Graphic Design: CD Cover

For the first work in my portfolio, I would like to present a CD cover created in Photoshop. This is a revision of an old project from around two years ago utilizing new techniques. What makes this project special to me is the personal meaning and experiences that motivated the direction. For a basic introduction, the task was to create a CD album cover featuring songs that were either personal to me or described my life. I chose to focus on the latter and base the design around building myself as an individual. The fictional album titled "Journey of Life" is comprised of songs that describe my life experiences, both good and bad. It is a grounded viewpoint with honest selections to fit an overarching theme.

The front cover:

Journey of Life front cover (2022).

In order to fit the theme of composing my life experiences, I needed to choose an appropriate theme. The album's cover is made from puzzle piece patterns that join the form together. The center of the album consists of my face rendered with puzzle pieces. Since the album focuses on my life, I thought of turning something to represent me as an artistic expression. These puzzle pieces are bright in color and draw the viewer's eye to the center. For the feeling of authenticity, I recreated the parental advisory sticker with Illustrator. It wasn't required in the original project, but I wanted to include it anyway to demonstrate an understanding of album covers (a small number of songs have explicit lyrics).

The back cover:

Journey of Life back cover (2022).

On the back, several additional design elements were considered for the cover. A lone puzzle piece can be seen with an eye in the center. This time, the design is underneath the connecting edges, meaning that it's an image created by a larger puzzle. The eye is a reference to an old Alan Parsons Project album my dad owned. The black borders are the spine design present on album covers. Many people might not know this, but the spines are printed on the back of an album cover. The tracks are also listed on the back, with the titles and length. While each song is a different genre and wouldn't belong on the same album, the purpose was to fulfill the project's criteria. Like the parental advisory sticker, the bar code and licensing were recreated through Illustrator to give it a genuine feeling.

From a personal perspective, one of the reasons why I put extensive time into designing was the ability to show expression. One of the most beautiful things about creating art is looking at an idea, and creating something in your own style. For example, there are times when you probably want to create something, but it can be difficult to start. One piece of advice I would like to offer is to think of the scenario like this:

"If I'm creating something with specific criteria, can other things influence my work?"

The answer is yes, they can! One reason why I chose to be an artist in the first place was to turn everything I knew into a form of expression. The puzzle piece designs on the album serve as both a literal and metaphorical building of my life. Without these pieces together, it can never be completed in the first place.