Since 1998 Anthony Smith has been writing and performing music with funk and jam mainstays the likes of Karl Denson and Global Funk Council. For his latest project under indie record label Terrestrial Records, Life As We Know It, Anthony Smith has brought together talented role players in the funk & soul circuit to form Trunk Fulla Funk.

We were fortunate that Anthony Smith was in pursuit of a fresh start both graphically and musically on this project. Terrestrial is committed to TFF’s success, and asked us to meet with Anthony to plan the development of new artwork.

It all started with a meeting. Anthony and Terrestrial knew they wanted original artwork, an identity, and to propagate it throughout merchandise and collateral. We asked for song lyrics, took samples of Anthony’s handwriting, and headed to Powell’s Books for research.

We poured over gospel, soul, jazz, and blues history, and immersed ourselves in imagery. We experimented with typefaces, added our own stylings, and traced figure forms from Anthony’s press photos. We listened to his music while we worked.

At times our process was an intentional, creative melee of exploration. After piecing different random sketches together into draft compositions, we found a few ideas worth polishing. From the lot of concepts, we found identity and an album cover.

The constituent elements—a stylized, carefully juxtaposed pairing of typefaces, an ambiguous cityscape, and a bust in Anthony’s likeness—come together to form a powerful brand visual.