Gregg DellaRocca

The Cartographer – Illustration/Print/Branding
Project developed and executed Independently.
Roles: Creative Direction, Illustration, Print/Digital Design

Project Background
The second extended play by the Long Island indie rock band The Republic of Wolves. It was self-released digitally by the band and was released on vinyl by Simple Stereo. The EP was recorded, mixed, and mastered by guitarist/vocalist Gregg DellaRocca and produced by the band members themselves.

The Cartographer

A conceptual EP from Long Island alternative rock outfit The Republic of Wolves, "The Cartographer" needed to have a strong visual aesthetic to match the albums unique story. Full disclosure, I was an active member of this project from 2009–2014 and wrote majority of the songs on this particular release. In a nutshell the story is about a boy who leaves his home and takes to the sea in hopes of finding his father, a cartographer who left and never returned. Initial release was digital only but we had arranged a vinyl release with California based Simple Stereo Records, so all of the art was designed with this in mind.

The Process

A combination of digital painting and compositing, the scenes are taken directly from the albums story. I started with a variety of rough paper textures blended to create a single unique page. Then painted the background elements using different brushes in Adobe Photoshop, this includes the sky, clouds, and sea. I then took an image of two ships and composited them into the image. I applied various painting and blending techniques to get everything to flow. Similar process on the sea monster, painting the tail and composting images of an angler fish for the facial features.

The type treatment is a rasterized font with various eraser brushes applied to create the rough, faded look. The ship visual received high praise and was shared all over the internet. Fans demanded physical prints so Simple Stereo released a limited addition Giclee print which sold out just after being announced.