album covers
A sampling of the original album covers i’ve made over the years. Creating alternate covers because I didn’t like the official versions was really my first journey into design and was what made me fall in love with it.
It has allowed me to craft more personal connections with these projects and visualise how the music sounds to me. I’ve made around 80 covers over the years, with them continuing to Improve. These covers demonstrate my ability to visualise my ideas and feelings about something. It also shows the value of my instinct as a designer and perspective as a person.
These are 12 of my favourites. A link has been provided below each cover to give context to the covers. Many of these songs feature explicit language.
PC Music- 2013
A cover I made for the “2013” playlist by PC Music, an electronic music label based in London. Inspired by PC Music’s very genuine and sincere love for shallow, bubblegum pop. With them treating it just as seriously as we treat more traditional artistic mediums such as oil paintings and still life paintings.
Nina Simone- Forbidden Fruit
My cover for Nina Simone’s classic record, “Forbidden Fruit”. A simple and minimal visualisation of the meaning behind “Forbidden Fruit”. Nina uses “Forbidden Fruit” to visualise Black Americans who’ve been lynched on poplar trees.
Sun Kil Moon- Ghosts of the Great Highway
A simple cover for Sun Kil Moon’s “Ghosts of the Great Highway”. The cover accompanies the melancholy and lonely mood of the album.
Vince Staples- Just Visiting 2
After compiling many of Vince Staples’ guest appearances on other artists songs, I went ahead and made a cover for each compilation. This is the cover for the 2nd compilation, with it tying into the themes of race, class, and America’s prison system by making a central graphic that combines the visual Identity of a barcode and someone clutching prison cell bars.
[Link, Explicit]Gorrilaz (feat. Vince Staples)- Ascension
clipping.- Midcity
My version of the cover for experimental Hip-Hop group “clipping”s debut mixtape, “midcity”. The tape is home to many bare but abrasive Instrumentals, creating a palpable texture. This has been visualised by the grating, green background texture and the use of braille Instead of traditional text.
[Link, Explicit]clipping.- Intro
Chynna- music2die2
A more abstract and interesting layout that utilises dark and schizophrenic imagery. The collage style matches the cobbled together construction and presentation of the EP.
[Link, Explicit]Chynna- practice
jpegmafia- Not on veteran
A cover that focuses on the feeling and contrast of Its imagery. JPEGMAFIA’s work incorporates a glitchy and unpredictable style that is contrasted with much more mainstream and accessible elements. This is mirrored in the art by the field of flowers immediately followed by the electronic details.
[Link, Explicit]JPEGMAFIA- man purse
Pc music- Volume 1
PC Music’s work indulges in sounds reminiscent of pastel colours and the optimism of rainbows, with the holographic texture referencing the gimmicks that pop music sometimes dives into.
zillikami- Remains
Menacing and intrusive imagery that helps give an imposing feeling. This mood is mirrored In Zillakami’s work as he takes a lot of inspiration from hardcore and punk music, along with dipping into themes of violence, death and drug use.
[Link, Explicit]Zillikami (feat. SosMula & Ballabonds)- GO
Lil Ugly MANE- Uneven Compromise
Uneven Compromise is a 11-minute tale in which Lil Ugly Mane details his friends fall into addiction and the circumstances under which it was birthed. The main image of the cover is taken form “LSD Simulator”, which was released on the Playstation 1. The landscape of the image Is distorted and strange with enough familiar imagery inside it to make the viewer know that this place is dark, dilapidated and run down.
[Link, Explicit]LIL UGLY MANE- Uneven Compromise
M.I.A.- Vicki Leekx
Vicki Leekx was an experimental and ahead of the time release in 2010, with it being one single 40 minute song taking up the whole mixtape. The song manages to make a number of half-finished ideas feel satisfying but hard to follow, making for an interesting listen. This cover is made of Images that have been databent and distorted to create something that is just as purposefully messy as the music itself.
[Link, Explicit]M.I.A.- Vicki Leekx
Pc Music- Volume 2
My cover for PC Music’s 2nd compilation is capturing the early internet that many of their sounds seem to be inspired by. PC Musics work can be very reminiscent of hokey, out of touch visions from 1999 of what the Internet & electronics would be like in 20 years time. This can be summed up well with the word “cyberspace”, which is what this cover tries to build off.