Larry+Ed Records is an alternative, independent music label with a visual consept that is inspired by the ideas from D.I.Y. subcultures, open source and chaos theory in graphic design. The profile is made to reflect the chaos and randomness that occurs from the design concept for the album art.
All of the record art is designed after a system where the band fills in a form with information surrounding the album, the recording process and the band itself. The designer has to follow a set of rules that terminates all of the colors, typography, text size, pictures, graphic elements and text—all determined from what the band has filled in. The challenge for the designer is how to use the elements and compose the album design.
The concept is inspired by D.I.Y. culture in music and how to make a modern equivalent of this for the computer age. All of the record art can be made from home without having to go outside or send an e-mail to acquire photographs, everything is taken from stuff that is creative commons. The designer doesn't need much experience or education even, the esthetic of the brand itself is based around a feeling of a digital punk look—it doesn't have to look professional at all.
The text is taken from Project Gutenberg, a website with books that are in the common domain. The text are then to be put into a Markov text generator, which takes the text from the book and creates completely new and random sentences that are completely nonsense.
The pictures are taken from Wiki Commons random file section. The designer can generate a limited amount of pictures, and must choose which of these that are going into the album cover. The amount of pictures that has to be used are decided in the form.
The following are tests of the design system, which shows the elements that where chosen and how it was put together. All of the albums are made for existing music.
