Two of my greatest artistic inspirations are both musicians and design firms. The first is Underworld and Karl Hyde's Tomato art collective. The other is Lemon Jelly and Fred Deakin's design firm, Airside.
After the release of Lemon Jelly’s first three EPs, Lemonjelly.ky debuted in 2000 as their first proper album. A declarative sticker on the cover proclaimed, ” if you already own these EPs there is NO REASON for you to buy this product.”
Reviewers often compared their blissful electronic sound to the likes of Zero 7, Boards of Canada and Mr. Scruff, but what separated Lemon Jelly from other groups was their creative edge and the fact that you just can’t stay in a bad mood when listening to them.
The packaging for each of their albums and singles were designed by Fred Deakin (half of Lemon Jelly) and his award-winning design company. Their colorful style is instantly recognizable wherever it appears, from print ads to MTV commercials to music videos.
Below: The glorious triple-gatefold art of Lost Horizons.
Upon hearing one of their tracks playing in an indie record shop back in 2002, I promptly purchased both their Lost Horizons LP and the EP collection, Lemonjelly.ky. Over the next ten years I’d add to my collection their DVD, 90 of their live shows, custom-packaged 7″ singles and prints of their work.
The triple gatefold artwork was originally available as a beautiful 50″ print suitable for framing. I hope to one day have it beautify my studio.
Here's one of their uniquely-packaged singles - Rolled Oats.
For a taste of their style both musically and graphically check out Airside’s video for the song I heard in the shop – “Nice Weather For Ducks.”
Lost Horizons was followed by the album and DVD project, 64-95 in 2004. The album's title comes from each of the tracks' sampling of various recordings released between 1964 and 1995. The DVD featured a creative video by Airside for each track presented in the form of a concept-art film. Perhaps the most memorable of which was the video for the single, "Stay With You."
In 2011 after the retirement of Lemon Jelly, Fred Deakin quietly released several hand-printed die-cut singles under the name "Frank Eddie." One of the track's videos was the particularly stylish, "Let Me Be the One You Call On." The single is a reworking of the song “Fix” by Blackstreet from 1996. Samples from both the original mix and the remix which featured Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Slash are detectable throughout this new version, with the lead vocal pitch shifted to befit the bizarre feminine "thing" singing in the video.
The video for Frank's final single, “Stay Another Day” was offered as a farewell from Airside, as they announced the closing of their doors in March of 2012. The video showcased highlights from many of their favorite design projects, and no one can turn a cheesy Brit-pop boy band tune into a Balearic anthem the way Fred Deakin can.
The early 2000s were an exciting time for graphic design, and Airside's carefree animations were the perfect complement to the music of Lemon Jelly. Highly-recommended for fans of summery downtempo or exquisite design.