Album Art

Alongside studio and agency work, I have been designing album artwork for record labels and artists since 2010. The work spans independent imprints with strong visual identities (Memphis Industries, Late Night Tales, Future Classic) through to major label releases on Warner Music. Each project starts from scratch with a blank canvas and the music, which is the kind of brief that keeps the craft honest.

Challenge

Album artwork operates at two scales simultaneously: the 12-inch sleeve that needs to command attention in a record shop, and the 3000x3000px digital packshot that needs to read at the size of a thumbnail. Getting both right, across a mix of genres, moods, and artist visions, requires versatility in approach and precision in production.

Solution

The work draws on a range of techniques depending on what the music calls for: digital illustration, analogue collage, photography direction and retouching, typographic composition, and mixed media. All work is delivered print-ready to the label's exact spec, including vinyl sleeve, inner sleeve, label artwork, CD booklet, cassette inlay, and digital packshot formats. Where photography is involved, I direct or source and retouch the imagery as part of the brief.

A body of work that spans genres, decades, and formats. Several of the releases have gone on to commercial and critical success, and a handful of the covers have been picked up in music press. The ongoing nature of this work, running in parallel with agency and studio projects, reflects a long-standing connection to music and a discipline that keeps my craft broad.