execution, as well as the traycard, a more closeup view of our hanged, aged, alter-Elvis. Tony Wann then took some great shots of the band, one of which was picked for use on for the inner panel. The ondisc art was composited from several different elements, including an Elvis impersonator photo, a .357 Magnum photo, and a gruesome photo of stacks of skulls. The logo on Elvis' back is the Charismatics own "Three Lines" logo which we designed for a 1" button awhile back. The flame silhouettes were copied and adjusted from the cover elements. The undertray portion, we wanted to have the songwriter credits presented in an interesting, yet equally legible way. We also knew way ahead that we were going to want "The Charismatics" to show through the clear tray, since it would be the only indication on the cover as to whose CD it was. It was also helpful to keep the undertray 2-color, an easy-to-cut corner to help keep costs down.
Early on in the process, we decided we liked the material so much that it would become an official Ice Planet Records release. How could we let these excellently performed and produced renditions pass us by? So we strongly encourage you, if you like what you see here, pick yourself up a copy at the
Ice Planet Store. You'll love it!
