#trent russell

[robsheridan]

Hard to believe Nine Inch Nails' classic The Downward Spiral is 30 years old today! Here is some detail photography I took of the original album cover painting by Russell Mills for the 10th anniversary deluxe edition release, which I had the unique honor of designing, and somehow that is now 20 year old.

Everyone has that one album that hit at just the right moment of adolescence to change their perspective on music and get them through their teenage angst. The Downward Spiral was that album for me, released as it was in 1994, when I was a freshman in high school (and an absolute banner year for music/films/games all around). I must have stared at the artwork for hours over those years, without even much detail to draw from on its tiny 5” CD slip case. So five years later, when I found myself inexplicably working for Nine Inch Nails, it was surreal to see the actual original painting in the flesh, hanging as it was at the time in Trent Reznor’s office at Nothing Studios, New Orleans.

I was struck by how much dimension and texture there was in the artwork that never translated on that tiny slipcase printing, how much detail was happening in the physical materials of the art: Flies, moths, wires, blood… I had been staring at this “painting” for so long, yet suddenly it was like I had never seen it before. I also noticed that it had aged - the wires had wilted over the years, drooping down from their original position as captured in the original album cover (interestingly, judging by the photo posted today by NIN, the piece has since been restored); a tooth was missing from the other main piece.

That experience stuck with me and it was the first thing I thought about when the task of re-imagining the album package fell upon me in 2004. I wanted to re-photograph the artwork, subtly updating the cover to show that ten years had changed it physically, much like our perceptions of art and music and memories change over time with perspective. I also wanted to dig into the previously unseen details of the work and explore it with my macro lens, so that fans like me, old and new, could have new layers of texture to pore over for hours while listening to a legendary album.

Happy birthday, old friend.

[ruinedholograms]

Further Down The Spiral (1995)

[octodrawn]

lps 2012 gamer AU

[pml86]

According to Russell Mills, who created the artwork, a live album was also planned as a companion to Closure and artwork was made for it, but the idea was scrapped.

enjoy it

[efy727]

So last year I got back into Littlest Pet Shop (2012), a series that I haven't watched since 2015 due to only being able to access it through online uploads.

Still after all those years, I'm still quite fond of it and the characters. Anyway, I had a sketch lying around for an entire year and decided to finally finish the art piece.

Normally I sketch the characters on paper until I understand their proportions and small details, but I was struggling with this. Case in point, this is how I left the sketch a year ago:

I guess attempting to draw other characters during the break helped out a lot.

[daisilynn]

Humanarian 🩺

I actually was so obsessed with this show when I was little and I thought this song was AWESOME.

[itzpris15634]

loaded indeed my anon mate. but i did do it!

and as a bonus:

[halo-eight-94]

NIИ | Closure VHS | Halo 12 | Released on November 25, 1997 | Directed by Jonathan Rach & Jeff Richter | Package by Gary Talpas | All Paintings by Russell Mills | Photography by Andrew Morris | Nothing/Interscope

[anitararata]

bullies in junior high

[frgmnthtr]

The Downward Spiral (1994)

[leyendadospuntos]

Mrs. Twombly adopted two dogs for the camp! After a while, Blythe finally got used to the chaotic children.

(The papa dog is nowhere to be seen, the kids say he is flying, but hes actually barking at passing planes-)

[cateat]

fitting in 😝‼️‼️ (Little lps human designs)

[pml86]

Another beautiful work scrapped for TDS, called: "Liquid History" was made towards possible use on the Nine Inch Nails' seminal Downward Spiral release of 1994.

[robsheridan]

Hard to believe it’s been 10 years since Hesitation Marks, the last NIN album I worked on. The great Russell Mills (who did the iconic artwork for The Downward Spiral) returned to create new paintings for this album. I took macro photographs of the paintings in the same way I did for the 10th anniversary deluxe package of The Downward Spiral, finding little moments in all the incredible details and textures of Russell’s massive physical pieces.

I wrote an extensive breakdown of the album's art and design process on my Patreon. It covers a lot of topics: Working with Russell Mills, channeling NIN design decisions of the past, the typography of The Downward Spiral, the concept behind the minimal NIN logo, David Carson and the design philosophies of what isn't shown, photographing Russell's artwork, and spending months living in "a surreal, claustrophobic warehouse of dead things and old blood."

Below are some of my photography from the interior package, alternate cover and single designs, and a couple photos of original printer proofs from the production of the album.

[octodrawn]

At first I just wanted to draw Zoe's and Vinnie's winter outfits and now they are in love. I'm not entirely sure how i got here.

[itzpris15634]

Edited them with drawing over and lots of liquify. Only major changes, design-wise, were giving Russell a tie and changing Vinnie’s stripe colors.