Inspired by the likes of The Stone Roses, Kasabian, and Tame Impala, Me Plus One are an indie duo based in London who were looking to establish a unique and almost mythical identity for their first public releases.

After initial discussions, the group first wanted something with a touch of the 1980s but soon agreed that it should not be too obvious as to trap them into one strict market perception; deciding early on that this band did not want to appear as a tribute act or a nostalgia-driven retro group. Thus we analysed and examined what it was that inspired them about that particular direction and interrogated ‘why’, so we could get away from a direct timestamp of an era and channel something more contemporary that they would still feel motivated by.

We decided to craft a symbol that could be used as shorthand to communicate the artist – something strong, elegant, and memorable while being objective enough to evolve with them as they grew as artists without sacrificing its initial impact.

Logo

Logotype

Looking back now it’s challenging to see the original research that went into this. Everything generated at the research stage was taken and transformed away from a 1980s aesthetic to something more universally applicable.

BTS / Ideation

Single Artwork

Once the symbol and the logotype were finalised, we started planning the artwork for the first singles – taking into account the content of the music as an attempt to make the abstract somewhat visually concrete (if at all possible). For these first releases, which will be the first interaction the public will have of the band, we decided to use the symbol to drive the piece and start influencing association with the symbol and the group from the very beginning of their music career. This actually became more important with their subsequent EPs.

EP Artwork

The concept of the EPs was to contain four divergent colours which would be emblematic of the singles included. Multiple colourways such as this are something I try to stay away from myself, however, obliging to their only direction on this, we accomplished two different EPs again using the primary symbol to drive them.