Creative Direction · Entertainment Branding · Music Packaging · Web · Beverly Hills
La Toya Jackson — Creative Direction, Branding, Website Design & Album Artwork
As Creative Director for Ja-Tail Enterprises LLC in Beverly Hills, I worked across the visual environment surrounding La Toya Jackson and related Ja-Tail projects.
My role combined creative direction with hands-on production: corporate and artist identity, logos and crests, album and single artwork, CD packaging, promotional material, the official LaToyaOnline.com website and protected members’ area, VIP access material, signage, T-shirts, merchandise and other branded applications.
Brand identity · Music packaging · Web design & production · VIP systems · Promotion · Merchandise · Production artwork
Music packaging was one part of a wider identity system that also extended into web, promotion, VIP material, signage and merchandise.
Project Context
A broad creative-director role, not a single design commission
My collaboration with Jeffré Phillips and Ja-Tail Enterprises developed into a wide range of entertainment, music and corporate design work. The individual pieces varied considerably, but they belonged to the same working environment and often shared visual elements across print, web, music packaging and physical applications.
Creative Direction
Developing the visual direction and keeping identities, releases and promotional material coherent across very different formats.
Hands-On Design
Logo and crest drawing, layouts, packaging artwork, image compositing, typography, vector work and finished production files.
Web Production
Design and build of the official LaToyaOnline.com site together with the protected members’ and VIP area.
Applications
Promotion, print, signage, digital access material, T-shirts, merchandise and other branded uses.
Identity Systems
Artist identity, corporate identity and related brands
A significant part of the work involved creating and developing identity elements that could be carried across many different applications.
For La Toya Jackson, this included the TOY eye identity and an elaborate crest system. For Ja-Tail Enterprises, I created heraldic-style corporate artwork built around the JT shield, crown, lion and tiger.
Related identity work extended to the Jeffré Phillips Collection and Ja-Tail Television. The design language could therefore move between an individual recording artist, a corporate entity and associated entertainment or product ventures.
Recorded Music
Album, single and CD packaging
The music work ranged from individual covers to complete packaging systems, including CD faces, tray cards, booklet interiors and supporting release graphics.
Just Wanna Dance
Creative direction and packaging work including cover artwork, CD face, inlay and interior material, with the TOY identity carried into the release.
Startin’ Over
Cover art and interior booklet design combining photography, typography and editorial-style layout within the album presentation.
Free the World
Front and back cover work and CD-face design using the chain motif as a consistent visual element across the release.
I Don’t Play That
Single-cover artwork developed within the broader La Toya / Ja-Tail visual system.
LaToyaOnline.com
Official website and protected VIP member experience
A substantial part of my work was the design and build of La Toya Jackson’s official website, LaToyaOnline.com. I handled both the visual direction and practical production rather than supplying a design mock-up for someone else to interpret.
Public Website
Site structure, page layouts, navigation, interface presentation, identity integration and supporting graphic assets for the official artist website.
Members-Only Area
A protected area for fans and VIP members, with its own visual treatment and access experience integrated into the broader LaToyaOnline identity.
VIP Access Material
Digital membership and access-pass designs extending album and identity graphics into the gated fan experience.
Beyond Screen & Packaging
Promotion, merchandise, signage and physical applications
The project extended beyond the material that survives in my present archive. I also produced promotional graphics and applications for T-shirts, merchandise and other branded uses.
The surviving work includes large-scale exterior signage using the La Toya crest and a decorative crest pillow. That pillow later appeared on Life with La Toya on OWN — a small but useful example of an identity element moving from the original design file into a real entertainment environment.
Not every application from the period is still represented in my archive, but the scope was deliberately broad: music, web, fan communication, promotion, corporate identity, merchandise and physical branded environments.
What Creative Direction Meant Here
Developing the idea and carrying it through to production
This is one of the projects in my career where the distinction between “creative director” and “designer” is especially important. I was not simply supervising work from a distance.
I could establish the visual direction, draw the identity artwork, design the packaging, create layouts and graphics, build the website and prepare finished material for its eventual use.
That combination of concept and execution remains central to the way I work today: understanding what needs to exist, deciding how it should look, and then making the actual thing.
Professional Context
One project, many parts of the practice
The Ja-Tail / La Toya work is useful professionally because it brings together several areas that are often presented separately in a portfolio: creative direction, identity design, illustration, music packaging, web design, digital production and promotional communication.
It also forms part of a broader international career that has included work for Google, Coca-Cola, Mercedes-Benz, Wacom, RITZENHOFF, Dräger and many other companies, publishers and organisations.
Current Creative Direction & Design
Need one person who can think and make?
I continue to work directly with companies and organisations on illustration, identity, graphic design, creative direction and visual communication.
If your project crosses several formats, send me a short outline of what needs to be created and where it needs to work.
Extended Visual Archive
La Toya Jackson & Ja-Tail — Branding, Music, Web & Promotional Work
The gallery below contains a broader selection of surviving work from this period, including album and single packaging, crest and logo systems, LaToyaOnline.com, VIP access designs, Ja-Tail identities, signage and other applications. Click any image to enlarge it.
La Toya Jackson & Ja-Tail Logo, Crest, and VIP Branding Designs by Ian David Marsden
Creative direction and full CD cover design for “Just Wanna Dance” by La Toya Jackson — a major release by the global recording artist and member of the Jackson family. Designed by Ian David Marsden, this cover blends hand-drawn illustration, stylized typography, and vibrant visual storytelling to support the pop and dance-driven identity of the album.
Complete CD inlay and interior design for La Toya Jackson’s “Just Wanna Dance” single. As creative director, I developed the full packaging concept including interior layout, color palette, type hierarchy, and image integration to match the artist’s pop identity.
Interior booklet layout for “Startin’ Over” by La Toya Jackson. The booklet features photographic elements, typography, and editorial-style layout — supporting the overall album story and aligning with the visual tone developed for the release.
Cover artwork and visual branding for La Toya Jackson’s album “Startin’ Over.” This minimalist, high-impact design leverages bold color and iconic photography to establish a powerful visual identity. Developed under full creative direction for the album’s branding.
Custom design for La Toya Jackson’s VIP Fan Access Pass. Created as part of a larger branding and fan engagement campaign, this design merges album visuals with sleek digital styling for use in gated content platforms and exclusive membership experiences.
