'Pork Soda' is the fourth song off of Glass Animals' sophomore album, How to Be a Human Being. The track tells the story of a messy breakup, full of nonsensical imagery that the English band has become known for...
After years of listening to the album religiously, each time I would get more and more desperate to find out what frontman Dave Bayley would want pork soda to taste like if it were an actual beverage.
When the band added heaps of visuals, audio clips, color swatches, graphics, etc. to their open source site, I knew I'd have to dream up a pork soda for myself based on the assets, tumblr account, and the song itself.
Lets look at some of the lyrics...
[Chorus]
Pineapples are in my head
(When you were fun)
Got nobody 'cause I’m brain-dead
(You made me run)
Pineapples are in my head
(To the seafront)
Got nobody 'cause I’m brain-dead
(She took the plunge)
[Bridge]
Five thousand footsteps in your wet dress
Back to the house with your arms round my neck
We drank pork soda with tangled legs
I won’t forget how you looked at me then
I know I'm no sweet prince of love
Those times that we got drunk
Maybe Jamaica rum
Maybe some Jonnie Dub
Maybe you still think of us
Phone buzz, and still I jump
Why don't I say it then?
I want you all the time
Despite not having the skill of artisanal soft drink production, I have an eye for storytelling through design.
I took key patterns from the album cover and inserts and used InDesign to arrange them in a way that was chaotic enough to be Glass Animals, but not chaotic enough to be distracting. From there, I went in to Illustrator to add the text. I created outlines in order to have more freedom to manipulate the letters to make them fit in the circle perfectly.
Seeing my final design on my screen didn't feel satisfying, so I sat down and taught myself the basics of using a mock-up in Photoshop.
In a perfect world, Pork Soda would be served out of an ice-cold clear glass bottle. Scroll down to see the full label.