The Secret Change

There are two types of people in this world those that love George Lucas in spite of his constant changes to his Star Wars universe and those that outright hate him for it. Creative perfectionists, on the other hand, fall into a completely different category…

A few months ago a not-so-small change took place at E82, and apparently was so covert that no one has yet noticed. As was discussed before in Absurdly Obscure, a very large (and unintentional) gap exists between the first and second release of the Future World Soundtrack Series. So large was that gap that when it came time to design the cover art my personal aesthetic had evolved to considerably since the inaugural release in early 2010. Furthermore, some of the continuity and usage requirements had also changed, all of which lead to an ever-so-subtle redesign of the FWSS. The actual cover art was modified only slightly, while the CD labels experienced the largest amount of enhancements.

Just a slight enhancement of silver/chrome effects and a more professional treatment for the margins.

The base image featured a (understandably) dated rainbow color scheme and the original disc was radial tinted with corresponding theme colors. In the update, the image was further enhanced with a more realistic color fade. In addition, the discs now feature the “Epcot Clef” on Disc One and the “Future Notes” on Disc Two.

The most dramatic of changes, the original white background was created for economic reasons (when ink conservation was a serious concern in actual CD production). Now that the collection(s) are exclusively digital, ink is no longer a barrier to design. In addition, both discs were given simulated silver/chrome CD lighting effects for all logos and text.

Thanks to the incredible flexibility of Flickr, and SquareSpace (E82’s hosting company) all of these changes were uploaded and replaced the originals with near clandestine methods. (Even the url’s remained identical!) I really can’t describe just how elated I was to be able to make these modifications and continue the FWSS with as little stylistic deviation as possible. Immediately after I done this a realized “so this is how George must feel of his latest Special Edition!” and it feels great! So next time I take a journey to a Galaxy Far, Far Away and things aren’t Exactly how I last saw them, I’ll chose to celebrate the creative “force” that has the ability, drive, and passion to present a unified world.