The Mohawk Show
Best in Show:
Wilco Ode to Joy Box Set
The idea that people are longing for novel physical objects after spending years converting our music libraries into digital archives is central to designer Lawrence Azerrad’s winning project: a box set for Wilco’s album, Ode to Joy.
Despite the fact that Azerrad has been a creative partner to Wilco since 1999, designing 7 of the band’s albums in the last 20 years, this project was a singularly challenging undertaking. Wilco singer and guitarist Jeff Tweedy had a vision he needed Azerrad to help realize. Uncovering the right concept for the box set, then engineering its physical form, took trust and patience.
The collaborators’ ideas eventually coalesced into the project's final direction. The result is an interactive book whose pieces spin, slide, unfold and transform—a collage of color, light, shadow, emotion and meaning, all manifested as a pop-up book. If you’re looking for a decoder ring to spell out the album’s message, you’ll need to work for it. The book is made up of abstract collages and poetically arranged lyrics meant to encourage the listener to deepen their relationship with the music, but avoids literal representations and photorealistic imagery.
The book pages are printed on Mohawk Via Vellum in 100 Cover weight. This unusually hefty paper choice allows each page to stand up beautifully to complicated finishing that includes die cuts, spinners, pop-up elements, sliders, and foldouts. The LP Jacket is on protective, double-thick Mohawk Superfine, and the 11-inch square lyric sheet is printed on Mohawk Via Vellum using gray and silver UV inks.
Even the box top, bottom, and insert were made from Superfine. A sturdy insert into the base of the box, built from double-thick cover, does more than provide support for the contents—all six Wilco band members signed each box set in red marker. It’s the kind of subtle nod—from human designer to human viewer—that no technology could provide on its own. "This is an object that enriches the human experience and makes life a little bit better when you engage with it," Azerrad said. "At least that’s the intention."
The Ode To Joy Collector Box Set truly demonstrates the power of print by transcending mediums and transforming ephemera into a covetable artifact that just so happens to have been nominated in the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards (2020) for Best Box or Special Limited Edition Package.
