Case Study

TRILLIONAIRE – Romulus

The band’s guitarist, Andrew Lacour, emailed initially about a a general concept that was a dark version of The Great Gatsby.  The initial reference frames and preliminary notes are below.

“Band name is Trillionaire. The vision is kind of an old world Gatsby vibe. Our singer has a “Liberace’s bastard son” shtick going on, named Renee. We’re developing a whole story around his character to get a weird mystique, but not in a gimmicky kind of way… more in a “where the fuck did this guy come from?” Kind of way. Eccentric as hell (and Larry is already eccentric in real-life). I’ve never gone all-in like this, haha, so I know it sounds really ridiculous and silly, but that’s the goal.

To start, I’m trying to include the graphic and artwork element in a press pack, along with the record, for some label prospects to check out. This would include some concept imagery (something along the lines of album art, but not a full album layout) and a trademark symbol (kind of free mason esque?). So I guess the first question is what would you charge for a few images/concept layout and a symbol? We’re gonna handle the photos and some video shorts ourselves, since that’s all we can independently afford for now, but obviously we’d look to work with you on that in the future when we get some financial support. But as far as the bigger picture, eventually we’d like to make it all one cohesive thing.”

Initial Mood Boards

I suggested we go through a round of mood boards. The band responded with some more direction.
“Here are some descriptions for the mood board:  Gatsby, Art Deco, Classy, Subtly haunted, old school American aristocratic – Pseudo Masonic for the emblem… same as the mood board for imagery.  Definitely simple and clean, Art Deco.  Old money.  Etc.”

Approved Mood Board Elements

This is the stuff we all liked for the mood board direction, the only consideration being that we wanted to avoid naked women and stick more to figures inn that old school wardrobe...

Icon & Logo

Initially we discussed creating an icon out of a female flapper image. I felt like there was a detachment from the music and suggested we focus on a stylized hourglass. The band agreed.

Now that we had the icon image set, we discussed text. Everyone greed the text should retain an art-deco sensibility; however it should also be something that works with a contemporary heavy band.

Initial Image Tests

Wardrobe

We wanted to match the vocalist’s look to the cover model’s aesthetic, so I compiled references for both before moving onto photography. 

Photoshoot

A few behind the scenes images. The shoot took place in one day. Compositing took about 3 days. Wardrobe by Julie Michael / Hair and Makeup by Jas Doyle / Flapper wig by Troy Beard.

Final Imagery

The last two images we adapted from a historical image of NYC. Each sign was changed to reflect element in the lyrics.

Promo Videos

Three promo clips in one. These will be released over the course of the release campaign.

Apparel Designs