Brother Henry, a Nashville-based, indie, Americana band came to me to design their CD packages. They wanted a look for their CDs that was reflective of their music — a unique blend of great instrumentation, witty –yet thoughtful– lyrics and great pop melodies.

I developed a “logo” for them first which looked like an old-style ticket stub you used to see a lot at carnivals, circuses and concerts to carry the Americana theme and clearly give them visual roots in live performances for which the band has built a great reputation. The entire design of the first CD “Come On, People” carried the “carnival aesthetic” — from the colors to the blurred neon of the carnival midway to the ornate fonts used on sideshow banners.

“Chasing Happiness,” Brother Henry’s second CD was a slight evolution musically to more of a pop sound but the band wanted to retain some of the feel of the first CD. Finding a visual metaphor to reflect the mood of the title track and CD, as well as carry the nostalgic feeling of the first CD, was difficult. I finally got the idea of an old tricycle because of the the memories they bring back to people of fun childhoods filled with summer days and riding fast fully of joy.

Brother Henry’s third CD was a recording of a live performance at famed Nashville venue The Basement and is simply titled, “Live at The Basement.” The venue’s signage is very distinctive and has a certain “retro” feel to it that I felt it was a natural image for the CD. I decided to use muted blue tones to give a bit of 50s/60s album design. Due to the fact that the design wasn’t started until weeks after the live show I had to recreate the lettering on the marquis which provided a natural place to put the album information.

Together, all three CDs have a common thread of nostalgia and Americana but each is unique enough to be fresh with each release. The ticket logo was the one unifying visual element that helped to build the band’s brand among their fans. The band has been very pleased with the designs I’ve done for them and their popularity continues to grow. I’d like to believe that a small part of that success is due to my efforts to create eye-catching packaging for Brother Henry.