YOU HAVE YOUR OWN RECORD LABEL, AND YOU SEEM TO FIND A LOT OF TIME TO KEEP UP WITH SOME AMAZING PERSONAL PROJECTS, BUT HOW DO YOU FIND A BALANCE?(KIRSTEN COWIE) There is no balance, life is work and work is life. I do not even attempt to seperate the two, sometimes I can’t remember whether my friends are clients or my clients are friends, its all blended together. My social life and my work like blend seamlessly, in fact, most of the time, I forget I am even working. WOULD YOU AGREE THAT THE WORK YOU DO FOR BANDS GIVES THEM A VISUAL IDENTITY, AND IS THIS SOMETHING YOU ARE CONSCIOUS OF DOING? IF SO… HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT CREATING A VISUAL IDENTITY FOR SOMETHING? WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT/ TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION? (SARAH DAWSON) Everything, most of it goes on in the back of my mind and it is very difficult to describe in words. I guess its inherent in designers to understand and be able to carve an aesthetic for each project. I try not to be influenced too much by current trends, but I like to have a lot of dialogue with the band and establish what they want as well as what I think they need. 26
DOES IT BOTHER YOU THAT THE PRODUCTS YOU CREATE ARE (NECESSARILY!) EXPENSIVE LUXURIES? OR DO YOU LIKE THE IDEA THAT SOMEONE WHO BUYS AN ISOMORPH EP WILL HAVE DECIDED TO GO WITHOUT SOMETHING ELSE AS A CONSEQUENCE, AND IT WILL THEREFORE MEAN MORE TO THEM? (SARAH DAWSON) Its not about it being “expensive” its about it having value - It costs money to make a beautiful object, and it takes time. The price of the record is dependent on many factors. Even though my label is very small I still have to fund the hire of equipment, assisting on tour budgets, transport, and then the record manufacture on top of that. The limited edition nature of the record increases the cost on a manufacturing level as it requires more money to make less of a product. Also especially with the HR record we used specialist print finishes, for example we used a thicker card stock than usual, we printed the inside and outside of the sleeve, and then the laser foiling, coloured vinyl... i could go on, even the plastic slip cases the records come in had to be custom made to accommodate the larger stock and spine, but the sleeves were a must because we didn’t want all our beloved editions to be scuffed and crumpled. See we thought a lot about this object, and rightfully so!. I don’t like to look at the records as expensive items, they are lovingly created for the buyer, hand packed and numbered.