As a graphic designer, one of the things I’ve always wanted to work on was an album cover. Thankfully, I also happen to make music, which allowed me to work on my own album covers. This way, I can create the perfect visual representation of my music with ease. Today I would like to take you through the process behind the cover of my EP Le Duc.
Le Duc was an instrumental Hip-Hop EP that I released through Bandcamp in 2017. The beats on the release where the first ones I made using samples. This changed my way of making music for some time and still influences my process, depending on what I am working on.
Once I had the tracks and the tracklisting, I needed an artwork that would match my vibe and visual universe. I also wanted the artwork to reference the samples somehow, and one way to do that was to sample the artwork.
I sampled tracks from Miles Davis’ 1957 Miles Ahead album – released on Columbia records – and wanted to sample the original cover. Because my songs were a bit more rigid than the original material, I decided to create an illustrated version of the cover using solid colours and rectangles. However, that didn’t really work for the Miles Ahead artwork because of the lack of contrast and the minimal colour palette at my disposal.
(Miles Ahead)
I then decided to only reference Miles Davis and not the actual album I sampled. I went with E.S.P. My favourite Miles Davis album – released in 1965 on Columbia records. The photograph is more colourful and has a better composition, making the illustration a lot more interesting.
E.S.P (left) & Le Duc (right)
For this illustration, I worked in Photoshop and made sure that every colour was on a different layer. I then grouped all the colours to scale down the image in one go and add a background colour that fits well with the colour palette I have. Also, my canvas size is by default at 1600 px x 1600 px at 150 PPI. That way, I am sure that my artwork will look good on any device.
If you wish to listen to the whole thing, you can do so by clicking here and if you wish to see more posts like that one, let me know. I’ll be happy to share with you my process and how I’ve designed some of the covers I worked on.
A few weeks ago I mentioned a film entitled One More Song: Hooligan Disco. This 45 minutes long documentary was released in 2008 by Jean-Baptiste de Laubier, also known as Para One. Para One filmed his US tour with fellow artists Curses!, Surkin and DJ Orgasmic – all signed on the French label Institubes.
The film is a visual diary made in a way that is unapologetic, raw and real. We feel the energy from the parties, the excitement from both the artists and the crowd. We also see the exhaustion, worry and stress every day and every night. Whether it’s because the boys have to attend another barbecue and can’t rest, or because they got to the wrong hotel and can’t go to sleep, we feel how stressful life on the road can be. However, we do sense a strong bond and companionship among the main protagonists and other artists.
As I am writing, I have the movie playing in the background, to help me get back in my younger self. I was obsessing over the film because it showed me something that I really wanted. Today, I look at it and appreciate more the pauses and smaller shots that may or may not reference other works. I am thinking of the scene with toys in a corner store. The freight trains passing by. That particular shot reminded me of a Michel Gondry video for The Chemical Brothers. I like to believe that this wasn’t accidental nor a novelty.
The other reason why I couldn’t stop watching it was because of the music that was playing throughout the film. Most of it was club-oriented, which is something that I wanted to make myself. I used the movie as a way to find inspiration in making electronic music. However, most of the songs I wrote at the time were not good enough. I was still learning. My tracks were not mixed. They were barely demos. This is why I didn’t share them a lot. I didn’t feel comfortable with them. I didn’t think that they were good enough. Listening back to them occasionally, I realize that they were needed. I needed to make them that way so that I could learn.
I don’t think that I would be where I am if it weren’t for my passion for (electronic) music, nor for this movie. It is weird. It is fun. It brings back good memories. It kept me dreaming. It kept me inspired. I am thankful for those hundreds of hours that Para One taped and condensed in this 45 minutes film. I am also thankful for Institubes, for without them I wouldn’t be me.
The last time I wrote about making music, I mentioned how I started thanks to rap. I started making music on my mom’s Windows Pentium 4 computer in the early 2000s with a loop arranger called Hip-Hop EJay. I loved making beats. Sure all the loops were in the software and all I needed to do was pick and mix them to get the beat I wanted. Later on, I used FL Studio. FL is today’s number software for beatmaking and Trap producers. As much as I love that, I do not really enjoy making that type of beats. Sure, every once in a while I’ll make one for the laugh, but that’s pretty much it.
When it comes to beats, I really dig the Boom Bap isht. If you don’t know what Boom Bap is, think of it as what rap beats sounded like in the mid-’90s. A lot of low end, some swing and a lot of Jazz samples. That’s where I’m at. Jazz samples, knocking drums and horns. I even worked on a project with just horn samples that I named So Horny. I’ve never released it. There are a lot of things that I haven’t released. Yet, I enjoy making beats, even though it is not my main focus. However, things have changed.
Thanks to discussions with my colleagues at work, I felt the need to get back into making beats. So I did. That same night, I ended up making three beats with Cookin Soul’s Lo-Bap Life Vol.3 sound pack. I have to say that it was pretty inspiring working with that sample pack. The drums are good and so are the chops and vocals. Plus it has some cool little horn samples which are hard to come by. Overall, it has a very jazzy vibe. Now, do you need to buy that sample pack per see to make beats? No, but if you want to make some proper Boom Bap isht, it is definitely worth it. If you don’t believe me, you can check the video above with Marlow Digs playing around with some of the chops from the pack. You can also take a listen to my latest release: Bap Life. It features the 3 beats that I made with the Lo-Bap Life Vol.3 sample pack.
I started collecting zines around 2008-2009. I do not own much, but as they are a part of who I am, I have decided to showcase them in this new “Zine of the day” series.
In 2011, Emilie and I went to Offprint, an independent publishers’ fair in Paris and I was quite disappointed with it. Mainly because the publishing available weren’t DIY zines but rather actual books about photography and art. However, Emilie and I decided to go back in 2013 and, to be honest, I felt less disappointed because I found this little fella.
Crumb On Crumble is a mini-zine drawn by French illustrator and artist Arnaud Loumeau and printed/published by the Berlin-based publishing house Re-Surgo!. It is silk printed in two colours and contains great sci-fi and surrealistic landscape illustrations originally drawn with Chinese ink.
As I am always big on supporting independent artists and culture, generally speaking, I can only encourage you in doing the same. Unfortunately, the zine has sold out, but you can still keep up with Loumeau’s work here and check out Re Surgo!’s online shop here.
In 2008 I saw that letter for the first time in a music documentary entitled One More Song: Hooligan Disco. Made by French filmmaker Jean-Baptiste de Laubier – also known as an electronic music producer: Para One – the film focuses on the US tour of Surkin, Curses! and Para One himself.
Gotham Black is used throughout the movie because it makes the chapter titles huge, bold and in your face. They are as unapologetic as are three producers are on their US tour. It blew my mind!
From that point on, I did my best to hunt down that font until I got its name. Gotham. A font named after the imaginary city of Batman was amazing to me. Actually, it still is! This is why knowing its name filled me with great joy! I needed that font!
However, as a student, I couldn’t spare – nor justify – hundreds of dollars on a font family. Thankfully I managed to acquire it through a friend’s friend who bought it for a specific project.
I remember cycling back to my tiny studio apartment with the font on my hard drive. While my computer was booting up, I cooked myself some tortellini pasta. Once booted, I plugged in my hard drive and installed the whole Gotham family. That didn’t take long and soon after I found myself sitting in front of my computer with a bowl of tortellini pasta covered in pesto sauce, grated cheese and black pepper.
While enjoying my not so healthy meal, I was designing with my new favourite font. I was careful enough not to spill any sauce onto my keyboard while typing the words Gotham and City in Gotham Black. After numerous tests, I reworked the kerning – space in between letters – and found what I was looking for. I finished eating my pasta while staring at my screen. I was mesmerized and amazed by what I had just learned: fonts are made to be messed with!
I remember one of my teachers saying that you are not supposed to alter a font. He would compare fonts to chef-cooked meals and say that you wouldn’t alter the taste of it. Unfortunately for him, I love my food spicy and will always alter the taste. Of course, I would always have a few bites straight from the chef’s mind. However, I often end up adding some heat to the dish. I do that not out of disrespect, but rather because I am curious and want to enjoy the food the way I would.
The same goes for typography. I play with fonts because I can and because I want them to fit my personality. Meg Lewis and Aaron Draplin are both bosses at it and pushing us to try it ourselves. It builds character and doesn’t hurt! So stop being afraid and have fun! Even if the result isn’t mind-blowing. At least you would have enjoyed yourself and life is all about enjoying! I digress. Let’s get back to Gotham Black.
Ever since that night after school I got even more obsessed with Gotham and have been using it in a lot of school projects. Unfortunately, I’ve lost most of them and haven’t used Gotham since 2011. As much as I love it, I still can’t justify its price and won’t use it in any commercial work as I do not own a legitimate license. But as I said, the most important thing is to have fun and experiment. That is the best way to learn and improve your work. That is the lesson I have learned that night. To have fun with fonts and have fun in general.
Tape Wizard is a short documentary by Kilian Vidourek. Focusing on the work of Portland audio and visual artist Randall Taylor, also known as AMULETS.
AMULETS makes music that blurs the genres of ambient, drone and noise thanks to his use of tapes. Lots of them. Some of them are handmade, giving his music an even more personal and intimate feel. Synths and guitar are also used by Taylor to create his lush soundscapes and immersive drones. His music is profound and beautiful.
Tape Wizard takes place in Portland, the week before a gig that AMULETS played in 2019 for the release of his album Between Distant and Remote.
I found this film to be very well directed, interesting and inspiring, just like his Instagram.
Making music is reasonably one of the greatest things you can do. I don’t say that because making music is cool. It sure is, but that doesn’t really matter. Nor do I believe that we start making music for the sake of being famous or being signed on a record label. Of course, being signed changes everything. We feel super happy, proud, grateful if someone ever recognizes our talent, our sound, ourselves.
Ourselves… That is what truly matters when making music. The first reason why we start making music is for ourselves. In my case, this started around 2001-2002. I really got into rap and the whole Hip-Hop culture at that time. Little did I know how taking that deep dive would impact the rest of my life.
As I was listening to my newly beloved musical genre, I started to feel the urge to do something myself. I wanted to rap. I needed to rap. I couldn’t just listen to it. I had to be a part of it. I remember spending hours at my desk listening to Nas, Wu-Tang and Jay-Z while writing. The beats they had were so inspiring to me. I wrote my own version of Girls, Girls, Girls and of Nas Is Like.
Hip-Hop E Jay interface
My main issue was that I didn’t have any instrumentals or beats to rap and record my raps over after writing my songs. One day, while making my Christmas list gift, I discovered what I was missing. Hip-Hop EJay! Hip-Hop EJay was a software filled with loops that you could put together to make beats. Thanks to that Christmas gift, I was able to make beats. Fast forward 20 years later, even though I do not rap anymore, I still make music. Electronic music that I infuse with a lot of… Blackness. More about that another time.
If you are wondering if you should start making music, the answer is yes. Plus, a lot of software developers offer free trials to help you get started. For that reason alone, I feel like everyone should try making music. See how it goes. We have all learned to draw as kids. Whether it is something that we wish to pursue as adults or not is entirely up to us. Unfortunately, we do not teach making music the same way, which is a shame. This is why I urge you to give it a try. You may love it. You may hate it. In either case, you would’ve tried it. This is important. Trying out new things. This can shape you into becoming your full self.
I also realise that what I love most about making music is the actual process of making music. Being in the zone and vibing to a track I am making is a great feeling. When that happens, I feel empowered. Because making music is a great way to explore your inner self without needing to put words on it. You can but don’t have too. This is why I really want you to try making music. Not playing music, but making music. Creating your own. If not music, draw, paint, take pictures, write stories. Do something creative or artistic. As long as you remain true to your self. And if you do not know who you are, it’s ok, because, sooner or later, you will find out.
Being creative, I am always interested in learning about my peers’ process in creating as well as their influences and inspiration. There is no better way in learning about that than with an interview. Today I have a fellow bilingual: Naud.
Naud is a French pop artist, who happens to sing in both French and English. I had the pleasure of meeting him through work. The many conversations we have at work regarding music have sparked an interest of mine in learning more about Naud’s music and process.
Can you introduce yourself? Who you are, where you from, what do you do/make? Sure! I’m Naud, a curious musician from Southern France. I’d quickly describe myself as an alternative pop music songwriter and producer.
How and when did you first start making music? That was quite a bumpy ride! But I basically started informally with my sister making me sing a lot of System of a Down and Disney songs when I was 5 or 6 haha. An interesting mix of influences indeed. Then I took on classical piano and classical guitar at 10. I miserably failed at the time and quit less than a year after. That kind of teaching was not really matching what I wanted to play at the time. Then I started learning bass guitar at age 13 as an autodidact first. I learnt with Jamiroquai and Red Hot Chili Peppers tabs mainly. But also from a lot of older musicians I played with. Bassists were are a rare breed in the small town I lived in, so people were stuck with me haha. It made me grow a lot faster. Then I decided to get the help of a teacher and it became more formal, he pushed me to correct a lot of technical flaws I had. At the same time, I started to sing on a daily basis and never really stop since then. At around 15, I started to learn DAWs (Cubase, Garage Band, Logic and finally Ableton) and guitar. 5 years later, after a really bad vocal cords injury, I moved on and started to learn jazz piano with an incredibly talented teacher – Matt Paull – music theory and take a few real singing lessons to recover my vocal abilities and dive a bit more into technique. Since then, I’ve committed a lot more to my practice routine! Practice makes perfect as they say.
What kind of music do you make? How would you define your style? Has it evolved since you first started? I make what most playlist curators would call “alternative pop” but I fondly call it “melting pop”. I know it’s probably a lame pun but that’s really how I see my music. My music has a pop intention with simple hooks and structures and mostly shorter formats. However, I’m not afraid to mix it with all my other influences which include funk bass, jazz piano, electronica guitar, big swung drum machines. It’s its own thing. I let my songs live as I write them. I indeed never think of the end result/style when I start a project. I started to release my first songs online on Soundcloud 12 years ago when I was a kid. They were mostly influenced by the bands I was listening to back then (Jamiroquai, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beck,…) and were a lot more “old school”, instrumental and guitar/slap bass-heavier than the stuff that I produce right now, which is a lot more synth-driven and relies on sampling and voice manipulations. I guess I was making a chaotic form of funk-rock pop back then? The core of my songwriting has remained the same through the years though. I mostly sketch my songs with a guitar/piano/bass/vocal line/drum beat and then develop it on my computer.
What is your creative process today? Where/how do you find inspiration? Do you use any specific gear? I’d say my creative process is pretty simple actually. I have a lot of “lightbulb moments” that make me pull off my smartphone as soon as I have a melody or musical idea popping up in my head. It can be vocals, bass, guitar, piano, beats, just noise or texture, lyrics. Anything that comes to mind, really! I usually record these snippets quickly, in order not to forget them and then I come back later to them. Most of the work is actually done later on: it essentially comes to deleting memos that were really bad haha. On that I really trust my guts: after I left an idea sit for a few days when I listen to it, it has to sound good and trigger ideas right away. If it’s not the case, then it means it’s not worth being developed to me. In a nutshell, inspiration comes in easy for me, I don’t have to find it. However, I am convinced inspirations come easy to a lot of artists: the toughest job, for me, is selecting what to work on and what is unique. After that initial sort-out phase, I generally sit at the piano/guitar to develop the chord structure of the song, find a comfortable key to sing in, write a few lyrics ideas that match the mood of the song. That part is generally kind of short, as I don’t want to overthink the song too much and have 10,000 transition chords engraved in or stuff like that.
Then most of the work is generally done in the box, I use Ableton Live a lot and to be honest, I love it. Maybe I’ll try to include more analogue gear in my workflow in the future… but I don’t feel the need to do so right now. I record a lot of material, resample it, twist it (especially vocals and bass, I always do weird stuff to them)! For me, the most important task to do first is to get the structure and rough arrangement quickly, to avoid only working on a loop for 6 months. As soon as I have that laid down, I record a draft of the main melody (generally lead vocals) and then adjust everything from here to support that melody (harmonies, one-shot samples addition, arrangement variations, chopping samples) and make the track more lively.
I generally mix as I go. Indeed, if I fully develop a given track and make it take all the space it is supposed to take in my mix, then I can have a quicker view of what the final song will sound like and have fewer tracks (less is more I guess?) in it. Once the rough mix is done, I let it sit for a few days… and come back to it to hear it with unbiased ears. Then I send it to my sound engineer for further mixing and mastering.
Can you talk about your latest project?
I have a new single which came out on June 18th, called Piano Girl! It basically tells the story of a girl who used to be quite sad, just because she was dragged down by ill-intentioned people around her. By focusing her energy on her music and not accepting negativity from others, she eventually found inner peace by rocking it on her piano and giving back to other people. This little story really shows in the structure of the tune itself: a melancholic beginning driven by my wailing voice that quickly fades out into a powerful, choir + drum-machine-driven and catchy chorus. That alt-pop song is just me piling up 14 back vocal tracks, misusing analogue drum samples and crushing the sound of my poor guitar to make people sing the blues away feel good about themselves!
I believe that you are also a vocal coach? How was it that going with the pandemic and has that affected the way you work? Sadly for my neighbours, I’m indeed a vocal coach/teacher. I started music through singing, thanks to my dedicated elder sister. It’s probably the instrument I love the most because it can be taught to almost everybody (medical conditions aside) and you always carry your voice around. Teaching singing involves a bit more psychology than teaching other instruments because, ironically enough, most of my students are afraid to sing in front of me during the first lesson. I have to find the right words and exercises to unlock their “mental prison”, get their trust and push them to go all the way in public. It’s extremely rewarding to see students grow, open up and become more confident in the way they talk and look at you… it goes beyond singing and music to me. You help individuals assert themselves.
As for your second question, I don’t want to sound like I’m taking advantage of the mess we’re going through currently… but I actually have more students now than before covid hit. I do less vocal coaching (going in the studio and helping singers to record great takes, reduce their stress but also harmonise and stack background vocals) but way more teaching since a lot of people jumped into music when the pandemic spread. I mostly do it through Skype so I had to adapt my lessons a bit. But after upgrading my webcam and lightning gear, I got it working fairly quickly!
Can you share 5 songs that you always go back to and why? Only 5? Come on! It will be more like “the 5 top songs I can quickly remember haha”. 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover by Paul Simon. That drum intro is just incredible, you recognise the song as soon as you hear it. Plus I really like the mood switch between the melancholic/minor verses and the very upbeat/major/happy choruses. The lyrics go hand in hand with the music and tell a very ambiguous and interesting story anyone can interpret their way. I love it!
Thinking by Louis Cole. Killer track, it’s super short with an unusual structure but still, it’s very memorable and funky. You can hear a lot of well-thought approachable jazz influences there that yet still perfectly blend with the pop orientation of the track. I love the drum + synth bass combo on that one, it’s super groovy and always makes my head bop.
Genesis + Let There Be Light by Justice. – The power of these two songs (I always listen to them in a row) is just incredible. Both songs are massive, raw, and roughly 14 years after their release, still very modern and inventive to me. I just love the very digital and aggressive textures Justice created on these tracks and the abrupt drum machine transition between these two tracks makes me smile every time.
1612 (Live At Madison Garden) by Vulfpeck. A very recent yet crucial influence of mine. Vulfpeck never cease to amaze me: how can you be so good at playing music but still be able to only retain what’s really needed for a track. Pure musicianship, there! The unison groove on that track is so iconic, simple and complex at the same time. Also, the connection between the audience and the musicians is so strong during that live performance… it really embodies what I like about making concerts and interacting with crowds. It’s a super fun, genuine, well-intentioned dialog with a lot of sweat and bad jokes in-between.
Canned Heat by Jamiroquai. It could have been every track from Jamiroquai, to be honest. That band got me into music and really made me curious about a lot of genres. The polyvalence and craftsmanship of their musicians are just out of the charts. I picked Canned Heat because I really love its 70s, “moustache-wearing cop” vibe. It’s just fun, danceable and carries an optimistic (yet sometimes two-faced) message. The funk bass + guitar combo is insane on that one.
You can catch up with Naud on Instagram, and listen to Piano Girlhere.
The last time that I wrote about designing an album cover, I focused on photography. I intended to show how easy it is to design an album cover. Things are going to be a little bit more tricky this time, as I am going to ask you to do something that – perhaps – you haven’t done in a while: draw.
Drawing can seem a bit daunting even more when you haven’t drawn anything since you were a little kid. However, I am a firm believer that drawings don’t have to be perfect. Drawing can be therapeutic. It can also be meditative. It depends on what you wish to accomplish from drawing. But enough about what I think about drawing.
The first thing you want to do before drawing is choosing your tools. Do you want to use a rollerball pen, a pencil, markers, perhaps a fountain pen or chalk? You might want to consider the type of paper you want to work with too. Do you want to use the very basic, super affordable, crispy white printer paper? Or do you want to go with something that is a bit more pricey and has more texture like etching paper?
Asking yourself these questions will help you define the overall feel and aesthetic of your drawing. But these are optional and can be skipped if you don’t want to think about that and just want to get drawing.
If you are still too nervous about drawing perhaps asking someone else to draw might be your best bet. For instance, if you have kids, or have friends with kids, you can take a photograph of one of their drawings. This works particularly well if your music is intimate and DIY.
Gonna B Ok by MNDSGN
As you can see, the cover above isn’t perfect. The drawing is weirdly cropped with some weird shadowing happening in the bottom-right corner, and we can notice the wrinkles on the paper on the left-hand side. Regardless of that, the cover works as a whole and is very fitting for both the artist and his music.
The other option you have if you want to have a drawn album cover but can’t draw at all is to screengrab a scene from your favourite childhood cartoons. This technique is trendy within the Lofi HipHop scene.
Japanese Disco Edits by Yung Bae (left), What Made The Red Man Red by Frank Waln (middle), Memory Tape by Desired (right)
Now let’s get you drawing! The easiest kind of drawing you can do is abstract. It is the easiest way to draw because you do not have to think about it too much. You can, but you don’t have to. All you need to do is grab your favourite colour markers or pencils, some paper and get drawing. Obviously, if you want to use more tools – such as rulers and such – you can.
Gizèle by Lawani
Above is a cover I did for one of my songs, Gizèle. All I did was cut a piece of paper in a small square – 5cm x 5cm – and draw on it using colour pencils. I didn’t have any specific idea in mind. I just listened to my track on repeat and started drawing. Once finished, I snapped a picture with my phone and cropped the drawing. I found this to be the easiest and most immediate way of producing an album cover without any design skills.
Below is a more high-grade example of what a drawn cover might look like. Portland-based illustrator Theo Ellsworth drew a simple yet detailed portrait for the cover of Flying Lotus’ Pattern + Grid World EP – which I featured not long ago in the Loving Covers series.
In an interview for Redefine Mag regarding the process of making the illustration, Ellsworth explains that after a few phone calls, Fly Lo sent over links to some of Theo’s art “that reminded him of what he was picturing”. He then says that Warp Records sent him a copy of the unmastered EP that he played a lot while working, which gave him “the sense that the music was the atmosphere that dictated the imagery”.
If you wish to paint rather than draw, the principles explained above are similar. The main difference will be the materials as you will need a canvas, some brushes and paint. If you don’t have a canvas, you can use watercolour paper. You will also need to allow for some drying time before photographing the painting. But the results can be really cool with a lot of textures and washes.
Telefone by Noname (left) & Hoe Cakes by MF Doom (right)
Now you’re probably wondering how to get a super realistic drawing for your cover and are probably upset that I didn’t cover that. The fact of the matter is that you have two options here: either draw it yourself or request help from an artist. In any case, don’t worry about the standards and expectations that surround you. Just make what feels right for you and have fun with it.
There are several ways of designing an album cover. I am no expert at designing them, but as a graphic designer and electronic musician, I do have some experience designing a few. In this series of articles, I will show you how you can design an album cover.
The first thing that you need to figure out is what kind of album cover you want. Obviously, depending on the type of music you create, you will have a few aesthetics and styles in mind all ready. However, if not a designer, the task can be daunting. That will be the case if you try too hard to copy or be heavily inspired by something you have seen.
The best options for you, if not familiar with design software, are to go old school and analogue. There is nothing simpler than doing stuff with your hands. Plus, it is another creative outlet that is great to try out.
The easiest way to create an album cover is to take the photography route. Perhaps in the ’90s that was hard. Even in the early 2000s. However, nowadays, it is effortless. You can either use that pretty decent camera that’s in your pocket, or you can download an awesome image from a free stock photo library like Unsplash.
Let’s start with the latter. We love to browse and stock photo libraries are a great visual browsing tool. Plus, they are designed in a way that makes it easy to find the kind of photos you are looking for by typing in keywords.
Let’s say for a minute, that you are a post-punk band – like IDLES – and you are looking for a photo of raw material like concrete. All you have to do is type in the search bar “concrete” and loads of images will appear, ranging from close up textures to abstract architecture photographs in both colour and black and white (see the screenshot below).
Sure they are not square. But not to worry. You can either browse through the search results and try to find a square photo, or you can grab your favourite one and crop it. The easiest way for cropping an image would be to send it to your phone unless you have installed the Unsplash app on it and downloaded the photo directly from the app. All you are left with is to open your photo, tap on the edit icon, and then crop. You can send your cropped photo to your inbox, download it on your computer, and upload it with your music. Easy peasy! To give you an idea, here are two album covers that were made using abstract photography.
Cranelian by Kill the Vultures (left) & How Deep Is Our Love by Mondkopf (right)
The results are great, plus you get a unique album cover without any effort. If you want, you can even share your cover on your socials and tag the original photographer. They will always appreciate it, and might even check out your music and become fans.
Now if you want to take the photo yourself, that is perfectly fine. Suppose you have a dedicated camera, perfect. You already take photographs and know how to deal with importing your photos and stuff. Hell, you might even know a few basics in photo processing. Assuming you’re not a professional photographer or enthusiast. If not, that’s cool. Just use the one resting in your pocket or bag. Yes, your phone.
You can take any photo. Landscape, still life, selfie, abstract. All that matters is that you are happy with the results. You probably take a lot of photos with your phone anyway. So editing and processing it on your phone is easy. If you want to use filters, that’s cool too. I would recommend using apps like VSCO, 1967, even Instagram. If you use other apps, that’s fine. Just make sure to download or send yourself the image when you’re done.
To show what this could look like, here are two examples by two British electronic artists, in two very different settings.
Kingdom by Gold Panda (left) & Etive by Etive (right)
Once again, the results are brilliant. Now sure, you might be able to tell which one was taken professionally and which one wasn’t, but that is not the point. The point is that each cover represents the artist’s vision and music and, in my opinion, both photographs work. The colours and the composition are both great in each photo, and that is all you need really. Perhaps some good contrast too.
If you are releasing music while being locked in because of the pandemic, you can take a photograph of an object, a piece of paper or a photo. As redundant as it may seem, taking a photo of an existing image is kind of cool.
Overgrown Interludes by Wu-Lu (left) & 18 by Nugat (right)
Now, you can also design your album cover with a photo of yourself. With a portrait or autoportrait – if you fancy it. However, if you’re going the autoportrait route and that you are using your phone as a camera, I recommend using the rear camera and not the selfie one. The rear one is always better than the front-facing one. However, autoportraits are tricky and challenging. They take multiple attempts before obtaining the right results and require lots of effort and patience. This is why I will mainly focus on portraits – which are taken by another person than you.
To achieve that, you will need a trusted buddy or relative to help you. The photo can be taken anywhere, but I highly recommend doing it outside. Your best option is to be in front of a plain background early in the morning, around sunrise, or before nightfall, when the sun is setting. Ideally, you are facing the light and not your photographer. That way, you will avoid any backlight while getting the most beautiful lights of the day. Meaning that – normally – you won’t need to retouch your photos, which makes things even easier.
If you are taking your photos on your phone, you can check the result instantly in between each shot. That way, you can adjust your posture and position for better results. At the end of the shoot, if you want to add filters, you can too. Nothing is against it. It’s just that I would avoid changing the colours too much as you already benefitted from the naturally coloured lights from the Sun.
Also, if you don’t want to go through a photoshoot, just look through your old photos. Maybe there’s already a portrait laying around that best represents you for that awesome album you’re putting out.
Jack Ruby Tracks by DJ Zinc (top left), Underwater by Fatima (top right), King Country by Rodi Kirk (bottom left) & Downtown Castles Can Never Block The Sun by Ben Lamar Gay (bottom right)
The takeaway:
As you can see, every single album cover that we have looked at today were not difficult to create. Meaning that even if you know nothing about typography, layout or design in general, you can still manage to have a good looking album cover. Remember as well to not be too hard on yourself because this can really turn your mood down and make you feel worse than anything. So focus on creating art that you love. And if you don’t love what you’ve done, it’s ok too. All you need to do is not hate it, and you’ll get better with practice.
I hope that you have enjoyed reading this post because I sure did love writing it and sharing my thoughts on how to design an album cover when you are not a designer using photography. I am planning on writing the other parts in the future. So don’t worry, you’ll discover other ways to design an album cover, without actually designing.
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