Condo on the Deathstrip - Cover

A buddy of mine recently reached out to me to ask if I knew how to make computerized art. The concept he wanted for his band’s next album was “a future city, like vaporwave.” I had just been experimenting with vapor wave styled motion graphics so I was excited to receive the offer, but wanted to challenge myself. I listened to some of the early mixes to get an idea of what to go for.

The content of the music is very much about the future, but the sound of the band is not very electronic or vapor-wavey at all. They have more of a post-punk sound. Because of this I wanted to create an image that had all of the earmarks of vapor wave artwork, but a more lo-fi, hand-made feel. I felt like the one aspect that competed with the sound of the album most was the traditional colors, which have a relaxing feel to them. I put together a mood board which referenced grid-like cities and vintage architectural drawings, and the band signed off on it almost immediately.

Because I wanted to create this image in 3D software, I decided early on that I also wanted to have an animated version. It’s been a while, so I spent time refreshing myself in Blender with tutorials and experimenting with new rendering techniques. I love working in a 3D environment, however I am not really focused enough to spend a lot of time modeling, so this concept appealed to me in that I could keep the models simple. I exported the low-poly animation I created and used compositing software (Motion 5) to create the type and texture effect. A simple still is used for the album art but the infinite looping video can be used for promos and lyric videos.

Analog Wave mood board.

An un-rendered view of the 3D model.