I have worked with my prize clients The Misty Mountain String Band on many projects, from T-shirt designs to vinyl banners. After creating the CD layout for their 2018 album Kentucky Bound, I was honored to also design the CD release poster. I am proud of my reputation as a Bluegrass poster designer, so this project was very satisfying.
The Misty Mountain String BandThis is the third CD design I made for my old friends in The Misty Mountain String Band. Their second full length album “Red Horizon” continues to explore Bluegrass, Americana, Folk, and Gospel Music. The old time quartet returned to a Nashville studio to make this record. The famed producer Steve Thomas was once again at the helm.
I worked closely with both Pittsburgh nature illustrator Abby Diamond and Louisville photographer Cherise Mingus. We first collaborated on MMSB’s “Went to the Well” EP in 2013. Then we worked together again in 2015 on their debut LP “Brownsboro”. The band sent me Abby’s fabulous art to arrange and intermingle with Cherise’s tasteful posed shots. Summer festival season was fast approaching. I worked diligently to meet a tight deadline and get this CD layout package to print.
Misty Mountain String BandThe Misty Mountain String Band are a popular bluegrass quartet who are based in Louisville, KY. After I worked with MMSB on their 2013 debut EP CD “Went to the Well”, they then asked me to design their first full length Bluegrass CD layout. “Brownsboro” is a deluxe package, since it includes an extra six panel insert that slides into the digipack. The band’s debut long player also once again featured illustrations by the amazing and talented artist Abby Diamond as well. Also, Louisville’s Cherise Mingus returned in order to capably handle the band’s posed photography shoot.
Laying out Abby’s gorgeous illustrations for the second time was also an absolute treat. I then listed the song’s lyrics one side of the six panel insert. Images appear as constellations as they come alive in the night sky on the other side. The rest of the layout’s color scheme complements Abby’s art in the insert. The pale shades of orange and yellow allow the deep blacks, greens, and blues to stand out. I also extracted many of the “constellation” images and reusing them for the additional content. I crushed MMSB’s deadline to get the art to press, since their timeline was tight. Their sophomore album was ready in time for their summer tour of Bluegrass festivals. College radio stations and album review blogs were also ready to spin the new disc.
After designing MMSB’s CD layout for “Went to the Well”, the band returned, asking me to create a large banner design. This three foot by five foot vinyl banner travels with the band and helps the boys look professional when on stage.
The affable string band sound describes their sound as “What it sounds like when a banjo smiles.” Similarly, this banner is both warm and inviting. The large banner layout features text and ornaments arranged in a vintage two color “show poster” style. First, I set the stage with a neutral color background with a rough burlap texture. I then mixed the two big, bold fonts for the main title in bright orange.
Afterward, I reversed the words “Misty Mountain” out of a long orange block using a Western style font. This is a divider in the middle of the main title to break the banner design up visually, and it function as ground for the squirrels to stand on. I set the rest of the band’s name in a heavy sans serif style font. I randomly nudged the position of some of the letters in order to give the title the appearance of being manually screen printed by a letterpress such as Nashville’s Hatch Show Print.
After that, I added the band’s requested twin squirrel and banjo line drawings in a bold, dark green. This gives the overall design a natural feel with more weight. Finally, I added some distress to the entire banner design composition using a grunge pattern eraser. How much more bluegrass can you get? The answer is none – none more bluegrass!
Are there big summer music festival bookings in your future? Do you need a large banner design to make your group look more professional on stage? Contact me today to get started!
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