Nice Package: Flight Of The Conchords

Of course we think Flight Of The Conchords is the bees knees. Aside from being stuff that white people like, we aren't alone in digging their self-titled HBO/Sub Pop debut: the set bowed at No. 3 a few weeks ago on The Billboard 200 and currently sits at No. 65. We've also added "feel of the wheel" to our vernacular after checking their new video to "Ladies of the World."

Aside from tracks like "Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros" and "A Kiss Is Not a Contract," the album is gorgeous to hold. This tri-fold package is super slick and pretty, and includes a pop-up portrait of the duo, gorgeous color, concise liner notes and includes a poster of the band. With art direction and by Sub Pop's Jeff Kleinsmith and Dusty Summers, design by Kleinsmith and help of illustrator Tyler Stout, "Flight of the Conchords" continues the indie mainstay's superb legacy of impressive album art.

Jaded Insider caught up with Kleinsmith to pick his brain about how it all came together.

What was the illustrative inspiration behind the package? What did you tell Tyler Stout?

Tyler was the illustrative inspiration (his work is really amazing). The whole thing was sort of a combination of all parties. I hired a few illustrators in the beginning and the band really liked Tyler's work - but not specifically what he did for the comps. The band asked that he do more stuff like they saw on his Web site. They gave him some direction like that. I asked him for some other illustrations to fill out the rest of the package.

What kind of say did the band in this? Be honest... were they behind the "pop-up"?

The band always has say in the album art at Sub Pop. The pop-up was my idea, actually. We wanted to make a package that was interesting and a little different since we knew this would be such a big release. I had a different plan at first but when the band wanted a certain kind typography, that plan changed and I had to rethink things - that's when the pop-up idea occurred to me.

Do you guys include a lot of posters in your packages? Why this one?

I come from a time when posters showed up in albums all of the time, so it's something I'm always trying to get back to. Not every release calls for it and not every release has the budget for it. We have done posters in our CDs a number of times over the years but most recemtly, Dusty put one in the Iron & Wine package. There is so much great art from Tyler that it really made sense to go for it.

Was HBO in favor such a substantial package or did you have total freedom?

HBO didn't have much to do with directing the art but were really great about signing off on everyone's vision. I think everyone's really happy with how it all turned out.