VISUAL DESIGN: COMMUTER INDUSTRIES

Written By Randy Wong

Starting in November 2023, we connected with Commuter Industries, a creative firm that does it all!

From graphic design and art direction to merchandise, visual imagery, collectible swag, to the creation of decor and aesthetics in which our guests can be fully immersed. When guests attend a WAITIKI 7 event, they are not merely concertgoers, but participants in a living, interactive experience that they will remember and crave.

Immersive Concert Experience

  • Commuter Industries designed our event program, poster, custom mai tai and zombie glasses with full-wrap designs inspired by the Halekulani, t-shirt, stickers, and stage design featuring custom, handmade stage lanterns, overhead lighting, speaker umbrellas, and stage lighting consultation. (Custom drinks created in collaboration with Halekulaniʻs Director of Mixology, Tuda Sarian).

Album Design: CAVES OF THE SEA

In early 2025, we commissioned a vinyl album package for Caves of the Sea. Commuter’s role was to develop an immersive package to help tell the album’s story.

What Robert & Glen presented us was literally otherworldly! From their design of a full color jacket (featuring hand drawn underwater illustrations of sea caves and Atlantic tarpon), to an an interactive, vintage style newspaper inner sleeve, our imaginations were already set adrift. The Exotica Extra newspaper sleeve features a deep dive into the album, including an assortment of vintage style advertisements, cocktail recipes, and a crossword puzzle for the ultimate Waitiki 7 fans.

Seeing the album come to life was yet another story. Robert & Glen designed our 180g virgin vinyl discs to mimic the eye on the tarpon seen on the jacket cover! Each record is made of translucent yellow-green vinyl with a dark teal inlay. No two “tarpon eyes” are the same, making for a unique collectible feature in this limited pressing of just 300 albums.

Randy Wong

Randy Wong
Co-Founder, Bass
Hononlulu, Hawaiʻi

Hawaii-born and raised, bassist Randy Wong seeks adventure with every musical endeavor. As a symphony musician, he has performed with Kenny Loggins, Bela Fleck, Yo-Yo Ma, sitarist Anoushka Shankar; violinists Joshua Bell, Midori, Ray Chen, and Augustin Hadelich; conductors Leonard Slatkin, JoAnn Falletta, Gunther Schuller, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski and dozens of others. As a sideman, he has supported ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro, American singer-songwriter Susan Werner, soul singer Ron Artis II, and the open flow organization Honolulu Art Ensemble. He has produced and recorded albums for Exotica, pop, classical, world, and Hawaiian musicians, performed in operas and ballets, played the space-age bachelor-pad music of Juan Garcia Esquivel with the Orquesta Nacionale de Jazz de México in Cuernavaca, and even jammed with Brother Ah and George Clinton at one of Obama’s inaugural balls!

Known for his passion for the mid-century aesthetic—from music to cocktails—Randy has been profiled on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition, the Department of Defense/Armed Forces Network’s America: Who We Are, PRI’s Global Village, Radiomultikulti, the Australian Broadcast Company, and Hawaii Public Radio. He has been cited in books, publications, and apps by Jeff “Beachbum” Berry, Martin Cate, Food & Wine, Travel & Leisure, Boston Magazine, Improper Bostonian, Honolulu Weekly, Boston Globe & the Boston Herald; has written articles for Hana Hou (Hawaiian Airlines), Honolulu Magazine, SUMMIT, Tasting Panel, NMG; and has consulted for Don the Beachcomber (Huntington Beach, CA), Drink (Boston), and more.

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