LOGO DESIGN | DIGITAL + SCREEN PRINT | MIXED MEDIA
I sometimes create a logo or title fonts for an album design that end up being used for various marketing assets throughout a project’s campaign… from the posters, the banners, and t shirts, to the social media posts and videos. Some favourites include Tallies’ “pill” logo, Bonnie Trash’s “black metal” logo, and the Interstellar Rodeo branding.
The Hand Drawn Dracula (HDD) logo in particular was fun to design as a collaboration with local comic book illustrator Steve Manale. When I first started the label in 2008 I asked Steve to send over some ideas that the name of my then brand new label inspired. The name itself, Hand Drawn Dracula, was inspired by pulp and sci-fi comic book artwork and Steve delivered an amazing character design that was immediately placed into HDD’s very first release going out to the manufacturer that very day. Wintersleep’s “Welcome To The Night Sky” was the only time the logo appeared in that first design iteration. I adapted Steve’s original vampire comic book character to the branded anaglyph 3D design that has appeared on every HDD project ever since.
?A SELECTION OF POSTER DESIGN | DIGITAL + SCREEN PRINT | MIXED MEDIA
Here’s a small selection of poster designs I’ve worked on throughout the years. Working with various mediums including illustration, collage, photography, digital art and screen print design, these posters have appeared in various publications and public spaces. The NXNE 2013 poster features an adaptation of a photograph by Jesse Upton, the Feist poster features the posterized print of an official UMG photograph, and the Greg Keelor poster features an old photograph provided by Greg. The Hand Drawn Dracula 15 year Anniversary poster for the HDD label showcase was also accompanied by a featured interview with Exclaim Magazine.
Before there was the label, there was the aesthetic. James Mejia, Toronto indie label Hand Drawn Dracula’s founder, was a graphic desinger, whose work with Wintersleep had earned him a JUNO Awards nomination for Recording Package of the Year — a success that snowballed into work with other big-name Canadian artists.
Eventually this led Mejia to release Wintersleep’s 2007 album Welcome to the Night Sky on vinyl at a time when other labels weren’t pressing on wax — and, with that, Hand Drawn Dracula was born.
Flash forward 15 years and the Toronto label has become a Canadian indie music institution. As the company marks the anniversary with a show at the Garrison on December 15 (with a lineup featuring Beliefs, Tallies, Bonnie Trash, Michael Peter Olsen and DJ Vallens), we spoke with Mejia about watching the Breeders from side-stage, hearing his own voice on a Beliefs record, and figuring out how to run an indie label without losing all his money (or his mind). ~ By Alex Hudson —— READ THE EXCLAIM INTERVIEW
CLIENT: SIX SHOOTER RECORDS | ARTWORK, MIXED MEDIA COLLAGE
Ensign Broderick’s “BloodMyth/BloodCrush” was Nominated for a 2020 JUNO Award for Package Design Of The Year and was my third JUNO Nomination. The cover artwork was painted by Kris Knight, the photography was by Stefanie Schneider and Morgan Coates, with layout and design by Chris Peters. The interior gatefold artwork of the album and the accompanying video trailer (animated by Stephen Dutcheshen) was my contribution to the project. Jason Sniderman (aka glam rock persona Ensign Broderick) oversaw the overall art direction of the album and commissioned me to create a collage as well as design his website. With this piece I returned to the wooden collage medium of my earlier works, incorporating found objects, with magazine cut outs, digital collages, inks and acrylic paints.
“BloodMyth/BloodCrush” was released during Record Store Day 2019.
CLIENT: SIX SHOOTER RECORDS | BRANDING & MARKETING DESIGN
From Beck to Rhiannon Giddens, Wilco to Whitehorse, Tanya Tagaq to St. Vincent to Sharon Van Etten, Courtney Barnett, Father John Misty, and Perfume Genius, Interstellar Rodeo was a one-of-a-kind music festival founded by Six Shooter Records’ Shauna de Cartier and Helen Britton. This was a fun campaign that ran from 2012-2019 and included everything from the festival logo design, to website design, line-up posters, festival banners and advertisements, shirt prints, a variety of merch items, and even wine cups.
https://jamesmejia.com/DESIGNS/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/print-feat-irodeo-1-1.jpg10101800Jameshttps://jamesmejia.com/DESIGNS/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/2018-logo-reds.pngJames2019-03-29 01:35:572024-03-30 23:02:53INTERSTELLAR RODEO FESTIVAL
CLIENT: HAND DRAWN DRACULA RECORDS | ILLUSTRATIONS & GRAPHIC DESIGN
By Divine Right’s “Mutant Message” was Nominated for a 2011 JUNO Award for Package Design Of The Year. It was the first JUNO AWARD nomination for my record label (Hand Drawn Dracula Records) and my second JUNO Nomination. I started the album artwork with pencil and ink illustrations of animal masks and combined them into a hybrid illustration (of a North American barred owl and red fox) for the cover. The package design utilized the underlying disc colour and the blue lyric sheet for the background colour of the die-cut eyes.
This was the third of four album designs I worked on for Jose Contreras (By Divine Right), as well as the poster designs, websites, and marketing assets for the various album campaigns. Following these collaborations with BDR were projects for Ron Sexsmith, Great Big Sea, Great Lake Swimmers and long term projects with Six Shooter Records.
https://jamesmejia.com/DESIGNS/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/PD-album-bdr-1b.jpg13752450Jameshttps://jamesmejia.com/DESIGNS/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/2018-logo-reds.pngJames2011-02-02 23:18:372024-05-06 18:09:22BY DIVINE RIGHT DESIGN
CLIENT: YOUNG – XL RECORDINGS | PHOTOGRAPHY & GRAPHIC DESIGN
Having worked with Brian Borcherdt on some of his early projects, Trephines and The Remains of Brian Borcherdt, I started working with him on his new electronic project that saw Brian experiment with sound using an old film editing machine he acquired from the set of a production he was working on at the time. He performed these audio experiments at some of my art shows at SPIN Gallery in Toronto under the moniker of Holy Fuck, initially as a solo performer and again when Holy Fuck grew to include a full band with Graham Walsh (Etiquette), Kevin Lynn (King Cobb Steelie), and Glenn Milchem (Swallows, Blue Rodeo). I worked on the art direction and designs for the project’s first five releases, including logos, package design (7″, singles, eps, cds, vinyls), website designs, print and digital ad-mats, banners, various merch, tour posters, and even their Polaris Music Prize poster. I also ventured into photography, which I usually only incorporate as an element in my work. So it was nice to see all these photographs I took of Holy Fuck appear in newspapers around the world, and published in books and magazines including UNCUT, Art Forum, and Rolling Stone.
Wintersleep’s “Untitled” album was nominated for a 2006 JUNO Award for Package Design Of The Year and was my first JUNO nomination. The music video for “Jaws of Life” (directed by Sean Wainsteim in collaboration with myself) also won the 2007 REELWORLD Film Festival Award for Best Music Video. The project featured artwork in a new medium I was experimenting with… taking transparent lacquers spilled over inks and water colours, with collaged photos, cut outs and drawings. I also utilized discarded wooden slats from the bins of my local hardware store as backgrounds. The series focused on hazy cities, washed out landscapes, mixed in with anamorphic anatomical studies. Various pieces of this series were used for the vinyl and cd covers, interiors, and labels, as well as pieces created specifically for the animated music video. The album’s layout design was put together by Wintersleep’s bassist, Jud Haynes, who also illustrated the comic book insert.
I first came across Wintersleep demos for their debut album through a friend and class mate at the University of Toronto, who happened to be the brother of Paul Murphy (of Wintersleep and Postdata). I ended up designing the album artwork for two Wintersleep albums and for various Wintersleep side projects (Postdata and Contrived). The vinyl edition of “Welcome To The Night Sky” was also the first release on my Hand Drawn Dracula record label in 2008.
CLIENT: UNIVERSAL PICTURES | FILM: THE PERFECT MAN | HERO PROPS, COMIC ILLUSTRATIONS, ARTWORK
While I was still in school I had gig painting 12 x 20 feet murals for a dance-club stage that changed monthly by theme. I also dabbled in live performance painting in the entertainment district of Toronto around that time. Soon after graduating University I joined the Directors Guild of Canada and worked “professionally” as a graphic designer on two film productions, “New York Minute” (starring the Olsen Twins) and “The Perfect Man” (starring Hilary Duff). I moved up pretty quickly in the art department and found myself illustrating the manga style comics and the hero props shot for screen of a Universal Pictures film. I also lent the production sketches and painting from my own studio for the set decoration of the character’s bedroom walls. It was a fun and eye opening experience.
https://jamesmejia.com/DESIGNS/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PM-art-2000-b.jpg11252000Jameshttps://jamesmejia.com/DESIGNS/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/2018-logo-reds.pngJames2005-06-19 23:32:322024-05-07 15:00:30THE PERFECT MAN DESIGN
LOGO DESIGN
LOGO DESIGN | DIGITAL + SCREEN PRINT | MIXED MEDIA
I sometimes create a logo or title fonts for an album design that end up being used for various marketing assets throughout a project’s campaign… from the posters, the banners, and t shirts, to the social media posts and videos. Some favourites include Tallies’ “pill” logo, Bonnie Trash’s “black metal” logo, and the Interstellar Rodeo branding.
The Hand Drawn Dracula (HDD) logo in particular was fun to design as a collaboration with local comic book illustrator Steve Manale. When I first started the label in 2008 I asked Steve to send over some ideas that the name of my then brand new label inspired. The name itself, Hand Drawn Dracula, was inspired by pulp and sci-fi comic book artwork and Steve delivered an amazing character design that was immediately placed into HDD’s very first release going out to the manufacturer that very day. Wintersleep’s “Welcome To The Night Sky” was the only time the logo appeared in that first design iteration. I adapted Steve’s original vampire comic book character to the branded anaglyph 3D design that has appeared on every HDD project ever since.
POSTER DESIGN
?A SELECTION OF POSTER DESIGN | DIGITAL + SCREEN PRINT | MIXED MEDIA
Here’s a small selection of poster designs I’ve worked on throughout the years. Working with various mediums including illustration, collage, photography, digital art and screen print design, these posters have appeared in various publications and public spaces. The NXNE 2013 poster features an adaptation of a photograph by Jesse Upton, the Feist poster features the posterized print of an official UMG photograph, and the Greg Keelor poster features an old photograph provided by Greg. The Hand Drawn Dracula 15 year Anniversary poster for the HDD label showcase was also accompanied by a featured interview with Exclaim Magazine.
Hand Drawn Dracula 15 Year Anniversary Interview with EXCLAIM Magazine :
Before there was the label, there was the aesthetic. James Mejia, Toronto indie label Hand Drawn Dracula’s founder, was a graphic desinger, whose work with Wintersleep had earned him a JUNO Awards nomination for Recording Package of the Year — a success that snowballed into work with other big-name Canadian artists.
Eventually this led Mejia to release Wintersleep’s 2007 album Welcome to the Night Sky on vinyl at a time when other labels weren’t pressing on wax — and, with that, Hand Drawn Dracula was born.
Flash forward 15 years and the Toronto label has become a Canadian indie music institution. As the company marks the anniversary with a show at the Garrison on December 15 (with a lineup featuring Beliefs, Tallies, Bonnie Trash, Michael Peter Olsen and DJ Vallens), we spoke with Mejia about watching the Breeders from side-stage, hearing his own voice on a Beliefs record, and figuring out how to run an indie label without losing all his money (or his mind). ~ By Alex Hudson —— READ THE EXCLAIM INTERVIEW
ENSIGN BRODERICK DESIGN
CLIENT: SIX SHOOTER RECORDS | ARTWORK, MIXED MEDIA COLLAGE
Ensign Broderick’s “BloodMyth/BloodCrush” was Nominated for a 2020 JUNO Award for Package Design Of The Year and was my third JUNO Nomination. The cover artwork was painted by Kris Knight, the photography was by Stefanie Schneider and Morgan Coates, with layout and design by Chris Peters. The interior gatefold artwork of the album and the accompanying video trailer (animated by Stephen Dutcheshen) was my contribution to the project. Jason Sniderman (aka glam rock persona Ensign Broderick) oversaw the overall art direction of the album and commissioned me to create a collage as well as design his website. With this piece I returned to the wooden collage medium of my earlier works, incorporating found objects, with magazine cut outs, digital collages, inks and acrylic paints.
“BloodMyth/BloodCrush” was released during Record Store Day 2019.
INTERSTELLAR RODEO FESTIVAL
CLIENT: SIX SHOOTER RECORDS | BRANDING & MARKETING DESIGN
From Beck to Rhiannon Giddens, Wilco to Whitehorse, Tanya Tagaq to St. Vincent to Sharon Van Etten, Courtney Barnett, Father John Misty, and Perfume Genius, Interstellar Rodeo was a one-of-a-kind music festival founded by Six Shooter Records’ Shauna de Cartier and Helen Britton. This was a fun campaign that ran from 2012-2019 and included everything from the festival logo design, to website design, line-up posters, festival banners and advertisements, shirt prints, a variety of merch items, and even wine cups.
BY DIVINE RIGHT DESIGN
CLIENT: HAND DRAWN DRACULA RECORDS | ILLUSTRATIONS & GRAPHIC DESIGN
By Divine Right’s “Mutant Message” was Nominated for a 2011 JUNO Award for Package Design Of The Year. It was the first JUNO AWARD nomination for my record label (Hand Drawn Dracula Records) and my second JUNO Nomination. I started the album artwork with pencil and ink illustrations of animal masks and combined them into a hybrid illustration (of a North American barred owl and red fox) for the cover. The package design utilized the underlying disc colour and the blue lyric sheet for the background colour of the die-cut eyes.
This was the third of four album designs I worked on for Jose Contreras (By Divine Right), as well as the poster designs, websites, and marketing assets for the various album campaigns. Following these collaborations with BDR were projects for Ron Sexsmith, Great Big Sea, Great Lake Swimmers and long term projects with Six Shooter Records.
HOLY FUCK DESIGN
CLIENT: YOUNG – XL RECORDINGS | PHOTOGRAPHY & GRAPHIC DESIGN
Having worked with Brian Borcherdt on some of his early projects, Trephines and The Remains of Brian Borcherdt, I started working with him on his new electronic project that saw Brian experiment with sound using an old film editing machine he acquired from the set of a production he was working on at the time. He performed these audio experiments at some of my art shows at SPIN Gallery in Toronto under the moniker of Holy Fuck, initially as a solo performer and again when Holy Fuck grew to include a full band with Graham Walsh (Etiquette), Kevin Lynn (King Cobb Steelie), and Glenn Milchem (Swallows, Blue Rodeo). I worked on the art direction and designs for the project’s first five releases, including logos, package design (7″, singles, eps, cds, vinyls), website designs, print and digital ad-mats, banners, various merch, tour posters, and even their Polaris Music Prize poster. I also ventured into photography, which I usually only incorporate as an element in my work. So it was nice to see all these photographs I took of Holy Fuck appear in newspapers around the world, and published in books and magazines including UNCUT, Art Forum, and Rolling Stone.
WINTERSLEEP DESIGN
CLIENT: DEPENDENT MUSIC | ARTWORK COLLAGES
Wintersleep’s “Untitled” album was nominated for a 2006 JUNO Award for Package Design Of The Year and was my first JUNO nomination. The music video for “Jaws of Life” (directed by Sean Wainsteim in collaboration with myself) also won the 2007 REELWORLD Film Festival Award for Best Music Video. The project featured artwork in a new medium I was experimenting with… taking transparent lacquers spilled over inks and water colours, with collaged photos, cut outs and drawings. I also utilized discarded wooden slats from the bins of my local hardware store as backgrounds. The series focused on hazy cities, washed out landscapes, mixed in with anamorphic anatomical studies. Various pieces of this series were used for the vinyl and cd covers, interiors, and labels, as well as pieces created specifically for the animated music video. The album’s layout design was put together by Wintersleep’s bassist, Jud Haynes, who also illustrated the comic book insert.
I first came across Wintersleep demos for their debut album through a friend and class mate at the University of Toronto, who happened to be the brother of Paul Murphy (of Wintersleep and Postdata). I ended up designing the album artwork for two Wintersleep albums and for various Wintersleep side projects (Postdata and Contrived). The vinyl edition of “Welcome To The Night Sky” was also the first release on my Hand Drawn Dracula record label in 2008.
THE PERFECT MAN DESIGN
CLIENT: UNIVERSAL PICTURES | FILM: THE PERFECT MAN | HERO PROPS, COMIC ILLUSTRATIONS, ARTWORK
While I was still in school I had gig painting 12 x 20 feet murals for a dance-club stage that changed monthly by theme. I also dabbled in live performance painting in the entertainment district of Toronto around that time. Soon after graduating University I joined the Directors Guild of Canada and worked “professionally” as a graphic designer on two film productions, “New York Minute” (starring the Olsen Twins) and “The Perfect Man” (starring Hilary Duff). I moved up pretty quickly in the art department and found myself illustrating the manga style comics and the hero props shot for screen of a Universal Pictures film. I also lent the production sketches and painting from my own studio for the set decoration of the character’s bedroom walls. It was a fun and eye opening experience.