Devon Flohrs - Twenty One Pilots: Regional at Best Tour Exploration

twenty one pilots

Twenty One Pilots is an American musical duo from Columbus, Ohio. Formed in 2009 by singer/songwriter, Tyler Joseph, Nick Thomas, and Chris Salih, the band released their self-produced, self-titled album later that year. The trio quickly became a fan favorite in their home state of Ohio.

In 2011 Thomas and Salih both left the band, but Joseph was joined by a friend of Salih’s, Josh Dun. The transition of Dun as the new drummer for Twenty One Pilots went smoothly, and a month later the band put out their second self-released album “Regional at Best”.

In April 2012 the band signed with Fueled by Ramen.

Under this record label they released “Vessel” (2013) and “Blurryface” (2015). The band has gone from playing small venues in 2009, to wrapping up their first world tour. Their fan-base has grown tremendously along with their success, but they still remain humble, and incredibly loyal to all their long time fans.

A year after signing with Fueled by Ramen, Twenty One Pilots their debut album with the label. “Vessel” featured five songs from the bands self-released album “Regional at Best”. Having experienced music producers working along side of them the five songs carried over from the old album were now refined.

The nine songs that were not carried over from “Regional at Best” were then discontinued, and are no longer available for purchase. But some of these songs are still considered fan favorites, and are occasionally performed at live shows.

The album has two core concepts: anxiety and faith.

Through his lyrics Joseph tell us the story of his struggle with both of these things. All of these songs (including the ones brought over to “Vessel”) have a deeper meaning that help make these songs so important.

booklets

fan zine - lyrical

While analyzing the lyrics I sought to make a mark for each song that was distinct. These identities needed to be parallel to the message of the song.

Tyler Joseph often talks about purpose. That the words that he writes all have a reason for being the way they are. I approached the work with the patterns the same way. I wanted each song to have its own identity, and for everything from the patterns to the functionality of the work to have a purpose. I started by analyzing each songs lyrics, and deciding what it meant to me. From their I hand drew designs that fit my definition of the song. I incorporated those into individualized song sheets, with lyrics on the back.

Fully packaged this serves as a limited edition cassette tape of the nine discontinued songs, with graphic posters containing the song’s lyrics on the back.

concert material Wanting to push this project forward I imagined what the matierials would look like if Twenty One Pilots did a tour reviving the nine discontinued songs. Through the use of the patterns as well as the bold typography and rectangular shapes I created multiple elements.

These T-shirt designs are lyrically driven, made to showcase the albums most notable lyrics. Featuring the patterns and typography with highlights of color blocks these shirts remain a celebration of the importance of the lyrics.

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Images from Twenty One Pilots Facebook page @twentyonepilots

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