MOLE
Album Design Concept…uc Graphic
The design
and visual presentation of MOLE/Listening Pearls is in the hands of
a German independent design firm known as uc Graphic.
The fruit of this long-term cooperation is a consistency in the artwork
for the label, and this artwork in turn bases itself upon what uc Graphic
calls its basic principles. Concept-oriented design, careful and loving
attention to detail as well as highly-polished typographical work are
more important at uc Graphic than what may be "in" or "trendy". The
designers walk a tightrope of sorts, carefully balancing artistic concerns
with commercial perspectives. For every mole product, the starting
point for the graphic representation is always the music of the individual
artist, or in the case of compilations, the total musical impression
created by the work.
The result is the creation of what the designers call a "progressive past".
The designer uses objects from the 60's and 70's to re-awaken
visions of the past
while representations and allusions to the human body bring the whole into the
here and now, parallel to the musical content. Just as technology has made the
creation of mole music possible, it has also made the creation of this kind of
picture-language realizable. The organic yet highly technological quality of
the music is captured in the artwork by combining plastics and other inorganic
materials with living tissue. Furthermore, the complexity of the electronic and
acoustic sounds characteristic of mole releases are expressed by creating visual
objects that only reveal their true nature and composition when one pays closer
attention.
The process of designing the artwork for an artist album begins
with the diligent search for the basic theme with all senses.
This task usually results in a compelling
and pregnant concept, which in its wholeness also defines an imaginary room for
playful creativity. Like MOLE music, which generally makes its impression by
virtue of its "listening" quality (stimulating one's senses to pay more attention),
the mole artwork also invites one in for a closer look. To create this kind of
curiosity, both music and graphic representation should be able to be interpreted
in many different ways. A passing glance can be as interesting and sophisticated
as the deeper analysis of the images and their contents. Every image chosen for
a MOLE/Listening Pearls product can tell its own story and in this way each image
is also a narrative. The ideal is that each of these stories becomes a journey
without a pre-planned destination. The space required for such journeys is provided
by the recurring color fields that are placed to contrast and compliment the
images, lending atmosphere and variation to the whole.
Ulrich and Evelyn Gögele, who both hold bachelor's degrees in design, founded
uc graphic in 1994. Tom Pigl, who studied German and English literature, joined
the team in 2000. In the future, uc graphic plans to pursue their original goal
of design with a good dose of love, or to quote Stefan Sagmeister, "Style is
fart, concept is heart".
For more information on uc Graphic, email ucgraphic@compuserve.com
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