A collector’s edition for Japanese metal band Dir en grey’s album, Vulgar, including a lyric book, CD, and DVD.
The concept is to confuse perceptions by creating a sense of discomfort without an explicit cause; by combining beautiful things in a grotesque way.
Dir en grey’s music has gained widespread popularity overseas, undeterred by the language barrier. Their music is able to deeply effect audiences without the need for literal understanding. I wanted to reflect the idea of feeling something without entirely understanding why.
I created collages that fuse modern Western fashion photography and Japanese ukiyo-e paintings, making something bizarre and obscene out of beautiful things. It satirizes modern beauty aesthetics and popular culture, creating an overall sense of vulgarity, mocking the ideas of being tasteful or couth. I wanted to reflect the mood of the album and the attitude of the band: a mix between beauty and ugliness, melancholy and theatrics. Insead of relying on shock value to cause the viewer to look away, such as horror or gore, the images are both elegant and horrific, eliciting a gross fascination.
The logo typeface, Melancholia by Jonathan Barnbrook, feels elegant and sad. Flipped and altered letterforms give it a theatrical element, making it loud and unsettling, and slightly confusing at first glance. The sideways type orientation suggests Japanese typography, while also forcing the reader to interact with Western text in an unusual way.
Dir en grey’s lyrics are known for intelligent and bizarre double meanings, vivid imagery, and violent or sexual themes. The lyric book contains both romanized Japanese lyrics and English translations.
