We are slowly overhauling the Gloomth website layout and feel! It was definitely overdue for some upgrades, and we’re nearly finished. This past weekend I spent Sunday creating some fresh artwork for the front page- I thought it’d be fun to talk about the elements in it and how I made it.

When I sketched out my plan for the new artwork I wanted something that encompassed all my current inspiration and obsessions and was still tied to the roots of Gloomth’s aesthetic and what we do. Something from my brain and a Gloomth Girl’s bedroom floor!

I like textures in web design- flat graphics don’t really appeal to me at all, and slick shiny computer-made art just wouldn’t suit Gloomth’s DIY culture. Tea stained paper just seemed the perfect textural solution when I first built our site in 2007 and it’s suited every evolution of the label since rather well. I still use the same scanned tea paper- that I originally made in my kitchen with actual tea and ink pigments- as a backdrop on this page and throughout the site.

I drew the character in the center with a few ink pencils (all the colored effects on the drawing were added in photoshop) and printed her off on tea stained paper. Sort of a paper doll Gloomth Girl.

For our Victorian inspiration- I’ve been referring to our style as “Victorian Grunge” a lot lately- I included a couple of my antique mourning brooches and a hair “wreath” inspired by Victorian mourning hair art.

There are some of my old toys floating around, including Vinegar the Gloomth rabbit! The pom-pom and netting came from my favorite vintage hat from my enormous hat collection. Bow-tie bows, broken dolls, and upside down grade-school style star stickers!

The damask fabric you see has been on our site since it began. It’s one of the first fabrics I ever bought when I learned to sew, so about 18 years (holy heck I feel old saying that)! I only have 1 small piece left but I made all sorts of things with elements of that fabric and it’s a print I just love. I laid it out as a base on  heap of antique housecoats, a Victorian handmade lace handkerchief, and a tattered white bow I wore in my hair a lot when I was a “ghost”.

I love the new page artwork and I think it’s a really perfect way to share all of my inspirations while still carrying Gloomth’s unique feel. I hope you like it too! 🙂

-Taeden