mansfield university jazz ensemble and the mansfieldians cease and desist cd design

Before I type any further, I'd like to thank Dr. Sheryl Monkelien from the Mansfield University Music Department for giving me the green light to design another CD. It is an honor to work for her/them and to try to capture a mood and design a fitting layout. Their reputation as a talented department is the only inspiration I need when sitting down to work. The student performers they teach are amazing!

It all begins with Dr. Monkelien sending me the information that must fit into the layout and a CD of the tracks. The best part for me is that I am allowed to create what feels right. For the first few days I listen to the CD with my daughter while driving to school. Brainstorming is a constant. Sketching and bothering my wife with possible ideas can last quite a while. All I knew was that I wanted lots of hand drawn lettering...

Nothing has garnered more of my creative attention during the last decade than letters. Lettering is a never ending landscape that is impossible to truly conquer. The learning never stops....the struggles continue....the possibilities keep popping up.

I began with a red theme but accidentally stumbled onto some gray scale distressing while brainstorming in Photoshop. The type just seemed to fit that dark gray.

The most enjoyable part of the design was the track titles. Anywhere from 5 to 20 versions of each were drawn until one looked good next to the others.

insert with cover

The real struggle comes after the general design concept has been established. How do you fit all the information and make it feel like it was meant for that space?

insert (back)

tray card

ash's illustrations a hit

CD cover 

3 panel insert w/cover

dancers for insert

inside of insert

I am hearing some very kind things about Ashley's illustrations for the latest CD project out of the Mansfield University's Music Department. They are a talented bunch up there on the hill. I'd like to thank Dr. Sheryl Monkelien for the opportunity to do some design work in the area. She has been great to work for...wide open to any ideas and always upbeat and cheerful. I'd also like to thank my wife for her original sketches of some hipsters playing instruments. I new right away that this was the direction needed for the title of this project as well as the style of the music presented. Ash will say she did very little but without that initial spark of inspiration, any design project becomes a big ball of stress. Instead of countless nights of brainstorming ideas that eventually fill the trash, we were off and running very early on.

I used photoshop to color the scanned-in line drawings that Ash supplied and arranged them in a circle for the cover. Ash was supervising all the color choices as I would have dressed everyone in dull earth tones. I shifted the colors a bit to give them that slightly-off screen printed look. I wanted the inside of the insert to open up into its own mini-poster that would display most of the important information.

Hope you all like it and please support MU's music department. They're a hard workin' bunch!

New Cd cover

While still in the post-design/production phase, my wife Ashley and I collaborated on the design for the latest work of the Jazz Ensemble and the Mansfieldians (Mansfield University Music Department). Ashley drew up all the retro lookin performers and I shuffled them into a circle and colored them up. Throw in a little hand-drawn type and offset the color slightly and "blammo"...there it is. I love how the look flows through the packaging and hope all looks good in the end. Ash is a talent.