The turn of the millennium saw the landscape of heavy music dominated by a particular album art aesthetic: jagged typography, graffiti-style emblems and distressed image filters. Some worked, some didn’t, but the arrival of Sacramento alt-rockers Deftones’ third LP, White Pony, with its silver sheen and quiet silhouette offered a stark and disarmingly clean alternative with not a gothic band logo in sight. For Frank Maddocks, then a young designer finding his footing at Warner Records, it was a statement of intent that would define a career.
Having already established himself as a freelance creative, in 1999 Maddocks was invited by Warner’s Creative Director Melanie Nissen to join the team on a permanent basis. He soon caught wind that one of his favourite bands was finalising a follow-up to their 1997 album ‘Around The Fur’. Deftones happened to be signed to sister label Maverick Records and Maddocks wanted in.
