This was a project in collaboration with a long-time friend of mine, up-and-coming R&B/Soul artist J Mullz. He recently put out an EP entitled 'Let Me Take You' and asked me to create an album cover for it. I couldn't refuse.
The Process:
I got inspiration, firstly, from the overall tone and mood of the album to start off. After going through the tracks a few times I attempted to imagine a general sense and direction and soon began to sketch out what could embody the themes presented in the music.
Then, I looked to what other artists had an influence on J Mullz and his music. R&B and Hip-Hop artists like Pharrell and Robin Thicke came to the forefront which made perfect sense as their overall style in music sets a tone that is evident in J Mullz' work.
Afterwards I looked to contemporary album art conventions, generally in Hip-hop and related genres, to inspire a familiar look for a demographic more keen on said genres.
Lastly the final influence was in the title itself, "Let Me Take You". Using the aformentioned influences I hypothesized a context in which those words would bear much weight. I came to the conclusion of a setting where an honest gentleman would be crooning like he were a young James Brown.
Here's a taste of his title track:
Then, I looked to what other artists had an influence on J Mullz and his music. R&B and Hip-Hop artists like Pharrell and Robin Thicke came to the forefront which made perfect sense as their overall style in music sets a tone that is evident in J Mullz' work.
Afterwards I looked to contemporary album art conventions, generally in Hip-hop and related genres, to inspire a familiar look for a demographic more keen on said genres.
Lastly the final influence was in the title itself, "Let Me Take You". Using the aformentioned influences I hypothesized a context in which those words would bear much weight. I came to the conclusion of a setting where an honest gentleman would be crooning like he were a young James Brown.
Here's a taste of his title track:
Here's the first few sketches after gathering my influences:
After this last sketch I decided to head onto digital:
