Metals is the design and direction studio shaking up music industry visuals

Often characterised as a process of hunched backs, manual blinking, and silent days in front of the screen, the mental environment in which their methods materialise in unison is big picture, in easy collaboration, and communication. “Once we understand what the vibe is, one person will work on the vinyl, one person will work on the sleeve, one person will work on the back cover,” Chase says. Working now alongside a junior designer, tasks are divided between themselves for bigger projects. “At the beginning, we figure out what the language of the project is, what the feeling is, and we do that together,” says Chase. From ideation stage to execution, no designer works in complete silo.

“It’s like night and day, honestly,” Eddie reflects, comparing their isolated freelancing careers with the momentum Metals now has. “Neither of us has any more ownership of the project than the other. I think that was something that concerned me before starting to work with other designers, internal competition over whose idea gets chosen by the client… it really has never been like that.” Offering words any designer who works alone would love to hear, Eddie’s reflections are comforting and reassuring to hear. Complications and complexities are not in Metals’ journey.

A standout project in Metals’ history is 070 Shake’s Petrichor. Eddie had worked on 070 Shake’s second album, You Can’t Kill Me prior to the studio’s birth, making Petrichor even more memorable and poignant as a Metals project between Eddie and Chase. “Every project is really just the ethos of the album down to the visual language,” Chase describes. “Sometimes we get to talk to the artists and understand the headspace they were in while making the album.” Eddie, reflecting on both experiences, lays out his thoughts; “It’s really cool working with her again because she’s really hands on, really cares about the art and very specific, and she’s really sweet.”

Similarly in their fishy scans for Model/Actriz, Metals had some excursion fun with their work with Nick Hakim for the anniversary repress of Where Will We Go? parts 1 & 2. Eddie explains Nick’s involvement, with hand written lyrics from the singer going through digital composition and printing. To create roughness, Chase and Eddie ventured outside. Using a glass table, a piece of PVC, some sprinkled dirt, and placed the printed artwork above that. Topping it off with grass, taped down, they went under the table to take pictures. Then, it was brought back to the digital once again, printed out once again. Chase comments, “I never thought about this, you know. We’re going outside to get this and it’s like – oh it’s more dry here, this is more wet here. You look closer at all the textures happening.”