CREATIVE DIRECTION, ART DIRECTION, EDITORIAL DESIGN
An album cover for eric mendez
A project for a friend by friends. An album design for someone who inspired us to create and be bold about our values. “MI GUITARRA SIGUE SONANDO” (My Guitar Keeps On Playing) is a heartfelt album by Eric Mendez. It’s prophetic in so many ways as it talks about migration but from the perspective of the one who stays in a country everyone is escaping from. Writing about this project brings back so many memories for me as I ended up being one of those friends who left.
The album also explores themes of death, friendship, crisis and the struggle and happiness of the next generation being born under these circumstances.
**Please find the album online and listen to it as you scroll through this project.**
The “NUEVA TROVA” (New Singer Songwriter) genre in Cuba has a tricky history. Independent, subversive, social and political. More urban than country and still communal, underground and poetic. It’s a miracle that Eric managed to put together a modest budget that would allow me to design his most ambitious project to date. It was a great chance for me to turn to a couple of the creative friends (Jesus Travieso, photographer and Marlon White, illustrator) who were part of Colectivo Supervivo—a creative community I started years before, but was rarely able to get hired for money in the depleted Cuban economy.
In terms of typography, I experimented with extreme spacing between characters as a symbol of the isolation and loneliness experienced, especially by the one who stays, seeing everyone else leave, questioning life decisions, wondering about an uncertain future.
Same with the photography for the cover. From the Art Direction, we decided to reflect this posture of going against the grain. Eric is seated opposite everyone else—a difference of aspirations but also of opportunities.
Well-known locations in downtown Havana, the Maceo park, the sea walk and the wall that marks the limits between Cuba and that other place where dreams seem more attainable. Desaturated colors, not an occasion for hope but reflection and sobriety. Every Cuban has been on one of the sides of the separation. I, personally, like many others, have experienced both sides.
We decided to add pencil style illustrations to represent some sort of spiritual world surrounding the author/singer as he reflects and shares his heart with artistry. Did I mention I’m a fan?
Eric’s personality is different from most Cuban singer-songwriters. He is the only official skater-singer-songwriter which also makes him a sort of a leader of the skater community in downtown Havana. Kids respect him as a father in the precarious x-games scene and grown ups appreciate his vocation as chronist for such a complex season.
We wanted to bring that side of him to the forefront. In the midst of hardships, Eric doesn't exclusively adopt the expected somber and solemn posture but likes to joke and talks passionately all the time. And when he fails he does it loudly. We had to reserve a joke for him in the final pages of the booklet, can you spot it?
An album cover for eric mendez
CREATIVE DIRECTION, ART DIRECTION, EDITORIAL DESIGN
As a bonus, and because I’m a fan. Enjoy this music video I co-produced for Eric Mendez back in 2013.
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