Nearly a year ago Singer/Songwriter Michael Armstrong approached me to come up with some ideas for artwork to be used in an advertising campaign for his second album '#LookingForTheWorld' - a superb collection of songs with a high standard of production and some real gems.
He specifically wanted something iconic and original and this image is the result of months and months of tweaks. After listening to the (as yet unreleased) album many times I started to find ideas that would compliment the lyrics and not only intrigue people but would provide Michael with many PR opportunities to help promote his work.
All of the elements have a reason for being there - most digitally drawn by my own hand or photographed specifically - only the basic globe framework and Bluebird originating from stock libraries. The Album itself with another of my designs on the front is released on the 23rd November and is available to pre-order now via www.michaelarmstrongmusic.co.uk.
This is one of those albums which is destined to become a classic - one you will never get bored of listening to - 14 beautifully crafted stories with a great many retro influences. There are hints of ELO, The Beatles, Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Bee Gees, Crowded house and many others with plenty of modern elements too and lots of catchy melodies and interesting lyrics - this is how a music album should be and it is instantly obvious that this album has taken a long time to perfect giving the listener a polished performance. If you follow Michael's social media feeds you will already see elements of the above artwork included and the relationships between the imagery and the songs highlighted. For me producing artwork for the campaign has been a long and sometimes frustrating process but then that's what happens when you work with a perfectionist - from a design point of view it is something I am proud of and I hope this and the album cover do the superb music justice. When you do buy the album pull up this image and see if you can work out what its all about! #lookingfortheworld, #michaelarmstrongmusic #andynewboldphotography #toomanycars #music #coverart #digitaldesign #theworld