music inspired Archives – Swiss Cottage Designs

Stuff We Love: Album Artwork

August 5, 2014

Whenever I’m on the subway in the morning, headed to the studio, I like to look around and see how many of my fellow passengers are reading actual, paper books as opposed to tapping away on a phone or tablet screen. More often that not, the latter will be the majority. Sometimes I’m even one of them (have you guys tried this game called Two Dots??)

It’s undeniable (and also rather old news) that we live in a digital world. From our iPhones and MacBooks to Twitter and Instagram, it’d be nearly impossible to ignore or reject the fact. Nor would we want to! Technology helps us be more efficient in our research, design, and communication. It helps us connect with all of you!

But as custom stationers and lovers of all things tactile, we find even more joy in the physical – things like thick paper, bright ink, paper to-do lists, new pens, old books…and album artwork.

One of my favorite things to do on the weekend is head to a record store (there are no shortage of those in Brooklyn) and flip through the albums. I buy a few here and there, but I more so go to appreciate that, despite music so often being streamed or enjoyed digitally, record covers are still such key a part of the album.

I’ve rounded up five of my favorite, illustrative record covers for your enjoyment. BONUS – all of the music inside is fantastic as well. Check them out below…

Daniel Johnton has an incredible number of albums, all with artwork he’s created. It’s tough to pick just one, but if I must, it’ll have to be this classic.

Kreh Mellick created the artwork for Angel Olsen’s latest release. The way she uses shapes together is absolutely fantastic. Check out her website for more…she paints quite a beautiful beard.

Brooklyn band Woods’ album artwork is always on point. I love the black and white sketches from their latest release.

The simplicity of Julie Byrne’s artwork perfectly reflects her musical style. I love the handmade quality of this album – the seeminly over-inked stamp shapes feels rustic and warm.

Similar to Angel Olsen’s album, Saintseneca’s artwork is like an exercise in color. It’s great how they’ve created depth and texture from only tones of blue here.

What are some of your favorite album covers? I’d love to see (and listen) to them! Let me know in a comment or tell us on Twitter @swisscottagedsn

It take TWO: My save the date

October 16, 2012

Alas! I am finally sharing pictures of our save the date. I’ve promised this roughly 8 times so far, so I’m happy to finally deliver on this. Ok, so first things first- designing for yourself is pretty weird, hard, stressful but also so much fun. It’s kind of a crazy to be your own client. There were no rounds of edits, no brainstorms… nothing. I was able to put pen to paper and create my vision which was actually incredibly liberating! As a designer, I am inspired by so many things but when it came down to my own save the dates, I ended up keeping it more about the details and less about big illustrations and typography.

In terms of my inspiration here, well, it was the poet {aka 90’s rapper} Rob Base who actually gave me the idea. I was walking to the supermarket one day and walked past a guy selling mix tapes and “It Takes Two” was blaring over his boombox and immediately it hit me: what a perfect idea for a save the date. If you don’t know the song, I suggest you do yourself a favor and watch the video here. You can thank me later. My fiancé Paul and I are sort of music dorks {among being just general dorks} and I’m slightly obsessed with 90’s rap so this was the perfect idea for us. I drew a retro boombox and added some small details in to personalize it to us. On the details insert, I drew a pair of old school headphones and had the wire create a little heart. Come on- every save the date needs a little cheese. On the night we got engaged my sister took this picture of us and I felt it perfectly captured who we are as a couple so we wanted to throw that in the mix because we are a. vain and b. think it’s kind of funny. I created the mini buttons you see in the pictures and put them across the bottom of our photo. My friends and family LOVED the buttons and have been wearing them on their coats, bags, etc. which was really fun to see.

I saw the boxed mailers at Paper Source and thought that would be a cool way to send out our save the dates. I will say this, it requires a fair bit of postage {almost $3.00} so certainly something to keep in mind if you’re thinking about using a box. I created mailing labels that also doubled as a way to keep the box shut {printed on crack and peel stock}. I wrapped the entire set in silver tissue and created a striped belly band to seal the deal. All in all, a great first taste of what our wedding will be like. Now, stay tuned for the invites!