The Midnight is a musical duo from Los Angeles, California. It consists of Tyler Lyle, a songwriter from the deep south of the USA, and Tim McEwan, a producer from Denmark. Together they have been producing music in the genre of synthwave since 2012, which builds on elements of 80s film and video game soundtracks. The Midnight combines these sounds with elements from other genres of electronic dance music, such as house, and finishes their sound with powerful drums and characteristic saxophone solos.
The impact intent of this special edition concept is the creation of nostalgic feelings in the customer. The artists' music is already a rich source for this, but it only evokes the desired feeling as soon as it is listened to. However, the nostalgic feeling should already be awakened at the point of sale, i.e. before the customer has even come into direct contact with the songs of The Midnight. Thus, another source of nostalgia is needed. Synthwave as a genre works with various stylistic devices and sounds of the video games of the 80s. At the same time the old, pixelated 8-bit games are for many of us an important part of our childhood. Numerous hours were spent secretly under the covers in the dead of night cracking high scores and collecting Pokemons. Through emulators, many of these games can still be played today, making them perfect for grabbing customers by their childhood memories.
Each box comes with a small handheld gaming console that customers can have personalized at the point of sale with their favorite games from the past. The console itself is anything but old-fashioned: it can be charged with an ordinary cell phone charger and fits in any jacket pocket. In addition, the device also contains a digital version of the individual music carriers, so that nothing stands in the way of enjoying music on the go.
Overall, a modern design style should nevertheless not be ignored in order to stand up to the competition. So while the core of the concept is pure "Eighties Vibes", the shell forms a futuristic, contrasting design. Among other things, this is reflected in the box, which is kept in a plain black. Only the embedded logo on the lid breaks the otherwise smooth surface. Inside the box, the design remains reduced. Only when opening the ring-bound booklet the custom, neon yellow "Ayana" font shines at us and forms a strong contrast to the rest of the design. Just as melancholy and euphoria are juxtaposed in the bands motto "Mono no aware", the design juxtaposes dark colors with iridescent glow, dynamic display fonts with blocky pixel fonts.
The Midnight - Special Edition forms an ambivalent overall appearance, in keeping with the retrofuturism of the music.
