With so many blogs in existence, I had to ask myself why did I want to create another?
I’m not sure if I have a reason but I do have a want. A want to express my love and interest in album cover art, 80’s and 90’s culture, exciting design, and how they all constantly collide in my mind on a daily basis. Writing this blog is much needed therapy for a mind that flies creatively free and never stops thinking.
Explore, enjoy, and pass it on.
A little bit about Joe Buckingham
My Story starts while I was attending New York Institute of Technology in 1991, At this point, although I have always been an artist, I had no intention of pursuing a career in design. While attending a party one night I was offered the opportunity to create three album covers for a high profile rap group named De La Soul who happened to be visiting the campus at that time. They had seen the hand drawn flyers I had done for various fraternities plastered on the walls of the dorms, and the liked what they saw. Of course I took them up on their offer to let me illustrate the covers especially since they were/are one of my favorite groups. The work was released into stores worldwide and was well received. Two of the covers, ‘De La Soul is Dead’ and ‘Saturdays’, became highly recognizable pieces or cover art and to this day are still considered iconic in the urban music genre to this day. The buzz around the artwork brought more work my way immediately. I was now in the business, of art and design, that I had been avoiding because I was told by some; that there was no money in that field. To be honest I couldn’t believe that Tommy Boy Records was going to pay me (the amount they did) just for doing something that I felt was fun and would have probably done for free at the time. To keep a long story short… I ended up traveling the world, starting a few t-shirt lines, working in the fashion industry and much more; all because I had created some flyers that I charged $5 to $10 a piece plus free entry for me and my friends to get in college parties. I continued to work in the music packaging business for years, soon adding fashion and web graphic design to my skill set.
Through the success of the covers I was given the opportunity to tour internationally with De La Soul. It was through my travels that I made some of my best business connections that helped to further my career. I was able to manifest three t-shirt lines that were sold in urban boutiques and top flight record stores worldwide giving my art a great amount of exposure. That exposure opened up even more doors to further my career. Two opportunities in particular were being part of the creation team that birthed Cornerstone Promotion’s Fader magazine and illustrating two of the first Hip Hop children’s books with Scholastic.
For the past 20 years I have continued to design music packaging, sportswear graphics, web graphics, corporate identities, branding, print, as well as consulting services. But my free time is spent on my true love, painting.
Design is a beautiful thing. Brain Cells Have No Bars,
Free Your Mind and Design Will Follow…
-Joseph Buckingham
Come Again