That’s Why I Gave Up on Music is a narrative album, with songs written from the perspective of a struggling musician singing about his artistic struggles and his memories of a woman whom he inspired to become a musician. My design explores the narrative’s core themes of memory, hope, and the artistic process through the use of torn and altered photographs, handwritten and scribbled elements, and a paper-like texture. Water is another motif in the album, which the imagery and textures of my design reflect.

I experimented with a variety of analog techniques to align my design with the narrative themes and to evoke a sense of tactility. I used cyanotypes to create the textures on the cover and inner sleeve, and I printed out and physically tore the photographs.

The design went through several iterations as I aimed to strengthen the conceptual themes, establish a cohesive visual system, and create a varied and balanced experience across the three layers of the cover, inner sleeve, and center label (”medallion”).

One of the most important changes I made was in creating more breathing room on the inner sleeve. Because the cover is very saturated, in contrast, I chose a quieter approach for the inner sleeve.