Two members of indie band The National have backgrounds as graphic designers, including Scott Devendorf, the bass guitarist, who worked at Pentagram’s New York office in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The band liked the idea of hiring a large branding agency to do the campaign for their new album, enjoying the irony of an indie band having a full-on corporate identity – even a classic corporate standards manual.

Pentagram New York’s Luke Hayman collaborated with the band to create a visual language for the album that riffs on corporate branding, encompassing everything from the design of the record cover and promotional materials to graphic guidelines for the entire program.

The band’s name is shortened to a corporate ‘Ntl.’ logotype, set in the industrial typeface Maison. Merchandise includes knowingly ridiculous corporate supplies such as staplers and tape.

The album was recorded in a barn/studio the band built in Hudson, New York, which is pictured on the cover in a black-and-white photograph by Graham MacIndoe. This inspired a house-like symbol that is broken down into pieces (two squares and a triangle) that are rearranged like code and die-cut in the album cover. The album and CD insert use photographs by MacIndoe that were processed to give a zine-like feel to add a bit of warmth and soul into the visual language.

View all the winning work from The Annual 2018 here.

Entrant/Design Studio: Pentagram Design. Art Director and Designer: Luke Hayman. Designers: Andrea Trabucco-Campos, Elyanna Blaser-Gould. Photographer: Graham MacIndoe.