Death Row Records
2024
Stellar Hawk
Joe Vaccarino knows my love for West Coast hip-hop runs deep, so when the chance came to craft the visual identity for a seminal documentary series on Death Row Records, he knew I was ready to dive into the crates. Death Row isn’t just a label; it’s the definitive architect of the “gangsta rap” sound. Founded in 1991, it launched a cultural revolution through the voices of legends like Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and 2Pac redefining the global musical landscape.
To match the raw, unfiltered stories told by icons like Warren G and Snoop, I steered clear of anything over-polished. My goal was to build a “visual journal” that felt like a curated time capsule from the early 90s. I obsessed over tactile details: the grain of a contact sheet, the magnetic glitch of a worn-out VHS tape, and the high-contrast grit of a xeroxed flyer. The result is a style that feels like it was pulled straight from a late-night studio session.
By focusing on the practical isolation of physical ephemera, we bridged the gap between archival footage and modern-day interviews. It was a true passion project to give a visual voice to the untold stories of an era that shaped my own creative DNA.
Portraiture
In the healthcare-focused film, I opted for a blend of the sleek shapes reminiscent of pharmaceutical pills and the rugged edges of torn paper, along with distressed typography. Throughout the piece, you'll find moments featuring interface and UI details, paired with data visualizations creatively placed alongside raw cutouts of human eyes. This fusion of humanity and sterile data, the juxtaposition of digitized and woodcut typography with the raw hand-drawn elements, delivers a message that is both informative and down-to-earth.
Xerox Scrapbook
In the healthcare-focused film, I opted for a blend of the sleek shapes reminiscent of pharmaceutical pills and the rugged edges of torn paper, along with distressed typography. Throughout the piece, you'll find moments featuring interface and UI details, paired with data visualizations creatively placed alongside raw cutouts of human eyes. This fusion of humanity and sterile data, the juxtaposition of digitized and woodcut typography with the raw hand-drawn elements, delivers a message that is both informative and down-to-earth.
Darkroom
In the healthcare-focused film, I opted for a blend of the sleek shapes reminiscent of pharmaceutical pills and the rugged edges of torn paper, along with distressed typography. Throughout the piece, you'll find moments featuring interface and UI details, paired with data visualizations creatively placed alongside raw cutouts of human eyes. This fusion of humanity and sterile data, the juxtaposition of digitized and woodcut typography with the raw hand-drawn elements, delivers a message that is both informative and down-to-earth.