VERVE LABEL GROUP
REIMAGINING JAZZ IN AMERICA
BRAND DEVELOPMENT ︎ FOR UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP
03. 2017 ︎ 01. 2020
Ten of the biggest names in Jazz and Classical music came together in 2016 to form the Verve Label Group. Verve Records, impulse! Decca, ECM and Deutsche Grammophon have been trusted names to music lovers for upwards of 50 years and in the case of DG as long as the history of recorded music itself.
Our goal was to guide these iconic brands into the modern day, each with an identity that embraced and expanded upon the legacies they’ve so firmly established. Below are a few of the ways we brought that vision to life.
Art Direction & Design: Jake Lerman
CD: Josh Cheuse
︎ VERVE RECORDS SPOTIFY PLAYLISTS
Verve was ready to release a newly founded “Verve Jazz” profile on Spotify and they needed a universal approach to the series of curated playlist covers they’d be featuring. I created this collection of woodblock print covers which represent the attitude of each artist’s music while maintaining a consistent look.
Unfortunately, the label opted for a different direction which I produced alongside the talented illustrator Ed Fotheringham. Still though, I prefer these.
︎ HEAR THE SPOTIFY PLAYLISTS
︎ VERVE RECORDS SHOWCASE
Verve was ready to reestablish itself as the industry leader with an eye toward the future. So when it’s flagship artists gathered at Le Poisson Rouge in lower Manhattan for a public unveiling the event needed a visual language that made it clear they had big things in store.
I hand lettered the classic logotype into dozens of expressive variations and worked to develop those treatments into a suite of environmental designs and motion graphics that would serve as the backdrop for the event.
︎ VERVE FORECAST
Verve Forecast has been an imprint producing forward thinking albums for decades. And while it had it’s own logo, it was missing something crucial that our other labels had - a consistent “backdrop” to signal listeners that the album they’re holding is of a certain standard.
In an effort to complete the family of other historic vinyl and CD backdrops, I developed a design that felt agnostic enough to accomodate any artist on our roster while also fitting peacefully into the visual history it represented. It’s since been used for all subsequent Verve Forecast releases.
︎ THE LOST ALBUM
![]()
︎︎︎ VERVE CONTINUES
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
Any new Coltrane music is an international event, let alone a release of unheard compositions. When his 2018 release “Both Directions At Once”, was finally unveiled 55 years later at the studio where it was recorded it was an event not to be missed.
This limited edition lithograph was printed for the occasion and available only to those in attendance. The geometry encapsulating the title is a nod to a campaign rooted around the album artwork.
It continued on into the orange die cut Record Store Day 12” single you can learn more about at the link below.
It continued on into the orange die cut Record Store Day 12” single you can learn more about at the link below.
︎ READ MORE ABOUT THE LOST ALBUM
︎︎︎ VERVE CONTINUES
Verve Records and all the labels under VLG are cultural institutions that have shaped musical and artistic culture of America and beyond for decades. It’s been my great pleasure to lend my efforts to maintaining and growing these giants and they work they help produce.
You can explore some of the talented artists we’ve worked with through the gallery below.
