Once upon a time, long long ago, music was pressed and released onto "a record album". Not only was the sound of an album that much more full and sexy... but so was the artwork. The cardboard graphic made a full 12 by 12 inch impression, which gave the artist/designer the opportunity to leave a great big sloppy kiss over pop cultures grimacing face. It's not the same anymore. The cover of a CD is only 14% the size of a record, where the title and band name takes another third of that surface area. Designing, painting and illustrating can be a little claustrophobic by comparison. Where am I going with all of this...?
Well, when I had designed Au4's CD cover * I decided to paint a dramatic scene that insinuated a moment in a grand storyline. A young boy and his dog following his wind blown kite into a strange new place... I was following the lead of amazing illustrator Rodney Matthews. He would paint elaborate backdrops to house his incredible characters. One could only imagine the plot that surrounded the extraterrestrials that governed the album sleeves that Rodney had created.
I'm very happy with this piece, but found myself getting nostalgic about records when I held the printed CD package in my hand. How wonderful would it have been to have this printed over the surface of a full record sleeve? To hold it with 2 hands, rather than one palm?
Though, having said that, perhaps I am lucky to have a printed copy at all... It looks as though Compact Discs may become as relevant as records 5 years from now...
*Au4 has become one of my favorite bands, they are a talented group from Vancouver Canada. It was a pleasure working with them as it is to LISTEN to them.
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