FREELANCE FEATURE: ALBUM ARTWORK
FIN X EMELINE
Some of my favorite projects have been when I was able to collaborate with other artists – particularly those that work in a different medium than I do. There’s something really cool about a group of artists being able to bounce creative ideas off of each other, and take a multimedia approach to telling a cohesive story.
I recently had the opportunity to work with FIN, a New Orleans-based band, on a project for their album, WILLOW. The project was loosely based on the concept of a zombie apocalypse – a topic that was relatively new to me, since I never really got into any of the ‘zombie’ trends that have popped up over the past few years. It was a fun opportunity for me to explore a new side of my artwork, and create visuals to align with the cohesive story that’s told throughout the album.
I approached this project as though WILLOW was a brand we were building together – FIN had already developed the brand voice and message, I just had to create the visuals that aligned with it – from the color palette, to typography, to graphics. I ended up creating artwork for the album cover, but also for each individual song within the album (I’m also in the process of creating merch and more with them, so stay tuned for more updates!).
COLOR
We used our color palette to lend some continuity between the artwork for each song, and the album as a whole. Because the songs within the album were released at different times, it was important for us to allow each song to stand on its own, but to also tie it back into the big picture of the album. In choosing colors, I initially thought the simplicity of black and white would be really nice and clean. I wanted to add some pops of color, though, so using a polaroid of the band members, I tested out different color options to see what would be fitting. In the end, I used a yellow that FIN’s band members really liked, and we decided to use that as the primary color, with the black, green, and white as supporting colors.
TYPOGRAPHY
Typography was the easy part of this project. I have pretty distinct handwriting, and actually use it a decent amount in my own artwork. FIN liked the way it looked, and decided to use it as the “font” for their album artwork as well!
GRAPHICS
In keeping with the “branding” process, we knew it was important for the album to have a symbol that could be used on anything WILLOW related – the website, merch, social media, etc. We went with a simplified willow tree, with five little scribble leaves on each side for the five songs in the album. This is what is used on the main album cover.
Each of the five songs also has unique artwork that encapsulates a key element of the song. These include:
A zombie
A guitar
A campfire
Guns
A skull
Stylistically, each of these covers complement one another, helping to collectively tell the story of WILLOW (along with the songs themselves, of course!). This artwork was also used to promote each song’s release date, appearing on posters, social media, and FIN’s website.
Projects like WILLOW are always a great way for me to push my boundaries and jumpstart my creative process. Collaborating with other creative people helps me get outside of my own head, and start considering new ways to approach my work. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to work with FIN, and I’m so excited to be working with them more in the future. Check out their album WILLOW here!
