In 2014 Leah Beeferman and Stephen Vitiello appeared in a group show at the Fridman Gallery. Both artists use sound in their work, so a record featuring compositions from each artist was pressed to mark the event. This 7-inch record, commissioned instead of a regular catalogue, used liner notes for the curator’s and artists’ statements. A mini-website version of this piece was also made as a repository for sound art and writing.

As with all our artist collaborations, we didn’t wish to intrude too much with our own aesthetic agenda. This isn’t to say we that seek neutrality in design. It’s more a question of finding some strangeness or tension in the artists’ work which can be extended through the design. Sound art is non-visual, so it was even more critical to find a form which didn’t impinge on their vision. Decorative typefaces and idiosyncratic layouts might overpower the subtlety of the project.

The curator, Regina Basha, gave us a single instruction; she suggested ‘the fade’ since this motif appeared in several visual works throughout the show. With each artist featured on either side of the disc, we ran with the concept of duality, of black and white, and inversions of orientation. For example, rather than having the artists’ statements appear sequentially in the booklet, we positioned them in upside-down opposing directions, so that they met in the middle. This gave both Leah and Stephen equal billing. On either side of the record and gatefold jacket we switched between black and white backgrounds to correspond with the dual faces of the record label. The fade from black to white concept was carried through the poster and website as a unifying motif.