Showbread's Cancer is a concept album dreamed up by Showbread and lead singer Josh Dies. I worked with Josh to flesh out the narrative behind the album which was then used to create digital and real-life "artifacts" from the world of Cancer. The band's branding is tailored to each album which necessitated branding that both clearly continued to define the band while also being something that could exist within the fictional world of Cancer.
Download the entire Cancer and album art book for free here.
Client: Showbread
Role: Design + Art Direction + Collaborative Conceptual
Media: Digital + Print
Role: Design + Art Direction + Collaborative Conceptual
Media: Digital + Print
Showbread's logo is often remixed with each release. For this rebrand, the logo was given a more substantial presence and altered to be not only a "no" symbol, but a "no C" symbol (implying Cancer) as well.
Cancer is set in an alternate world where invading alien Principalities have impacted the flow of human history. The story centers on the band Protozoa who speak out against the message of the Principalities and try to spread their message in the face of enforement and censorship.
In the story, "cancer" is a derogatory term for the ruling Principalities (much like how "prawn" is used in District 9).
Branding insignia for the United States Ministry of Ethics and Defense. These are the "bad guys" but we didn't want something overtly evil, instead wanting something that was clean and governmental, but also vaguely haunting and forboding.
Cancer work included fleshing out the background story to better inform digital artifacts that would appear in a journal along with the album. This image captures a panicked web chat that would take place after a very public acts of defiance from the fictional band.
Cancer is both an album and a feature-length film. The branding and design spilled over into the world of the film to help flesh out the environments through signage, banners, posters, and more.
As the story follows Protozoa through their rise, signing, and seeming coopration with the Principalities, we needed to create an evolving brand to enhance the story. These logos evolve from an early garage band logo, to something more professionally done by a Principality-controlled recording label.
The digital journal included with all copies of the album included artifacts from the world of the story. Here is a mock infographic from a digital newspaper about a vote for war.
