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Draft:Optigram

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Optigram
Born
Manuel Sepulveda
OccupationGraphic designer
Years active2008–present
Websitewww.optigram.net

Optigram is the work alias of London-based graphic designer, Manuel Sepulveda. Working as Optigram since 2008, he is best known for creating album cover art for electronic music record labels such as Hyperdub, Planet Mu and Warp, as well as designs for music industry-related companies such as Bleep and Unsound Festival.

He was listed by Fact as one of “modern music’s best sleeve designers”.[1]

History

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Prior to assuming the name Optigram, Sepulveda’s work for record labels had consisted of working on covers for R&S Records, Rephlex Records and Warp Records.[2] These designs included: Ken Ishii’s early EP, Tangled Notes[3]; Grime and Grime 2, two instrumental compilation albums that helped bring dubstep to a wider audience[4]; and Squarepusher’s album Ultravisitor.[5]

However, finding it difficult to gain steady design work with other labels led him to launch his own record label, Citinite, in 2006, for which he provided most of the artwork.[6] He dissolved the label in 2016 on its 10th anniversary.[7]

In 2008, whilst discussing cover art for Mark Pritchard’s forthcoming releases on Warp, he began creating imagery under the name Optigram, a portmanteau of “optical grammar”, to reflect the op art approach that they had been discussing.[3]

In the same year he was approached by Hyperdub Records to design Hyperdub’s 5th birthday compilation album.[8] He has maintained a working relationship with Hyperdub ever since,[9] designing sleeves for artists such as Kode9 & The Spaceape, Ikonika, Scratcha DVA and DJ Rashad. In 2020 a selection of his work for the label was exhibited at London’s Design Museum as part of Electronic, an exhibition celebrating the history of dance music culture.[10]

He has since worked with several other record companies including Big Dada, Don’t Be Afraid, Ghostly International, Lex Records, Ninja Tune, The Vinyl Factory and XL Recordings. Designs for these labels include releases from Burial, DJ Bone, King Midas Sound & Fennesz, Moses Boyd and Wiley.[11]

Examples of his design work were chosen to be part of the opening exhibition for the Museum of Modern Electronic Music in Frankfurt,[12] and other exhibitions have been held at Echo Bücher in Berlin[13] and Pauza in Kraków.[14]

Optigram has also been commissioned to create work for companies outside of the record industry. Projects include an installation for the launch of Unsound Festival’s Ephemera fragrance at Audio Visual Arts in New York[15] and a kinetic op art piece titled Interferometry for the opening of Sonos Studio in London.[16][17]

In 2015 Optigram launched the short-lived futurist print magazine, After Us, being its editor and art director. Stating its intention to explore the nexus between art, science and politics, the magazine featured writings by Laurel Halo, Nora Khan, Lawrence Lek, Patrik Schumacher, Nick Srnicek, and Liam Young, amongst others.[18][19]

Style

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Optigram’s designs have been characterised as “retro-futuristic”[20] and “sometimes… nostalgic, sometimes pointedly avant-garde, but mostly they’re some combination of the two”.[3]

His “dense geometric patterns”[3] that are “informed by… camouflage and digital noise” are “subtly unsettling”[21] and contain “imperfections and lingering remnants of alternate ideas”.[8]

Other work has been dubbed “cyberpunk glow”[8] or utilising an “abstract, liquid-like aesthetic”.[22]

Works

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The list below is an incomplete list of releases that feature Optigram-credited record sleeve designs.[11]

References

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  1. ^ Fact (2014-04-17). "Cover stars: behind the scenes with 11 of modern music's best sleeve designers - Page 8 of 12". Fact Magazine. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
  2. ^ Obkircher, Florian (2012-05-12). "Optigram". Groove. pp. 36–39. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2012-05-12. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
  3. ^ a b c d "Under the covers: Optigram · Feature ⟋ RA". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
  4. ^ "How A Record Named Grime Paved The Way For Dubstep". Red Bull. 2016-12-10. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
  5. ^ Smith, Jack. "BBC - Music - Review of Squarepusher - Ultravisitor". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
  6. ^ Escobedo Shepherd, Julianne (2009-09-16). "Digital Dubplates" (PDF). The Fader. p. 112. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
  7. ^ "Citinite label closes". Juno Daily. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
  8. ^ a b c "Hyperdub: Another future is possible". DJ Mag. 2019-08-20. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
  9. ^ "The Art of Hyperdub". www.redbull.com. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
  10. ^ Embley, Jochan (2020-08-15). "Electronic review: Dizzy dance music trip is something to rave about". The Standard. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
  11. ^ a b "Optigram". Discogs. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
  12. ^ Magazine, Smithsonian; Kiniry, Laura. "The Most Anticipated Museum Openings of 2022". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
  13. ^ "Optigram". Echo Bücher. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
  14. ^ "UNSOUND". www.unsound.pl. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
  15. ^ Wray, Daniel Dylan (2014-04-29). "This is What Electronic Music Smells Like". VICE. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
  16. ^ Stathaki, Ellie last updated in (2015-09-23). "Sound bites: Sonos Studio launches in London's Shoreditch". wallpaper.com. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
  17. ^ "Interferometry". Roland Ellis. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
  18. ^ "Accelerationist Art". Furtherfield. 2016-04-07. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
  19. ^ "Volume two of After Us magazine coming out in September - The Wire". The Wire Magazine - Adventures In Modern Music. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
  20. ^ "Interview: Optigram". Telekom Electronic Beats. 2012-01-12. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
  21. ^ "Hardformat » Optigram". Hardformat. 2019-04-27. Archived from the original on 27 April 2019. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
  22. ^ Ghosh, Ravi (2021-06-07). "Throwing Shapes With Optigram's Abstract Record Label Art". ELEPHANT. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
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