pda is a night of dj’ed electro, indie, retro music and the kitchen sink at Elysium that happens semi-regularly. Its title is based on the song by Interpol.

For this design, I wanted a bright piece that would stand out in a dark nightclub. I wanted the turntable/mixing graphic to look like what mixing sounded like, using the grooves of the record to splice into one another and then the dj’s arms to resemble turntable arms, almost robotic. But simple yet warm.

The type used for the logo and body text are Chunk Five (Adobe) and Skia.

Event info:
doors at 9:30, free before 10
Sept 25, 2009
Elysium, 705 Red River
$3 cover, 21+

pda, a night of dj’ed electro, indie, retro music and the kitchen sink at Elysium that happens semi-regularly. Its title is based on the song by Interpol.

For this design, I wanted to have a display of vinyl record sleeve spines like you’d see a shelf of books, to demonstrate the variety of music. I setup two photo shoots, one at my friend John Gross’ house and then one at Backspin Records but I had a problem with the readability and clarity of the spines — some were just old and battered and some were still in plastic — and then not having all the records I’d need to have. So, I did what anyone’d do in my situation, I created it from scratch.

Some are based on actual spines, some are based on the cd spines, some are just completely made up. Some of the logos were found (Röyksopp, Bjork, the Sisters of Mercy overbombing graphic), some were traced (Depeche Mode, elastica, TV on the Radio), some were created from thin air.

The type used for the logo and info are the Maple Origins (created by Last Soundtrack) and two flavors of Condensed Futura.

Event info:
doors at 9:30, free before 10
May 29, 2009
Elysium, 705 Red River
$3 cover, 21+

Postcard front and back for a semi-annual night of music at Elysium.

Stockholm Syndrome is a night of Swedish music and so I enjoyed making that side in the colors of Sweden using the backdrop of legal paper. Scribbling followed — naturally — and the heart candies seemed like the perfect finishing touch. Almost cute.

The blueprint was an esoteric way to explain what kind of music to expect, this kind of electronic rock — like M.I.A., Bloc Party, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, LCD Soundsystem, Le Tigre. I can only hope that Pulp’s “Common People” makes an appearance because I think that brings the dance like nothing else, and I say that as someone who has a very high dance tolerance.

For Stockholm Syndrome, the title font is FG Starlet. For pda, the body font was Flux Architect and the title font was Oil (created by Typo5).

What is pda, you ask. Not like public display of affection, you wonder. No, not really — closer to Interpol’s song of the same name. But not quite. Best to answer with text from the postcard itself: The modern, the before-its-time, the next-up, the classic, the gooey goodness, the electro, the clash, the slither and the crunch.

So, Brian’s running the dj booth Friday night at Elysium. Though he’s been in a dj booth before and he’s helped out before, I think this is his first time absolutely solo. My bro’s all growns up.

Doors at 9:30, Fri. Nov. 28
21+ (sorry)
Elysium, 705 Red River (map)

See you there.

Card/flyer design for pda event at Elysium.