After years of designing album covers, logos, and show flyers for many a small-time independent band, a close friend under the alias “blanko” approached me about assisting with the aesthetic direction of an experimental record label he planned to launch. A long time fan of experimental music myself, I obliged.

Originally known by the name 1100dbDEATH (pronounced Eleven-Hundred-Decibel Death), 1100db’s visual aesthetic was informed in equal parts by NO-Futurism, space imagery, urban brutalism, and cyberpunk dystopia. Designing each album cover involved many repeated listens of each recording, followed by further listening while attempting to “jam” along with the music in Photoshop.

When rebranding as simply 1100db (Eleven-Hundred-Decibels / Eleven-Hundred-dee-bee), blanko was keen to switch to more design-oriented aesthetic. In particular, he requested a black-and-white logo that resembled a record or CD, as well as containing a “harsh digital element”, which I interpreted as a barcode - purely functional digital design with no concern for beauty.

Below is a selection of album cover designs as well as elements from their 2025 rebrand.