CD album covers: Experiments in graphic design

Now this was really a fun assignment, a series of CD album covers designed for the Detroit group ECLECTICA. The band consists of Jeff Clarke, vocals, percussion, harmonica and words, Russ Epker, guitar, bass, percussion and keyboards, Rich Nelson, guitar, bass, percussion and keyboards. Rich is a former Detroit illustrator who now lives in Tryon, NC where he is doing some great paintings, check out his website on my LINKS.
This was not only a fun assignment, it was challenging as well. The group wanted a variety of designs for the covers which made the project even more interesting to me. At the time I was, as usual, doing a great deal of experimenting on the computer, combining photos and graphic design, and was able to utilize some of the resulting images for this project. That's why I urge artists to constantly experiment and to try new directions. In this particular case, it really paid off.
The above image is not photo-based, but actually a collage created from other designs that I had done.



The image on album 2 is a photomontage, part of a series that have been exibited in galleries and art centers. Cover number 3 is another collage created from other designs that I have done. Number 4 is based on an ink line drawing. Covers 5, 6, 8 and 9 are are based on photographs, some extensively altered. Album 7 is a combination of a line drawing and a collage. All these images were created on the computer using Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0





It's hard to believe, but the images on albums 10 and 11 are actually based on very heavily altered photographs.
These images also gave me the idea to do a series of digital collage/paintings. For me, often working in one medium will spark an idea in another.

I used images which were printed on my computer, combined with acrylic paint to create the image below. This collage/painting was one of two that were in the recent Krasl Art Center's exhibit TEXT AS ART.



The two images above are sketches done on the computer for paintings that I will soon start. I won't just copy these images, but will use them as a general guide in which to proceed.



This cover design was also based on altered photographs of a nude figure. The computer medium gives artists many opportunities to create unusual, interesting images.



To top it all off, I also designed a couple of logos for the group.