MATTHEW ROSS SMITH
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For his upcoming EP release, friend and colleague Matthew Ross Smith wanted to draw upon the concept of intersecting generations; of the old and the new. He wanted the crisp and sophisticated stylization of the prohibition era with the clean and sleek ideals of contemporary aesthetics. Acting as his Creative Strategist along with an Art Director and a slew of other professionals, we took to branding and setting creative direction to the name Matthew Ross Smith.
CONCEPTUAL DESIGN • GRAPHIC DESIGN • PRINT DESIGN • BRANDING
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What stuck was the letter. I love the letter "M." I love it's strength and how its feet root deep into the baseline. It is at once symmetrical and not. If it's lucky enough to be blessed with serifs it has the most interesting of angles. For that, I couldn't wait to mess around with creating Matthew's sigil centerpiece.
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The end result is a strong, bold "M" planted upon the sturdy base of his family name. The serif type harkens back to a time when type, ink and paper affected the senses. This all plays well into a nostalgic sophisticated identity without straying too far from modern sensibilities. |
CONCEPTUAL DESIGN • BRANDING
CREATIVE STRATEGY • PROJECT COORDINATION
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The Postcards EP was a fun process. It involved an extraordinary number of artists who all pulled together for a beautiful collaborative effort. This gave me an opportunity to approach a project from a creative and strategic perspective. Aligning the various professionals of varying disciplines to achieve one common goal was both a great learning experience and a fantastic way to spend your days amongst great company. |
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Working long hours with his producer and audio engineer Stephen Schaller, Matthew took some time from his music to mapped out a course throughout the city's aged and abandoned locales. Joining was Arvil Prewitt, co-founder of production house Linear Entertainment Group, for a photo shoot across Philadelphia. Acting as Creative Strategist for the shoot, we set into a full day of identifying locations and the best approach to each set. Four hundred images later, we were ready to sift through the files to select our top choices as an album cover.
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Photography: Arvil Prewitt • Art Direction + Design: Andrew Christiano • Creative Strategy + Concept Development: Phillip Le
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Narrowing down to five photographs, I set off with Andrew Christiano, UI/UX Designer + Art Director of The Spaces Between Your Fingers Project, to create a variety of samples with which we could present to Matthew. Andrew ended up crafting the beautiful final piece above. For the disc itself, I suggested a texture and look of vinyl. Andrew accomplished this as well. The end result: a beautiful companion to the wonderful narrative as told by Matthew Ross Smith through his musical debut "Postcards."
