While the original interface follows what most music production plugins do—a skeuomorphic approach mimicking classic hardware—I aimed to bring contemporary design language to the field with minimalJE, focusing on clarity and usability while respecting the original hardware aesthetic. Working within the plugin's RmlUI framework, minimalJE uses contemporary typography, colour palette, and clean spacing for greater immediacy. The logo was redrawn to reflect the new name while preserving the distinctive character of the original letterforms.
minimalJE is available to download here. Learn more about the JE-8086 synthesizer at The Usual Suspects.
The name captures the moment when a single patch transforms everything, when intuition and technology create something unexpected.
I developed the full visual identity, including logo, posters, social media content, and merchandise. The work draws on research into hardware music production and performance culture while establishing a cohesive visual identity for the event.
The wordmark uses custom lettering inspired by speed and motion while remaining open and welcoming. I developed a custom illustration to support the identity across posters and merchandise.
The brand colours reference the track surface itself: the terracotta tone, and the darker red echoing the moment sweat drips and darkens the track.
The visual system incorporates four abstract wormhole graphics, each built through incremental reduction of duplicated shapes. The concept explores time distortion: how immersive experiences compress or expand our perception of time passing, mirroring the effect of engaging their creative work. These wormholes form a flexible visual language used across touchpoints.
The project included a PowerPoint template with built-in grids and typographic rules for non-designers to create consistent decks, plus supporting assets including custom illustrations for for their website and an anniversary cap.