MAKING THE ALBUM ART

I decided to design the album art myself, which was quite a learning experience. 
First, I painted a moody blue-teal piece with acrylics. I knew I wanted an abstract cover with a print overlay. After photographing the painting, I worked in Adobe Illustrator to get my graphic design skills on - look Mom and Dad! I'm using my art degree!

It's crazy how many decisions can go into designing something so small.
Which font for the title? Lyrics? Binding? Colors? Spacing? How do you approach punctuation within the booklet? Alignment?  Lucky for me, I love getting lost in the details, not to mention having full control over design decisions. It felt good to visualize something and make it tangible. 

In the end, I chose to use a clear jewel case and tray with a full color 16-page booklet (got to have those lyrics!) and a full color disc, tray inside, and tray outside - for those of you who are interested.  When you get my CD, you'll have not only 14 songs that are near and dear to this soul, but a small sampling of my artwork as well.  I'm so excited to share!