It would appear that packaging your album or music release in a jewel case just isn't the done thing in 2012 (hooray!). Here are some new music packages (from Kindness, Anxieteam, and DJ Food) that disregard music packaging convention...

We recently received what we assumed was a 12" vinyl release from Kindness (aka Adam Bainbridge). However, inside the 12" sleeve there was no vinyl disc. Instead we discovered a 12" booklet that contained no words but rather a photograph (each taken by Bainbridge himself, mostly of himself) tipped on to the cover and each right hand page:

A CD containing Kindness' debut album, entitled World, You Need A Change of Mind, is housed in a sleeve on the inside back cover of the booklet:

Photographer: Adam Bainbridge. Except colour photographs: Matt Tong. B&W Prints: Robin Bell. Art Direction: Adam Bainbridge & This Is Real Art. Label: Wynacom

Anxieteam's I Think I Miss You release is even more unusual in that it contains no disc whatsoever. Instead it takes the form of a book of 22 postcards...

Inside the front cover of the book of postcards the four tracks of Anxieteam's I Think I Miss You EP are listed. To get the tunes, the proud owner of the booklet simply goes to the Hello Thor label website and enters their own unique download code. Both the artwork the music is by Anxieteam's Jim Avignon and Jon Burgerman – both illustrators in their own right. Here are some of the postcards from the release:

Each postcard sports a free download link for the I Think I Miss You track, meaning friends can be sent a postcard and a piece of music all at the same time. The release is available from label Hello thor's website: hellothor.com

DJ Food's latest release, The Search Engine initially started out as a trilogy of EPs that would be collected as an album under the title Stolen Moments. Now the project has reached an album format, but not as originally planned - only ten of the fifteen tracks that appeared on the three EPs appear on the album, entitled, The Search Engine, and one special version of the album (shown above) takes the form of a limeted edition 46 page, undersize A4 book of artwork, song lyrics, photographs and illustration.

The book includes a removable transparent vinyl acetate containing a bonus 11th track entitled Discovery Workshop, and the album itself is included on a CD that is housed in a sleeve tipped-on to the inside back cover. Here are some spreads:

All the illustration is by Henry Flint, a comic book artist known for his work on 2000AD, with the cover featuring an astronaut with an enormous back pack. The photography in the book is by Will Cooper-Mitchell and features shots of DJ Food's Strictly Kev in a replica astronaut suit. Design: Openmind. Label: Ninja Tune.

CR in Print

If you only read CR online, you're missing out. From the meaning of beans to the power of love, the February issue of Creative Review features our 20 favourite slogans of all time and the stories behind them.

What makes a great slogan? We investigate the enduring power of these clever little phrases in our special slogans issue, dedicated to our choices for the top 20 slogans.

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