Signal Records
Signal Records
Signal Records
About
A sleeve and packaging system for an independent record label — album artwork, gatefold, labels, and a typographic language that holds a whole release slate together.
Category
Packaging Design
Industry
Music & Publishing
Year
2025
Timeline
11 weeks
Problem
Signal released beautiful records that looked like they came from ten different labels. Each sleeve was commissioned separately, so nothing tied a listener's second purchase back to their first. In a record-store bin, where the spine and the top third of a sleeve are all anyone sees, the label was effectively invisible.
Solution
We designed a packaging system rather than a set of covers. A fixed grid, a single typographic voice, and a consistent spine treatment give every release a family resemblance while leaving the artwork field open to each artist. Catalogue numbering, colour-coded inner sleeves, and a gatefold template extend the system from 7-inch singles through to double LPs, so the label can brief an artist in a page instead of a meeting.
Result
The slate finally reads as one label. Regulars started recognising a Signal spine across the bin, and the catalogue system turned a scattered back catalogue into something collectors work through in order. Artists get real freedom inside the artwork field while the label keeps its voice, and the templates cut sleeve production from weeks of back-and-forth to a predictable handoff.
About
A sleeve and packaging system for an independent record label — album artwork, gatefold, labels, and a typographic language that holds a whole release slate together.
Category
Packaging Design
Industry
Music & Publishing
Year
2025
Timeline
11 weeks
Problem
Signal released beautiful records that looked like they came from ten different labels. Each sleeve was commissioned separately, so nothing tied a listener's second purchase back to their first. In a record-store bin, where the spine and the top third of a sleeve are all anyone sees, the label was effectively invisible.
Solution
We designed a packaging system rather than a set of covers. A fixed grid, a single typographic voice, and a consistent spine treatment give every release a family resemblance while leaving the artwork field open to each artist. Catalogue numbering, colour-coded inner sleeves, and a gatefold template extend the system from 7-inch singles through to double LPs, so the label can brief an artist in a page instead of a meeting.
Result
The slate finally reads as one label. Regulars started recognising a Signal spine across the bin, and the catalogue system turned a scattered back catalogue into something collectors work through in order. Artists get real freedom inside the artwork field while the label keeps its voice, and the templates cut sleeve production from weeks of back-and-forth to a predictable handoff.
About
A sleeve and packaging system for an independent record label — album artwork, gatefold, labels, and a typographic language that holds a whole release slate together.
Category
Packaging Design
Industry
Music & Publishing
Year
2025
Timeline
11 weeks
Problem
Signal released beautiful records that looked like they came from ten different labels. Each sleeve was commissioned separately, so nothing tied a listener's second purchase back to their first. In a record-store bin, where the spine and the top third of a sleeve are all anyone sees, the label was effectively invisible.
Solution
We designed a packaging system rather than a set of covers. A fixed grid, a single typographic voice, and a consistent spine treatment give every release a family resemblance while leaving the artwork field open to each artist. Catalogue numbering, colour-coded inner sleeves, and a gatefold template extend the system from 7-inch singles through to double LPs, so the label can brief an artist in a page instead of a meeting.
Result
The slate finally reads as one label. Regulars started recognising a Signal spine across the bin, and the catalogue system turned a scattered back catalogue into something collectors work through in order. Artists get real freedom inside the artwork field while the label keeps its voice, and the templates cut sleeve production from weeks of back-and-forth to a predictable handoff.
About
A sleeve and packaging system for an independent record label — album artwork, gatefold, labels, and a typographic language that holds a whole release slate together.
Category
Packaging Design
Industry
Music & Publishing
Year
2025
Timeline
11 weeks
Problem
Signal released beautiful records that looked like they came from ten different labels. Each sleeve was commissioned separately, so nothing tied a listener's second purchase back to their first. In a record-store bin, where the spine and the top third of a sleeve are all anyone sees, the label was effectively invisible.
Solution
We designed a packaging system rather than a set of covers. A fixed grid, a single typographic voice, and a consistent spine treatment give every release a family resemblance while leaving the artwork field open to each artist. Catalogue numbering, colour-coded inner sleeves, and a gatefold template extend the system from 7-inch singles through to double LPs, so the label can brief an artist in a page instead of a meeting.
Result
The slate finally reads as one label. Regulars started recognising a Signal spine across the bin, and the catalogue system turned a scattered back catalogue into something collectors work through in order. Artists get real freedom inside the artwork field while the label keeps its voice, and the templates cut sleeve production from weeks of back-and-forth to a predictable handoff.