Create an illustration for an album cover

Introduction, Research and Concept Development

Pick an artist
Choose if you’re designing for an individual artist or a band.
- What is the album called?
- What do they sound like?
- What are some of the common themes of their lyrics, or if they’re instrumental what does the music make you feel?
Research your artist
Use artist biographies, interviews & lyrics to gain a deeper understanding.
Create a mood board
Develop a written concept and accompanying mood board that demonstrates how you want your artwork to look. Is it a propaganda style poster, a sci-fi landscape, an abstract face. Write about how you want it look, and why it should look this way and use the mood board to help set the tone.
Share your progress in your project section to get feedback from other students
Ethan Wiese share's their Bon Iver mood board.

Sketching

Start sketching
Using your written concepts and mood board start jotting down visual ideas.
Keep thinking about how you want these sketches to look when finished. Is there a specific lighting style, color palette or illustration style you want?
Christine Fleming opens up their notebook for sketches.
Plan your type layout
Think about where you might put the type.
- Is this a self-titled release?
- Are you including the band name?
- Be mindful of space and readability.
Create your thumbnail sketches
Depending on your workflow, you may like to create highly detailed sketches or loose interpretations. Either way, explore your concept in as many directions as possible.
Share your progress in your project section to get feedback from other students.
Joey Di Nardo's thumbnail for The Drums.

Digital Illustration

Digitize your sketch
Choose your strongest sketch and take it into Illustrator or Photoshop as your preference dictates.
Whether you’re working on a hand drawn style, geometric, collage or something else entirely, be mindful of how you want your finished Illustration to look but keep it texture free for the time being.
Rob Sutcliffe demonstrates basic vectorizing.
Choose your color pallete
Finalise your color palette and fonts (if these are applicable to your design).
Lauren P. demonstrates which colors convey key moods.
Share your proof
Share your progress on your digital illustration. This proof should be clean and contain little to no texture.

Texture, Lighting and Color

Apply textures
Start applying textures to your Illustrations. Whether you want to use real world textures or build your own with brushes, now is the time to start having some fun and really bring your illustration life.
Add lighting details
Use careful placement of highlights, shadows and glows to draw the eye to specific areas of your illustration.
Revise your color pallete
Use adjustments to enhance your original color palette.
Share your progress
Share the textured version of your digital illustration.

Refine the Final Illustration

Take a break
Finish your Illustration and go to bed. Then look at it again in the morning with fresh eyes and see what can be done to improve it. It’s said that you never finish something, but merely stop working on it.
Review your work
Check if you’re textures, lighting and color adjustments are conveying the look and mood you set out to achieve in your original written concept.
Summarize your project
Package together your:
- Written Concept and Mood Board
- Thumbnails & Final Sketch
- Semi-Final Illustration
- Final Illustration
Share your final thoughts and remember to provide feedback on other projects.

Additional Resources

Here's a resource guide to help you get started:
- 01. Introduction, Research & Concept Development
To aid in Photoshop & Illustrator basics, and Type, Color, Texture and Brush resources
- Further Learning & Resources
Here's a resource guide to help you get started:
- 02. Sketching
Here's a guide to begining your vector or rasta Digital Illstrations:
- 03. Digital Illustration
A guide to the two video lectures:
- 04. Texture, Lighting & Color
- Lecture 01 Source Files
- Lecture 02 Source Files

Dorothy Chung

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