This project asked to design a record cover and marketing poster for a band of my choosing. I have chosen British band The Struts for this specific assignment, with the hope that fan like me could create something wonderful.
The band's original album contains various vibrant colour combinations along with a collage-like edit. This creates a raw and edgy effect in this design - something I'd also like to work on my own design.
The collection of images above are the main images or illustrations that immediately come to mind when I'm listening to the 'Strange Days' album.
The 'Strange Days' album was only released recently on the 16th of October, so while I was doing my research and looked into their website I was inspired by the colours and the industrial, collage-like elements to their home page. Little did I know there was an album coming so soon, it was a big surprise when I saw that on my Spotify account!
These first ideas I had, basically came from listening to the band's albums and recently released album + songs. The band's vibrant website and background speaks volumes about their excitement for such a massive creativity boost at the start of this year's pandemic.
The developing ideas for this record cover came together very nicely, linked to the vibrant colours the band is after, as well as individual illustrations to give each member the desired recognition they each deserve.
The struts have never had an album cover in which all band members are present or photographed. This was very important for this album, as collaboration between group members was detrimental especially in this album,
The logo was created in Procreate. This was done simply by tracing over the original logo, and creating copies of this in different yet vibrant colours for a more three dimensional outcome.
The front of this record cover is filled with colours, textures, illustrations and was all put together thanks to some editing in Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator.
The back of this record contains the song list from The Struts' Strange Days album, a barcode and the custom-made pattern created in Procreate.
The ideas behind the poster design were very closely linked to the design I had created for the band's record cover. I really wanted these two items to have a consistent design approach so I waited until after I finished the record cover and then moved on with the poster.
The first two ideas were very similar in the sense that they were both collage-like edits. The third idea, however, had illustrations as its main design element apart from the logo and background. I liked both styles and decided to mix mediums.
The poster itself is quite simple but it's very eye-catching due to its colour elements and huge illustrations of the band members. I created the illustrations in Procreate where I sketched over a band photo, and filled in the clothes in black. The lead singer is at the top of the illustrations and does not have his clothes filled in with black. This was done to highlight the hierarchical elements in the poster, one being the lead singer in the centre of the band for obvious reasons. However, I also made this decision to create some contrast between the top and lower part of the poster. I wanted to create some balance instead of having a crowded design.
