Secret 7 artwork by Josiah Craven

Link: Josiah Craven
Link: Secret 7

This year's outstanding Secret 7 project featured contributions from Yoko Ono, Peter Blake, David Shrigley, Paul Smith and Erik Spiekermann alongside Plastic Circles favourites including Give Up Art, Optigram, La Boca and HORT. However, the initiative has also historically acted as a great showcase of upcoming talent.

One such fresh creative is Josiah Craven - a student on Leeds College of Art's BA (Hons) Graphic Design course - who managed to sneak seven of his artworks included within Secret 7's recent exhibition at Somerset House. That's one for every included track. Working as a set while also reflecting qualities particular to the individual records, his 7" single designs couple type-based constructions with art-directed photographic elements to culminate in a series of contemporary music/design artefacts. Sold off in aid of the Nordoff Robbins charity, the set has since been split but have been collected here for posterity.

Jlin - Dark Energy artwork by Spencer Shakespeare and Fabian Harb

Link: Planet Mu
Link: Knives
Link: Dinamo

With A&R and art direction by Spencer Shakespeare's and Jamie 'Kuedo' Teasdale's KNIVES imprint/creative agency (although unleashed via the always forward-thinking Planet Mu), Jlin's Dark Energy long-player takes both footwork and record artwork seriously. The finished package also benefits from sizeable input from Fabian Harb of, type foundry, Dinamo and effectively will whet appetites for what's to come from a new type of collaborative practice. 

As Teasdale notes in an interview with FACT: 

"From the outset, we both knew that the label had to offer something individual in terms of validating its existence. Due to our collective interests and backgrounds, we also knew that this would somehow encompass visual art, graphic design and a collaborative working process."

'Cargaa 1 EP' by HelloMe

Link: HelloMe 
Link: Warp 

The first of three Cargaa EPs that represents emerging Lisbon talent is released by Warp next week. Available as as a 12" and download, artwork comes courtesy of Berlin's HelloMe: furthering - as the bottom images suggest - the palette and clean aesthetic of their refresh of Warp's website. Although this time, coupling that Designers Republic 2.0 style with some more expressively daubed detailing.