Shell Shocked
1.10.15 by Mike Haley

So there I was. Sipping on some coffee and dicking around on the internet, as I’m known to do most mornings, when I saw a photo of a cassette tape. Sounds like nothing out of the ordinary, since 84.8% of my interneting involves cassette tapes. But this was different. This particular cassette was rather flashy and unlike any tape I had ever seen. I felt a warm liquid streaming from my ear, confirmation that my mind had been blown.

The cassette shell (above) was white with swirls of pink and blue rolling through it. The way the colors dipped around the contours, and covered the entirety of the shell,  made it obvious it wasn’t an imprint, but some sort of tape tie dying job. And there were more like it! The wizards responsible for these amazing creations are Eyetooth Collective, a company out of Canton, Ohio run by Zachary Kern. That’s the “who” and “where”. Obtaining the “how” is a bit more tricky. Currently, Eyetooth are the only people conjuring up this eye candy, and they aren’t saying much about how they do it. Magic!? Paint!? BOTH!?! All I know is they look fucking sensational. Kern estimates that he has fashioned 3,000+ cassettes in 2014 for the likes of Burger Records, Lost Tape Collective, Grimoire Cassettes, and a host of DIY units. And, awesomely enough, one can order blanks if desired.

Here’s a sampling of some of Eyetooth’s work. Go grab a bib, or some other drool guard, then scroll on down!

In addition to these custom shell jobs, Eyetooth handles duplication, printing, custom packaging, and more. Check them out at eyetoothcollective.tumblr.com.