Future Patterns
Driven by the urge to examine the forefront of contemporary electronic music, the Berlin-based label Patterns of Perception initiated the Future Patterns project. They reached out to Minimal Collective for the visual concept, curation, and creative direction of this annual VA project. The project takes the form of a compilation release available digitally and as a limited edition CD with accompanying 3D animated artwork and visualisation. With an emphasis as much on the visual as the sonic, the aim is to push the boundaries of multidisciplinary craft within the music industry.
Future Patterns invites both artists and listeners to explore the future of electronic music, and the sounds, techniques, and energies that could shape it. In collaboration with Rotterdam-based, Italian-born visual artist Deborah Mora, the central visual motif and artwork were created. Through Mora’s approach, which is situated between the physical and the immaterial, the visual concept of Future Patterns weaves together natural and fantastical forms as a means of depicting new worlds, but also as ways of tapping into a reality that is already present – resembling the experimental visions that the musical concept of Future Patterns seeks to provoke. By integrating dark, futuristic aesthetics, the progressive focus of the project is embodied throughout the visual identity.
“We created a central motif where the natural environment hosts a ghost-like, liquidy presence that holds a sharp-edged metallic blade - merging the organic and futuristic into one new world.” Mora explains. “The interplay between organic and sharp forms came to life by imagining a liquid, tentacular entity floating on mossy stones in the understory of a forest. Forests and mountains and their small-scale environments populated by fungi, moss and insects, recur a lot in my work as they are the closest to home, so calming yet so buzzing with life. The silky liquid entity visually resonates with many of the smooth sounds that you can hear in Future Patterns, and it’s also the connecting element that visually ties the natural environment with the sharp, metallic blade.”
"We created a motif where the natural environment and futuristic influences merge into a new world"
With Mora’s 3D environment as a base, a new visual identity was created for the Future Patterns project. The key visual of the metallic blade has been translated into a graphic 2D logo, accompanied by a minimalistic font and visual language that can be seen throughout the first CD release and digital communications for the release event at OHM Berlin on December 2nd, 2022.
Future Patterns 01 was mastered in Berlin by Patterns of Perception’s Andreas Maan. The compilation is available via Bandcamp. All profits from the first release will be donated to the German children’s charity Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk. So, what will the dance floors of tomorrow feel like? What forces will inspire expression and movement? How will technology influence creativity? What will music sound like? These questions will be further explored through future releases and emerging Future Patterns side projects.
