Ghosts I-IV
| March 05, 2008

Nine Inch Nails have always had a big influence on me, even beyond their music, in regards to their album designs and artistic direction. Their latest album Ghosts I-IV is a remarkable release: Musically it is an instrumental album reminiscent of the ambient works of Brian Eno, David Bowie and Aphex Twin to the American minimalist composers (Phillip Glass etc) and noise artists such as Merzbow. Furthermore, it is contemporary sounding and especially musically developed and defined. But beyond the music is the art that came with it, which is of significance discussing: The release embraces the digital age by including a stunning 40 page PDF file artwork, containing photography by Rob Sheridan, Phillip Graybill and additional photography by Tamar Levine in collaboration with Artist in Residence. In addition, extras including web-banners, avatar pictures and a gorgeous flash player (available from the site to embed into your blog, account etc) really take advantage of the today's climate, in an artistically sophisticated and informed way. Another wonderful thing Nine Inch Nails has done is to support the Creative Commons licensing, which is a very wise move.

In regards to the photography, graphic design and artwork itself, the team put together a beautiful and inspiring set of images, sometimes realistic, other times daunting or illusively complex. Images of landscapes match the daydream ambience of the music in a cohesive way, while other, more portrait like images are realistic etches of the musicians' creative process.

Art and music aside, this superb release will continue to affect the way people realise the powerful and inspiring ways individuals and groups of people can use the internet to their benefit and own personal/artistic needs.

Link:  Official page for Ghosts I-IV

Tags:  ambience, graphic design, landscapes, music

Topic: Graphic Design