10/06/2025
Assignment: Album Cover
Graphic Design: Year 1, Semester 2
Class: Graphic Entertainment
Done: March 19, 2025
DISCLAIMER:
This piece I created is not an actual song that will be released in the future. Additionally, I do not have any personal connection with Carter Powers, nor do I create any artistic works for him. This project was specifically crafted as part of a college assignment, and I would love to share it with others. As a devoted fan of Carter Powers, I felt that this assignment provided an ideal opportunity to highlight him through my art and design skills.
I hold the rights to all the artwork featured in this piece, including the title. The only elements I do not own are the mock-ups and Carter Powers' name or music.
Design Brief & Objective:
Design and produce a digital album cover for an artist/band. This design will be applied to an album cover, thumbnail art for streaming services, and a t-shirt. Create your own title for the album. The album can be an anniversary release, a tribute album, or something brand new. The design should reflect a theme and be a proper representation of the genre, chosen artist, and era. Your original art or photography is to be used. Your design can be photography, all digital, all traditional mediums, or a combination, but must be original. This is NOT to be a replica of existing art.
Rationale:
I chose to create an album design for Carter Powers. His record covers are simplistic graphics that convey something about the music. Carter Powers' songs are gloomy and melancholy, with a lot of emotions and themes to connect to. His artwork wonderfully catches the soul of each song, resulting in an impactful visual portrayal. I created the album "Smiling Again" since several of his song names conflict with the emotions depicted in the lyrics. The cover is a basic black and white artwork of a person with a bright red grin painted on their face, representing the façade of happiness that may be worn in the face of despair. But it also depicts the contrast between inner turmoil and external appearance, which is common in his poetry. The stark style, like Powers' music, focuses attention on the emotion conveyed.
Overall, "Smiling Again" reflects the raw honesty and complexity of Carter Powers' music, enabling listeners to explore his soulful voice.
Now with the font, Carter Powers isn't bashful with typeface; he utilizes either full caps or lowercase. He either employs a handwritten font that seems untidy or really ornate lettering that is difficult to read. Fancy writing is generally entirely in capital letters, while handwritten material is constantly lowercase. I opted to use a basic handwritten font in lowercase. I wanted the writing to be tiny to represent Carter Powers' intimate and personal relationship with his music, encouraging listeners to lean in and genuinely hear the emotions underlying the songs. This purposeful font selection emphasizes the raw and honest quality of his music, resulting in a visual depiction that enhances his creative vision. If the font had been capitalized and difficult to read, the desired effect would not have been achieved.
I chose a simple colour palette of muted purples, black, and white to reflect the sombre and emotional themes present in Carter Powers' music, but with his iconic pop of colour, which I made red, to represent the contrast between the surface appearance and underlying emotions in his songs. Not to mention that Carter Powers seems to take a huge interest in his purples and one random pop of colour. In the final design, I believe it captures the genuine passion and empathy that drive Carter Powers' songs, and I am convinced that it will appeal to both his followers and new listeners. Overall, my design strives to produce a consistent and striking visual depiction of Carter Powers' music that will connect with his followers and attract new listeners.
