A Key is A Key — the design of the Long Long Slow Slow album
On the second day of SKIF, the Danish band A Key is a Key gave us their album. When they handed it to me I was a bit lost — by size, it was a vinyl (the small format). Immediately the thought: where am I going to play vinyl? But it’s not that simple…
Inside there really was a round object — but not a vinyl record, a cardboard disc with a key in the middle. A great idea, especially given the band’s name — A Key is a Key. The key is a USB stick with the album.
This is the first album I’ve held that’s distributed on a USB drive. And there are plenty of nice touches on the drive itself.
I half-expected to just see a bunch of MP3 files and the cover. But here the album is in two formats.
Wow — not just MP3, but also WAVE! Both casual listeners and audiophiles get something nice.
Besides the album in two formats — there’s an image with thank-yous and album info. On top of that — a welcome video from the band, photos, a music video and footage from live shows.
The guys pleasantly surprised me. They tied it back to the band name with a key, designed it to look like vinyl, used a modern distribution medium in the form of a USB stick, and packed in everything they could. A blend of old-school and modern. And the USB stick isn’t even write-protected — if you don’t like the contents you can wipe it and use it for whatever. A great approach. These are things you actually enjoy having around the house — these days I try to get rid of CDs altogether.
Haven’t actually listened to the album yet. Tried to start, realised the mood wasn’t right, am waiting for the right moment to give it proper attention.
Some lovely creative work, this.
P.S. The photos of the packaging came out a bit crooked and not very pretty — my hands are extra clumsy today — but you get the idea.