Great Album Cover Designs
I often go into large music stores to see what new music has emerged. Although online stores might be more convenient I enjoy flicking through CDs and vynils. Every now and then a particularly appealing album cover draws my attention. I might know the band and like their music, or not. Anyways, yesterday was such a day where i spent about an hour browsing through album covers seeking that eye-catching artwork. I got lucky and found a few real gems which I want to share with you. Unfortunately it wasn’t easy to find good quality pictures of the artworks. So please forgive me for some pixelated pictures.
Featured: Toko Design Studio
So far I’ve only featured the work of individual artists or collectives. Well today I want to present to you the amazing Australian-based design studio Toko. Toko was established in 2001 in Rotterdam (NL) and relocated to Sydney in 2006. They’ve managed to attract big clients such as New York Times, Orange, MTV and Playstation. The portfolio is filled with impressive graphic design pieces. Apart from their main homepage Toko also runs a blog called EnvironMental which showcase signage systems, environmental graphics, architecture and more.
Featured Artist: Sebastian Onufszak
In Graphics We Trust is the personal portfolio of German based visual artist Sebastian Onufszak. Since 2002 he has been working as an art director and freelancer for an inernational range of high-end clients. Furthermore is the founder of the artist collective “Propagandabuero”. Vibrant colours and busy compositions are a trademark of his, but he also knows how to create beautiful and clean graphic design.
Featured Artist: Jesse Kaczmarek
I visit the Behance network on a regular basis ever since I stumbled upon it a few weeks back. It’s incredible what great artist you discover by doing so. Today I found the portfolio of New York City based designer and art director Jesse Kaczmarek. He does a lot of branding and you’ve probably seen his work already without knowing it was him. The clean design just works. This is only a selction of Jesse’s art. See it all on his personal website.
Kinetic Typography: Movies
Kinetic Typography is the method by which you visualize a speech, conversation or lyrics only by means of animated text. I’ve put together a list of 11 typographic videos about cult movies. Not only are these animations very interesting but also they offer a great source of inspiration for static typographic design. If that’s not enough you could always try to determine what fonts were used.
Pulp Fiction 1 Read more
Inspiration: Black and White Design is the new Black
I’ve compiled a list of the best black and white designs featuring print and animation. When using only these 2 colours all that matters is the composition which makes it so much harder to produce something beautiful. You can’t rely on any colour schemes to simulate a feeling or speak to your audience. This makes it that much more special when you discover a gorgeous black and white design. I’ve got the idea for this post after stumbling onto the works of Maxim Zhestkov, a 22 year old director and designer based in Russia. He’s a genius and uses no colours whatsoever. Below are a few screenshots and prints by Zhestkov.
Furthermore I’ve included the works of Noel Tanner, Andrew Dobbie and some more random black and white designs that struck me as particularly special.
Works by Maxim Zhestkov
Death Cab for Cutie: Music meets Design
It’s been 3 years since the majestic album “Plans” and Death Cab for Cutie have finally released their new album called “Narrow Stairs”. The first single comes with a beautiful 8 minute long video. “I will possess your Heart” has the kind of melody you can lose yourself in. Have a look/listen for yourself. DCfC really manage to make a bond between design music and design. Their website has a lovely retro feeling and the new album cover is pure genius. Not to forget their concert posters (including works of Jason Munn). I’m off buying Narrow Stairs.
Death Cab for Cutie - I will possess your heart Read more
CMYK Lovers
A list featuring artwork with a common inspiration: CMYK. All these designs were found by searching for “CMYK” on deviantArt. There are many more but these struck me as special. It shows how a single idea can be interpreted in many different ways. I’ve linked each picture to the associated artist. Go clicky!
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