- Today I want to talk about the intersection of
two of my favorite things, music and design.
Let's critique some album art.
Welcome to another album art critique video.
I've come to really love making these because it is
that combination of my two passions, like I said.
These videos are a chance for me to talk about
some designs and also show you a few
recent additions to my record collection,
which you can see sitting behind me here.
So I've got four records to talk about today
and let's dive into it.
First up is a record that you would've seen
in my last weekly vlog, if you watched that.
It's Pretty Odd by Panic! at the Disco.
This is an album that came out when I was in university,
and I have loved this album ever since.
I knew it was one I wanted to own on vinyl.
I'm very picky when it comes to what albums I want to
own as a record, rather than just listen to digitally.
I think it has to be an album that you like listening to
in full and some albums, the sound of them,
you can just imagine would sound amazing on vinyl.
Pretty Odd is definitely one of them.
If you've heard it, then you'll know what I mean.
("I Have Friends in Holy Spaces" by Panic! at the Disco")
Now as someone who's a fan of album art,
records are amazing because you get to see the album art
at a much larger size than you do when it's just a CD
or just in that little square that you see
in Spotify or iTunes.
I never realized before how incredibly detailed
this album art is.
It's got this beautiful texture to it.
It looks like a mixture of a textile and a
wood printed sign, which I think is really cool.
There's a lot of illustration work gone into this.
This is not my usual style when it comes to design.
It's not normally the type of thing I'm attracted to,
but I love this because it matches the music so well.
Because I do believe that album art should be
a representation of the music that
it is packaging, essentially.
Something else I love about this record
is the inside sleeve.
It features all this amazing hand-drawn typography.
They could have just written it in a font like they did
on the back of the album cover, but instead they chose to
put the extra effort in it and go this hand-drawn route.
I like that they've just done this in one color,
black on a light background because I feel like
adding lots of color to this would've felt overboard
and might have clashed with the earthy tones of the cover.
So I think this was a good choice.
Next up, one I can't believe that I haven't talked about yet
in an album art design video.
This is Bring Me the Horizon's
Live at Royal Albert Hall album.
So what is incredibly special about this record
is that I was there for the recording of it.
They did this charity show to benefit the Teenage Cancer
Trust at the Royal Albert Hall here in London
and I managed to get tickets to go along.
They were very sought after, as you could imagine,
so I was very pleased with myself.
Also, because I preordered this and it was like a
fundraiser for the Teenage Cancer Trust,
my name is printed on the side of the album,
which is very special.
Bring Me the Horizon's latest full-length album,
That's the Spirit, is one that I talked about
in my first album art critique video.
What I love about this design is that they've taken elements
of that artwork and brought it in here as like
an evolving of it, I suppose.
Wait, evolution, that's the word. (laughs)
So on the inside of That's the Spirit, there was this
beautiful, colorful, modern pattern and that is what
you can see as the outline here.
Just as That's the Spirit does, this album has
some beautiful typography to it.
And I also really like how they've included live photos
from the event on the inside because this is a live album,
so it's nice to have the visual memories of that event
and also the audio ones.
Next up is the debut album from The Gospel Youth.
This is Always Lose.
I was already really excited about this album because
I've watched this band grow over the past like
year and a half, and it's really exciting that
they've now got a full-length album out.
But when I saw the artwork, my jaw dropped.
I just think that this is amazing.
I love this image.
I'm not entirely sure how they made it, which I like.
I like having that bit of confusion there.
Definitely looks like it's a combination of a photograph
with visual effects because I think the fire is real.
I do think that was actually on fire, but this rain here
was added in obviously afterwards.
And then on the back of the album we have the umbrella
all burnt out with the fire extinguished,
which I think is a really cool connection
between the front and the back.
The colors are really nice on this, blue and yellow
are obviously contrasting colors, so this was
a really nice choice for the image.
I like, too, how they've put yellow on the spine
of the record.
The lyrics sheet from this album is nice.
It's very simple, but I like that.
I like that they didn't try to go overboard and
bring the umbrella in too much on the inside.
They've just used the same colors to bring that connection.
The back has this nice little icon and some bright yellow.
I just have to show you the record itself with this, too,
because it's very cool.
Check that out, yellow and blue splatter, yes.
All in all, this is a really solid debut album cover design,
and it makes me excited to see what their albums look like
in the future because I feel like this will be
a band that always does great artwork.
So, Gospel Youth, I have high expectations for you.
Last, but definitely not least, is an album that is
looking like it might potentially be my favorite album
of the year, but I don't want to call it yet because
we are only halfway through the year, so, you know.
Who knows what's going to come out?
This is You're Not as blank As You Think by Sorority Noise.
This album features a beautiful, really strong image
on the front that was taken at dusk.
I just think it's gorgeous.
But my favorite part of it is their typography.
They've chosen to do this typography that really looks like
it is actual text that has been sewn.
I love the intersection of digital and real world,
like analog design techniques.
So I think it's pretty cool to bring in something like this
that I've not really seen anyone do before,
in album art especially.
I really admire the dedication that they haven't just
done this for the title as well.
They've actually put all of the track listing
in this same sewn technique, which I love.
I like the fact that you can see the shadows on this
and it kind of feels like this photo of the
track listings was taken at the same time of day
as the dusk photo on the front,
you know, with the long shadows.
So that's a really nice connection there.
Obviously the color has been chosen because it features
in the sun rays on the front as well.
I will say that the typography on the interior
of this album could have used some work.
It all just feels a little bit too tight,
like the type is going to fall off the side of the page,
and I think it might've been better to instead decrease
these margins in the middle, or even use a slightly smaller
font, just to get more space at the top and bottom.
And that, my friends, is a look at some recent additions
to my record collection and my thoughts on their artwork.
I hope you enjoy watching these videos.
Please give it a thumbs-up if you do.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this album art, too.
So if you want to share your opinion and your take on it,
then please leave your thoughts down below in the comments.
If you are new to my channel, then welcome, and I hope
you like what you saw and want to stick around for more.
I make new videos about design every Saturday and then
vlogs of my life as a designer in London every Tuesday.
So hit subscribe and hopefully I will see you
in the next one.
Bye.