The Art of Record Covers: Illustration Meets Lettering

Combine illustration and lettering to create unique designs that complement the music they accompany

• Introduction
• Preparation and Research
• Thumbnails to Refined Sketch
• Rough Colour
• Final Colour and Application
• Final project

Do you sometimes get frustrated by the endless choice of fonts that never quite complement your illustration? Would you like to create your own typographical elements that perfectly match your illustration style? In the days before digital, illustrators and designers were often the same person. Steve Simpson embodies this philosophy in his award-winning work, where he controls every aspect of creation and production for clients such as Cerveza Modelo, Jameson, and Disney, as well as his own personal projects.

In this course, using a traditional approach, you will learn how to combine illustration and hand-drawn letters into a single seamless design piece: an illustrated record sleeve and label for a 7" vinyl.

• Introduction
• Influences
• What We Will Do On the Course
• Presentation of Materials
• Examples of 60s Psychedelic Album Covers
• Research
• Turning Research Into Original Ideas
• Combining Hand Lettering and Illustration
• Developing Your Thumbnail
• Final Refined Drawing
• Creating Tonal Rendering
• Developing Colour Palettes
• Making Rough Colour
• How to Approach Your Final Artwork
• Printing and Glueing
• The art of covers: illustration meets lettering