Exploration of Colour and Line in Album Design

Abstract

Designing for an album cover requires an in-depth understanding of the audience, genre, and content. Designers are constantly looking for innovative ways to represent sound, feeling, and rhythm. This project seeks to explore how best to represent the work of the group Up and Over Trio by creating a system that incorporates colour, type, and line. This project was planned through analysis of music, musician interview, sketches, and peer critique. The information was used to then create the final system. Up and Over is Up and Over Trio’s debut album. In jazz, the piano, bass, and drums make up the rhythm section and often accompany a solo artist or a group of brassy instruments. Up and Over Trio come together to create an album full of layered rhythms. The concept for this album cover draws inspiration from the band’s name (and album name): Up and Over. The graphic arrangement of the album name becomes the name itself.

The word “UP” is prominent on the page, and the stem of the “P” draws the eye “up and over” to “And Over”. This graphic arrangement is accompanied by four stripes of red, each slightly lighter than the last. These stripes give the feeling of layers, which is reflected in the music. In combination with the beige background, this particular gradient of black to red gives off a sense of warmth and soft lighting, which mimics the atmosphere of a jazz club.

Department: Design

Faculty Mentor: Constanza Pacher