Throwing Shapes

LP artwork and visual identity for Throwing Shapes’ debut album by Throwing Shapes, a hypnotic, texturally rich exploration in sound. Their music is led by the striking timbre of the Irish wire strung harp, played by Meabh McKenna which blends with electronic synthesis and percussion of Ross Chaney and Gareth Quinn Redmond.

Although the band wanted to feature the harp somehow on the cover it felt important to avoid traditional harp iconography and its angelic or symbolic weight. Instead the focus is placed on the physical act of sound-making. The name and title “throwing shapes” suggests that sound is a force that alters form once it is set in motion, so we zoomed in and looked at how strings vibrate and wobble after being plucked. The illustration leaves only the diagonal lines and hands to suggest the harp and focuses instead on cause and effect, interaction and resonance without relying on a too literal representation.

For the title, Eurostile, a typeface widely used on synthesizers, was used to hint at the electronic elements of the album. The blue, gnarly hands, the bold colours and typography are pushing against the idea of elegance and purity that often surrounds harp music and reflects an album of bold new ideas and sounds.