This is album art for a friend of mine. She plays keyboard and sings and the songs are all about her experience and journey with Jesus. Image descriptions are underneath each design. The album title 'Do You Believe' is the central question of the artist in the place of personal struggle, thinking, "do I really believe that God is with me, even in the pain, when I haven't got what I want and when I don't seem to be getting anywhere." All those questions swim around the head and can bring us down to a place where all we can see are the problems. There is another place we can get to if we choose to ask Him and believe, that place where the girl is now sitting on top of all the questions.
A contemporary and fun design incorporating bright colors and clear defined shapes. The artwork is approachable and easy to read. This design has a slightly different idea to the one below; instead of being just a thought bubble, the pieces within the bubble are parts of thoughts all broken up and messy. The place she's sitting up above is where the lower girl wants to be.
A nice looking cover but dark, heavy and a bit hard to read; not very album like. I've noticed that not many albums incorporate the title into the design, it usually sits off separately so the graphics have a voice of their own. I wasn't sure of the girl up top, she looked like she was in neon lights and I wasn't sure that's the look we wanted. It has an eastern feel or a seventies look to it too which I'm not sure is quite the artist.
Both designs began with this sketch:
Hi Tom, this looks cool- Using very critical eyes I have a few suggestions for you.
ReplyDelete1- The Darker Bubble Clusters
I don't know if there are too few of them, or if they're too small right now, but I think you might just take them out completely. Right now they don't really seem to have a purpose other than to distract me from the rest of the piece.
2- Silhouette Negative Space
The silhouette shape on top of the red shapes is kind of weird. The negative space bothers me where her chin runs into her neck into her chest- It forms a really weird negative shape and makes her look like an old woman or something. Did you try using the light orange of the main woman's hair for the silhouette's dress instead of the dark? That whole area gets a bit muddy right now. You might also bring back the second leg for her- I like the drawing better than the illustrator version right now.
She also kind of looks like she's sun bathing right now.... a summer in god land, which isn't what you're going for.
3- Type
The type seems to be in a good spot right now, but did you try a second font for the actual album title? Or a different color? Did you try type that was a bit more illustration-y? It seems semi-flat currently.
4- Brain
I like the pink collection of shapes- kind of thought bubble/brain-esque and I think it works to talk about how you think about something- maybe there needs to be some turmoil in there though- a jagged shape or a dark spot- to represent the doubt?
Hope that helps!
and all of those comments were directed toward the blue background one- I like that better than the light one lol. The middle one is kind of strip-joint neon-sign-esque. The type in the bubble is kind of nice, but fairly typical.
ReplyDeletetry the head all one solid color and the tear drop the blue. It may be a bit too busy at this point. I don't know if you need both the girl and the shapes behind her.and if you do need them both the shapes could fill the whole cover instead of a central portion. I don't know if you need the figure sitting on it.
ReplyDeleteThe silhouette of the profile could be cut out of all of the interlocking question shapes.
the shape of the girls head could be made up of these shapes with a person looking up to find answers.
Hey Tom,
ReplyDeleteI love your sketch. I think that the lighter version is slightly flat. It could use more depth, maybe a slight drop shadow or more gradation of colors. I think that you have a good sense of depth in the second darker one. It has a good hierarchy with the type speaking first, and the imagery second. However, it seems a little dark for the subject matter of "do you beleive". I'm not sure what to focus on in the first version, but it seems more appropriate. The second one would be nice if the color scheme wasn't so neon signish.
The silhouette of the girl seems a bit odd to me, and creates tension. It seems a little bit too flowly, and I want it to be just a bit more realistic. Since she is shedding a tear, I want to relate more to a realistic silhouette. I think it would make it more powerful.
Thanks guys for your comments.
ReplyDeleteAbby, I think you're right the girl up top (blue design) and the type need some work and it may work to throw in a few more jagged shapes into the bubble.
Sean, you make an interesting point; reducing the bigger girl down to the basic outline and filling the entire cover with those shapes and pieces, maybe even cutting the shape of a girl out of the pieces. that would denote much more of a swimming in all the mess type of idea.
Mo, I think a more realistic silhouette of a girl would definitely help bring greater recognition. I do prefer the sketch of the girl I did but it's hard to translate that raw feel into vector art. This year I'm taking an illustration class. I really want to find better ways to translate my sketching into the computer.
Ok, I am no designer but here is my feedback on the light blue background one.
ReplyDeleteI think it's good and the imagery makes one stop and ponder what it could mean. Without really knowing what the idea is, this is what I am drawing from it: There's a girl that's been hurt. Some of it is from herself, some of it from the lies the world tells. It's built up over time to the point that it's hard to tell what's real anymore. So she fights to hear what Truth is. She fights to hear who her Creator says she is. And in it she finds rest, peace, and freedom. She learns to believe who the Father says she is. The image stirs up deep thoughts.
I personally think you need the girl with the tears and the girl up above the thoughts. It would have a different meaning without either. It gives a bigger more complete picture. If you only have the girl below with tears then it just has a hopeless feel. But to have the second girl above gives a sense of hope, and that there is something better.