The Real Zebos
In addition to being the Co-Founder and Co-Frontman, I am also the head Art Director for my band, The Real Zebos. Below is an assortment of cover art, merch designs, posters and more that I've made over the years.
First up is our debut album, Strictly Platonic. The name is a nod all of us meeting on Craigslist (surprisingly, nobody turned out to be a murderer). The packaging juxtaposes the bold, romantic hot pink color with a very dry and sterilized instruction manual. This theme is carried onto the chocolate box tees and album release show poster.
This project won Silver for Branding/Identity in the AIGA Nebraska SHOW 2019.
Strictly Platonic was also nominated for Album of the Year at the Omaha Entertainment & Arts Awards.
The duct tape helps reinforce "strictly," literally. Also, it's cheap and looks cool. We wore this as our stage attire for all of 2019.
2020 Cover Art
no style
For our 2022 album, "no style" we leaned into the idea a lack of identity – both musically and culturally, having grown up in rural Iowa and Nebraska, respectively. Rather than view it as a negative, I wanted to embrace the feeling of being a blank slate. Visually, this meant lots of white space with pops of bright color to demonstrate that ultimately, we can go in whatever direction we choose.
Pixelation, computer screen moire patterns, and other digital effects were also used throughout to reflect the fact that the band was born online, and we grew up consuming most of our music and media through the screen. After all, it's the only option when you're from the middle of nowhere.
The single artwork was inspired by HitClips and other immediately-obsolete y2k technology.
Above: merch for the "no style" album release show; Below: cover artwork for the follow-up "even less style" EP
Some more cover art I like :)
In addition to these art direction / branding projects, there's of course an endless supply of the typical band stuff: one-off gig posters, merch designs, etc. Check it out, ya'll:
