Times are hard for rock and roll; Hip-hop enjoyed unprecendented popularity and growth in the mid-90s as record executives discovered that bling sells. While a rock band like The Suburban Pop Project dreams big, the shows don't pay, the crowds are waning, and the capital for promoting their music simply isn't there. They wanted to document their act for posterity, or for a time when rock and roll makes a comeback, but had no money to involve themselves with the mass runs, plate costs, and glass masters involved in pressing a commercial CD.

We understood that The Suburban Pop Project wanted to make something beautiful to package their music, but that a commercial press run was out of the question. Thinking Outside The Press led to a solution that substituted hard work for hard cash while in no way compromising the impact of the final product. In fact, it's beautiful, and here's how we did it: We developed a unique printing process for the band involving a series of stunningly detailed and inexpensive rubber stamps. Armed with only recordable CDs, premium recycled speckletone cardboard, stamp ink, and a set of rubber stamps, The Suburban Pop Project had everything they needed to produce gorgeous one-of-a-kind CD cases at a fraction of the cost of a commercial pressing. What's even better, their cost per-unit decreases each and every time they produce a package since they own the 'press' outright. We've learned that they've even used the same stamp that stamps the package and face of the CD to make a series of stickers and other promotional materials.

Now that's economical Design.