This image is the cover art for an E.P. called the Beyond the Sky by Taylor C. Wright. I created this image because my project is based around the idea of creating a new song and album art is essential to the process. Album art is an essential exchange between the artist and fan and can set the tone for the experience you are providing as an artist.

My main design influences are the same as the draft. The albums that I thought of when creating this artwork were Pain’s 2016 release Coming Home and The Contortionist’s 2010 release Exoplanet. Coming Home features a picture of an astronaut while Exoplanet has a picture of Earth from a similar vantage point. The satellite in the image is a nod to the song “Black Knight Satellite” on Coming Home. As far as research, I am drawing from personal experience. I have worked in the music industry for close to two decades and in that time have done an extensive amount of research about albums, album art, and seen the artwork on thousands of albums.

Design influences from the readings that inspired me are those of the book covers and movie posters. I maintained intellectual unity by making sure everything that is in the image is thematically correct. According to the feedback I received, visual unity has also been created by the image, so I maintained the core of the image to ensure this did not change. I used the visuals of an astronaut floating in space above Earth with a satellite in the background to create a sense of visual storytelling that speaks to the theme of the album, which is Beyond the Sky.

The design process started by using an image of the Milky Way as a background to create the initial impression that the story is taking place in space. Next, I added the Earth with the Sun shining slightly over the planet to create a sense of distance. The image of the astronaut was added next, placing him in the top corner, a change from the original design, to fill out the image and present the idea that there is something human beyond the sky, which is congruent with the theme of the album. The image of the satellite was added next and placed in the top corner to fill out the image on the left side, create another layer of distance, and it is in the shape of a “t” which is the first letter of my name. Finally, I added the text which is my name and the name of the album.

To create some of the visual effects, I had to manipulate all the images. Setting the mood for the image, I first decreased the brightness and increased the contrast of the Milky Way image used for the background. Next, I had to split out the image of Earth and the astronaut by creating a new layer after using the magic wand to highlight the section of the original image that was the astronaut. Using the eraser, I removed the portion of the Earth image I did not need which allowed the stars in the background to show through. Adding a layer of hue/saturation, I changed the shade of the satellite from a brighter white to a cooler blue to try and stay in concordance with the shade/darkness of space as seen on the astronaut. Finally, the text was created by taking another image of the stars and using that as a clipping mask for the text. Doing so allowed me to create a darker color that can be seen that also features stars to stay thematically correct to the image.

I did not face any technical challenges while creating the image. I did find a tutorial on YouTube to explain to me how the use an image for text. The process was mainly trial and error, trying to capture the feeling for which I was looking.

The feedback I received was very positive overall. The main suggestions I received were to move the text to a more central location. The text was originally two blocks in the upper corners and the critiques I received suggested that they felt out of place. It was also suggested I change the color from red to either grey or using an image of stars to make it more thematically cohesive. The other main suggestion I received was to move the astronaut and satellite to the upper corners which made sense once the text had been moved.

All the images used are free to use, without attribution, and found on Pixabay.com. The images can be found via the below links:

Satellite: https://pixabay.com/en/satellite-spacex-aeronautics-nasa-693191/

Astronaut: https://pixabay.com/en/astronaut-astronomy-satellite-moon-1849401/

Milky Way: https://pixabay.com/en/milky-way-starry-sky-night-sky-star-2695569/

Sky Space Galaxy – https://pixabay.com/en/sky-space-galaxy-cosmos-1697359/