Album Cover: “Colors,” By Beck

For this project, I created an album cover for the album “Color’s” by Beck. I decided to play off of the album’s psychedelic and upbeat sounds, and utilize the imagery and symbols that he mentions in his lyrics.

For the front cover of the album, I decided to play on the idea of closed eyes versus open ones. He talks a lot about opening your eyes to see the colors of the world, and closing your eyes to see the colors of your imagination.

For the back cover of the album, I used the same bright yellow as the front cover but with the album title as the illustration. I hand-drew the type to look bubbly and wet in order to match the illustration style of the front cover.

A mockup of the inner sleeve. I put the keyhole at the center as though the album is locked and you are opening it up. It also plays upon the idea of opening up a door to the sunlight, and leaving your problems behind as you listen to the album.

An illustration done based on one of the songs of the album, Square One. This illustration, along with the lyrics next to it, would ultimately become a spread in a lyric booklet with all of the songs. This song specifically talked about “knocking on purgatory’s door to find a place in the sun,” so I created an image that I felt referenced those symbols.

The Printing Mockups

The front and back of the vinyl jacket.

The vinyl sticker.

The inner sleeve for the album.