Today I was digging around in my time machine hard drive looking for an old project that a client was wanting to alter and re-print. Along the way I stumbled upon a lot old projects that I had forgotten about. Being a designer is a unique process in that I create hundreds of “works of art” that I might love, but that, for whatever reason, the client doesn’t choose. In some ways it might feel like rejection, but it’s just the result of having a highly subjective job. Everyone has an opinion on what is good and what is better, and it doesn’t always match up.
I thought it would be fun to show off some of the album cover rejects that are just hanging out unseen on my hard drive. While I tend to do much less album design these days in favor of illustration work and book cover design, there is a fun element of feeling like “the sky is the limit” when it comes to album creativity, and some of these covers perhaps pushed those boundaries a tad too much for the respected artists.
Some illustrated covers that didn’t make the final cut:
I actually prefer the final covers chosen for both of these albums, but I still love these options and the illustrations on them. So fun.
I absolutely LOVE these explorations of photography turning into a drawing. The Mike’s Chair cover (above) will always be one that I’m sad never made the cut.
Sometimes a cover doesn’t need any bells and whistles to be lovely. These are some of my favorite simpler covers that didn’t make the cut.