Media Design

-Toshi Onuki

It has been important for me to learn and understand the culture and philosophy of Neil Young since I started working for him with not much knowledge about his work. He has been working with Total Media Group and myself for 8 years now, and I now know how he thinks and I‘m familiar with his process. I try to be in sync with his vision so that I can predict what works for him and then I can bring out the best of what I can do.

It doesn’t always work out - but that is part of the process.

In the recent CD / DVD project Fork In The Road, I was involved in the cover art design, however, I totally failed on this one. He wasn’t happy with the design, and ended up picking something else by himself, a heavily compressed video still from homemade Web video. It made it into the cover. It was quite shocking because it was the last image we might even consider to pick. (See below for a link to the album cover).

I personally love his decision like this. He is unpredictable and makes twisted decision with a reason behind them. It is like a peculiar piece of puzzle and I enjoy being a part of this.

I’m discovering him not only as a musician but also as a talented visual artist. He always has strong visions, image and clear statements. He also brings vague and unresolved ideas for us to develop and to experiment. This continues to push myself and Total Media Group to places we’ve never been.

I often try to think like Neil Young and come up with something he never expected. It is fun when I can surprise him.

There was a perfect combination of both in the Neil Young Archives project, and there were a lot of room for me to play. Stay tuned for more!

http://www.neilyoung.com/forkintheroad/forkintheroadpage.html