To say I have always wanted to design an album is an understatement. When I was little, I used to spend hours listening to records while looking through the insert and studying lyrics with a thirst that I believe only a nerd living in a remote Canadian town before the internet was invented can truly understand.

So, when I found out through my friend Suzy Rawsome that our mutual acquaintance Shirley Gnome was looking for a graphic designer for her next album, jumped on it and sent her a message. I really wanted this project for my portfolio. But also, if you have never heard Shirley’s songs or seen her on stage, she has the voice of an angel and writes the dirtiest and most hilarious songs I have ever heard, which naturally was right up my alley.

Seeing Shirley on stage in her polyester sequined costumes and listening to her dirty folksy-country songs summons an image that is a little bit 70s Dolly Parton, a little Elvis and a little disco. The woman is in love with glitter. The choice was clear, I really wanted to opt for a vintage 1970s aesthetic, and luckily Shirley agreed.

We started a Pinterest board with album covers that inspired us:
http://www.pinterest.com/padgettmeister/cool-and-bad-album-covers/

A short Photoshop tutorial later, I learned how to accomplish those oh-so-important 70s light flares:

Shirley wanted the cover image to be her in the streets under a streetlamp. Due to time constraints, we weren’t able to put together a photo shoot, and I had already fallen in love with a photo that was taken of her during the live recording of the album. So we went with that and altered it with Photoshop.

Here is the final album cover:

We definitely wanted to include Shirley Gnome’s signature pink cowboy hat, since it was missing from the cover. Shirley had the great idea to put the hat on the cd, so when you pick it up, the top of her head would be revealed. I loved it! Here is what the inside of the cd case will look like, with and without the cd:

 

I felt like Shirley’s lyrics were just way too funny not to include, so we made a 4 panel booklet of lyrics, so people could sing along at home! We used some photos that Shirley had taken after a show, and used Photoshop to give them a similar look and feel.

 

For the type, We used Angel Tears by Billy Argel for the cover and Thirsty Rough on the song titles.

I am so happy to share with you this very big, awesome project! Now, I just can’t wait for the cd release party on February 8th at the Biltmore!