Fabian Falconett

The Axis Mundi - My portfolio books concept is based around the idea of the Axis Mundi, or the world tree. It is the link between the sky, the earth and the underworld. Also, it is a symbol of man and the cosmos. I used this because of the simple idea of the connection of all things. In design, I feel the best work comes when connections are made, any kind. It can be between the client and I, between the concept of the project to completion of it. It can be a connection that happens when the work is out in the world, when it connects with a target audience, and hopeful in the end, makes a difference. With the way I work, I am the central axis from which my work comes. From my roots (who I am, where I come from...) to the branches (what I create, what I put out in the world,) this book shows my ideas, processes, and solutions. Please enjoy.

J. Boogies Dubtronic Science - This is a new release on Om Records for J. Boogies Dubtronic Science. J. Boogie, aka Justin Boland took the idea of mixing the dj with live instruments, blending many different styles of music, making the sound very unclassifiable. This mix was done live, with various instruments such as sitar, flute, sax, drums, laced with vocals, and all played over J. Boogies beats. The label needed art for a cd, 12” single, poster, postcards, fliers and ads. Blending such a wide aray of styles in the music, Justin wanted the artwork to some how represent all the different sides of the project. An impromptu photo session yielded various shots of all the different instruments. He wanted a ‘collage’ to happen, showing all of these elements. I first set out to organize the instruments in some sort of structure, bringing me to the use of a loose grid. Justin still wanted a bold quick read of the bands name. For this I chose a bold clean sans serif, stacking it tight and using tight tracking to give it a strong solid build. To also give it some organic life, like the mood of the music itself, I created a monogram of J. Boogie’s (and Justin Boland’s) name using very ornate letter forms. In the end J. Boogie, along side the label, were very happy with the design. They were pleased with the overall feel and mood of the pieces and how they represented the warmth of the music.

Alchemist Golden Vodka - For this project, we were to design packaging for the alcoholic beverage market. The product could be a redesign of an existing beverage, or a new one could be created. I chose to create a new line of high end vodka. Alchemist Golden Vodka would be a premium vodka based on the true underlying ideals surrounding Alchemy. The true aim of alchemy wasn’t only to simply turn base metals into gold, it was the search and the transformation of one into perfection. Alchemist searched for what was called the ‘Philosophers Stone’, said to be a miraculous cure, often also called the Elixir of Life. This idea of the search for perfection and the Elixir of Life, from process to result and the combining of elements is what I used to design my bottle. Gold being the perfection made it my main color scheme. The main logo is a combination of an old gothic typeface and a newer serif face, bringing the old and the new together to help create the Old world modern feel I was looking for in this product.

Various Logos - Alchemst Golden Vodka Vue Magazine State of Fresh Publishing Culture Party logo

Mark Farina, Dream Machine 12" - After a summer internship at Om Records, I went on to design various album and cd covers. While there, I helped launch Mark Farina’s new full length album, titled Air Farina, along with releasing various singles from the album. This particular single was taken on after I left Om, and the owner Chris wanted me to continue on designing Marks singles, keeping a consistent look and feel. His guidelines were simple. For the color scheme: lime green and navy blue, and for graphics, pull from the ‘Air Farina’ concept. Having worked on the Air Farina release, the graphics primarily revolved around airplanes and airlines. My main idea behind the Dream Machine release was to try and visually represent what a ‘dream machine’ could be, while utilizing the airline imagery. Runway schematics, maps and ascent lines served as the base layer of the graphics. On top of that, I started to build my ‘dream machine’ from more schematics and the main elements of a dj, turntables, records, and speakers. What flourished feels like it came from a dream. An organic machine fed airplanes with flowers made of records. Vines reached out and connected word and image, helping to reinforce what it was. This ‘Dream Machine’ was remixed both on the record, and visually on the cover, showing another side of the song itself.