Nomenclature is the manner in which names are assigned. We collect names and titles and then we reveal the story behind that name.

I was driving to Montreal around 2006 to see a band that was interested in joining Dependent Music, a label that had just shut down and that I was affiliated with primarily as a graphic designer. I was with a friend at the time who owned a record label of his own and wanted my thoughts on the potential artist. On the drive over he complained about the trend of indie album artwork and noted how everything was badly hand drawn… “hand drawn birds, hand drawn flowers, hand drawn Draculas, etc.” For some reason I stopped him mid tangent and said that when/if I ever started a label of my own I would call it “Hand Drawn Dracula”.

Hand Drawn Dracula seemed automatic and brought to mind stylized music, videos, and art. It reminded me of design movements that always come around full circle. It pretty much encompassed a lot of what I’m drawn to as an artist and as a fan. It also had the potential for a branding that I found interesting with the graphic novels and publishers I was reading at the time.

Cut to a few years later and I’m running my own boutique label, with an HDD logo/branding (a collaborative design between myself and Steve Manale), and I still run my graphic design company specializing in the music industry. Also, that Montreal band does pretty well touring the world.

- James Meija, founder of Hand Drawn Dracula