The Great Record
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In a lost, lazy, distracted, destructive, complicated, competitive, completely self-obsessed, redundant and clichéd world of music entertainment, one thing holds true. A great record can change everything.
Next to the music itself, one of the most important ingredients of a great record is the design and packaging of the album itself. If the music is great, a great package can really make the experience transcendent.
Music and I are in the middle of a life long love affair that has been fueled by my desire to hear every great record for myself. As an artist, I desire to be a part of the making of great records by designing album artwork that dives deep into the soul of the music, the lyrics, and the members themselves. Anyone who says a fan doesn’t appreciate this level of honesty and mystery that their favorite band has put into their latest record has never been a fan.
But creating a great record is much more than being emotionally tied to music, or having an eye for design. As a musician must master his instrument, an artist must fully understand the technical complexities that will make the artwork possible. So I have dedicated myself to the continuous study of commercial printing, pre-press setup, 4color separations, layout technique, typography, the history of modern design and even the latest trends.
Additionally I believe in supporting an album’s release with as many promotional pieces as your band’s budget will allow, marrying the designs together to make one clear cohesive statement about the band at that moment in time. Which is why a band will often hire me to not only design an album cover, but create and maintain almost every piece of their promotional catalog. Doing so ensures that the message is clear, that the work is consistent, and the album may be viewed as great….until the next one.
About Fireside Creative
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Fireside Creative is a full service design agency specializing in both traditional graphic artistry and modern interactive media development. Our specialty lies in creating successful brand identities and award winning commercial artwork for a variety of industries. Our clients range from small businesses and non-profit organizations to large mutli-million dollar corporations and everything in between. By not specializing in a particular industry, our ideas remain fresh and different.
Fireside Creative was officially conceived on February 20, 2004 whiling sitting around one of the famous Jacketweather “bonfires” in Austin, Texas. The people that celebrated this day with me are not only my closest and dearest friends, but have also been influential in making Fireside what it is today.
The actual groundwork for the company was laid over the previous four years of my freelance business called “RK Design Studio”, and before that through my experience as the Art Director for a large manufacturing company. Throughout this time I built productive relationships with for Ford Motor Company, Daimler Chrysler, Chuck Norris Films, Immediatek Inc., Fusions Sports Marketing Group and over 300 businesses across the United States and even over seas.
The daily operations are handled by myself and my wife Aaron who is one of the most organized and efficient production managers I have ever met. Her involvement on every project assures its quick turn-around as well as my healthy sanity. In many cases she will spell-check, typeset, or edit content…or even brainstorm ideas with myself and the client.
Services For Bands
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Through Fireside Creative I can provide the following traditional and new media design services for musicians and bands (unsigned or signed).
+ Album Packaging Design
+ Album Layout (using existing artwork)
+ Album Pre-Press Setup
+ Press Kits
+ Poster Design
+ Apparel Design (Tee-shirts, hats, Hoodies, Panties, etc…)
+ Promotional Giveaway Design (Matchbooks, Stickers, etc…)
+ Logo Design
+ Complete Website Design & Development
+ Animated Web Banner Design & Development (.swf or .gif)
+ Interactive CDROM Design & Development (self executable)
+ Animated Screensavers
+ Downloadable Desktop Designs
Fireside Creative also offers the following printing services:
+ Offset Printing
+ Spot Color Printing
+ High Quality Laser Printing (2400x2400dpi)