Thanks to all who took the time to participate in our last 'Poison Pen' challenge. There were some great ideas and images.
This week we have something different, thanks to an idea suggested a couple of weeks ago by @Trevor.Dennis . Growing up, I always liked buying record albums and I loved the cover art that contained the record, sometimes as much, and occasionaly more, than the record itself! There were iconic images such as Hipgnosis' graphical prism on Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon', or Richard Corben's fantastic graveyard bike on Meatloaf's 'Bat out of Hell', and who can forget Peter Blake and Jann Haworth's cover for the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
So the challenge for this week is to think of an album you liked and come up with your own cover design for it. There is no real starter image but I have attached a simple grey square 2500 x 2500 pixels in sRGB to use as a format.
When you post your response can you add just a few words on what the album is and how you went about it. It may help others see the potential of different approaches, software, and tools to such a challenge.
The “rules”:
- Anything goes, as long as it meets the forum rules on decency, copyright, etc.
- Anyone, and everyone, is welcome to have a go, whether you are a complete beginner or a Photoshop expert. This is not just for our forum “regulars”.
- The challenge is not limited to Photoshop. Any Adobe software can be used.
- There are no prizes apart from the chance to practice, show off your skills, or bring a bit of humor and fun. Don't be shy, join in and have a go!
When posting back your image — please use the blue reply button in this first post and use the 'Insert Photos' icon at the top of the reply box. If posting a comment on someone else’s entry, then please use the grey reply button next to their image post.
Have fun!
Dave
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Apparently, like many of my fellow contributors, I am a big fan of English Progressive Rock (from the 70's & 80's). This includes bands such as Pink Floyd, Genesis, King Crimson and, of course, Yes. These groups recorded some of the greatest music in that genre. Perhaps some of the most influential music of all time.
In my opinion, one album that exemplifies the Prog Rock era is a classic from 1972 entitled: Close to the Edge from the band Yes. The original album cover was a fold-out. It had a beautiful fantasy landscape on the inside of the sleeve. The cover design was created by Roger Dean who I found to be a great source of inspiration. However, while I love this album and the artwork, I always thought that this cover was a little sloppy from a design standpoint. That is no criticism on Roger Dean; he's an exceptional artist and designer. Many albums from that era have incredible artwork but have graphic design that feel rushed and poorly executed. There were likely various reaons for this, not the least of which were short deadlines, small fees, and technical constraints. No Photoshop back then! They had to do everything in traditional media, e.g. pen and ink, sable brushes, airbrush, etc. But I digress... I've taken on the task of creating a cleaner and slightly more coherent version of Close to the Edge. I've attempted to do this without straying too far from Yes and Roger Dean's original vision. The album cover design was changed several times as it transitioned from album to cassette tape to CD. I had an LP of this at one time. I think this is what it looked like...
Here are my designs...
Outside cover:
Inside cover:
Thanks for looking! How'd I do?
I love Sublime. Bradley Nowel. Gone way too early! I drew everything in Adobe Fresco. Then I added the Sublime text created in Adobe Firefly in Photoshop.
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