09

A music CD album provided like direct from farm vegetables

First album creation since becoming independent from major labels

Recently, we have been receiving more requests for making paper CD covers.

Among these, one memorable cover was the one we made in 2016 for the band, Clammbon, in their album “Moment e.p.” The sales representative at the time was a Clammbon fan, so we happily accepted.

Clammbon became independent from major labels in 2015, and then their first album after that was the “Moment e.p.” It was not distributed to CD shops throughout Japan, so a free cover design, without the use of standard plastic cases, was possible. We received a request for a paper cover making use of the illustration hand-drawn by the vocal, Ikuko Harada.

The first design project from scratch

Shinohara Shiko’s Mizuki Masubuchi was in charge of the design. She had the experience of doing some designs in the company, but it was the first time for her to work on a design for an authentic project of the company. As she had the expertise of paper processing on-site, she proposed a number of designs that could be mass-produced and incorporated Harada’s ideas in the project. However, conducting project management for the design work was also the first time for her. She looked at illustrations Harada drew by hand on the computer together and made many adjustments. At the time, she didn’t know how to efficiently approach the project, so she had to constantly be together to get layout instructions. Thinking back, professional designers would not do the job this way, so it’s a reminder of the inexperience in the past.

At live venues, Clammbon members themselves sell the CD albums directly and sign on the spot. Therefore, to prevent people from dropping lyrics cards at the live venue, they were sewn in using flat seaming. The title “Moment” on the album cover had punching designs, and from the back of the cover, a transparent film could be seen, which sparkled when reflecting light. Also, to make the band name Clammbon stand out, a yellow tag, like brand tags of clothes, was attached. The band name “Clammbon” was gilt-tooled in matte silver to make it look gorgeous. Masubuchi said, “I wanted to avoid an overall flat look with the paper cover so I wanted to put in some sparkling element.”

Becoming closer with fans to deliver music and feelings directly

This project was in progress at a busy time towards the end of the year and start of the new year. On top of that, Harada was feeling sick, and her throat condition, which is important for a musician, was extremely bad. Despite feeling very sick, she never showed it and continued the cover design. It showed how sincerely she was working on this album. The design concept was made listening to unreleased demo soundtracks, and it was a great pair work comprising of Harada’s directions and Masubuchi’s designs. About wanting to be closer to fans and delivering their music directly, Harada said, “it’s like providing direct from the farm vegetables.” Masubuchi said, “those words were very easy to understand, so I identified with that and could proceed.”

Products directly from the production site may be a philosophy that is spreading in many industries.

Being away from major labels, independent labels allows free expressions. Seeking this, they came to Shinohara Shiko. Valuing the relationships and feelings for the fans, they independently explored their own sense of direction. That attitude seemed similar to Shinohara Shiko’s philosophy, so it made us want to support not only the band Clammbon for its music but also how it exists as well.

原田郁子さんからのメッセージ

「どんなことがやりたいですか？」とまず最初に聞いてくださいました。「できる、できない」は後から検証していくとして、まずはイメージを広げてみませんか、と。初めて打ち合わせに伺った時のこと。モノづくりにおける心意気、気概のようなものを感じて、「面白いことがはじまる」とワクワクしました。「アーティストさんと直接やりとりさせてもらう、ということはこれまでになく、自分たちのような業界は陰で支える仕事でもあると思ってきたので、とても新鮮です。嬉しいです。」と言ってもらったことも印象的でした。

篠原さんにとっても「初めて」がたくさんお有りだったと思いますし、こちらも本当に「初めて」づくしでした。それまでデザイナーさんやスタッフさんにお任せしてきた領域にも直接関わっていく。「こっちの紙なら、○○円下げられます」「うーん、じゃあ、こっちかな」とコストを踏まえて素材を選んでいく。既存のものではなくて、パッケージを設計していく（篠原紙工さん × コスモテックさん × 東北紙業さん）。何度も何度もやり取りを重ねて、試作を作っていただき、予算とスケジュールを調整しながら、デザインも細部に至るまで丁寧につめていく。職人さんたちの手作業も見せていただく。その行程一つ一つが新鮮で、嬉しかった。

今は、パソコンやケータイでアクセスすることで音楽や動画を楽しむことができます。だけど、だからこそ、パッケージをつくれる機会があるのであれば、面白いものをつくりたい。各会場で実演販売、サイン会をしながら廻るツアーは、新作を一人一人に手渡ししていくようでもあるので、手にした時の手触り、仕掛けや遊びがあるといいなぁ、などなど。こちらの理想に対して、篠原さんは想像を超えたアイデアを出してくださる。「え？そんなことできるんですか？」と思わず聞いてしまうほどだ。何という頼もしさ。

ついに出来上がったモメントe.p.は、今まで見たことのない、どこにもない佇まいの作品となった。わぁ、すごいなぁぁ。何度も触ってみたり、眺めてみたり。しかし、喜びも束の間、ツアー初日の名古屋公演で声が出なくなってしまう、、、。あの時の悔しさ、不甲斐なさ、支えてもらったこと、実感したこと、、。モメントe.p.とともにツアーは続きました。

そして、更に深度は増して、モメントe.p.2、クラウドファンディンでの野音DVD、モメントe.p.3 と、パッケージ制作していくことになります。
篠原紙工さんと、出逢えていなかったら、、？
想像するだけで、あまりにも、さみしいです。
そのくらい、バンドにとっても、私個人にとっても、おおきな出逢いだったと思います。

あくなき探究心。クリエイティヴィティに。
いつもありがとうございます！！！
また！

原田郁子（クラムボン）