One of the sessions at this year's HOW conference that I am really excited about is Jeff Kleinsmith's "Branding A Band: Art Direction in the Music Industry." I was able to exchange emails with Jeff and he gave the following preview of his presentation:

"My talk is roughly a chronological account of my time (so far) in the music industry and how it relates to art direction and branding. I will show many examples of my early work (like high school, even). I will talk about a few of my favorite album cover designers. There will be a little history of Sub Pop. I'll show a good deal of never-before-seen artwork that wasn't chosen by Sub Pop bands and I'll try to make a case for why 80s hard rock album covers are the best. I will also show early posters as well as Patent Pending posters."

I am looking forward to hearing Jeff talk about his struggles and joys of working with several of my favorite bands. As art director for Sub Pop, Jeff gets to work for bands creating arguably the best music out right now. Sub Pop's roster includes The Shins, Iron and Wine, and Rogue Wave.

Thanks to Jeff for providing the teaser graphics that accompany this post.