design for music

Steppenwolf - All Time Greatest Hits. Design: Craig Allen for Team Design
Steppenwolf – All Time Greatest Hits [MCA Records, 1999]. Art Direction: Vartan. Photographs: Tom Gundelfinger, Joe Sia, courtesy of John Kay. Design: Craig Allen @ Team Design
Willie Nelson - It Always Will Be: The Songs of Cindy Walker. Art Direction and Design: Craig Allen.
Willie Nelson – You Don’t Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker [Lost Highway, 2006]. Photography: Dean Dixon, courtesy of Cindy Walker. Art Direction and Design: Craig Allen
Johnny Cash: My Mother's Hymn Book. Design: Craig Allen.
Johnny Cash – My Mother’s Hymn Book [American Recordings, 2004]. Design: Craig Allen
Lee Ann Womack - There's More Where That Came From. Design: Craig Allen
Lee Ann Womack – There’s More Where That Came From [MCA Nashville, 2006]. Art Direction and Design: Craig Allen
HECTA. Design: New Formalists [Craig Allen, Jerry Joyner, Kurt Wagner]
HeCTA [City Slang, 2015]. Design: New Formalists [Jerry Joyner, Kurt Wagner, Craig Allen]
HECTA front cover die cut/inner sleeve. Design: New Formalists [Craig Allen, Jerry Joyner, Kurt Wagner]
HeCTA showing front cover die-cut

featured work: Lambchop – The Bible

design: New Formalists [Craig Allen & Kurt Wagner]
Project concept
To remind listeners of the original Bible with form and typography, and capitalize on the similarities and differences between it and the album.
 
For Lambchop's latest LP The Bible, Kurt Wagner collaborated with two producers and a multitude of musicians to create a kind of gospel music for all, including non-believers. Kurt is an acclaimed painter and made a beautiful painting of an artist associated with Minneapolis, where the album was largely made. To avoid legal disputes, we made a series of obscured versions using modern software's content-aware-fill functions for the album cover. Kurt provided imagery and I contributed layout, typography, color [including varnishes] and production.
Lambchop - The Bible LP, front cover
A photograph Kurt made of a cover mockup on his laptop's screen became the album cover. The painting by Kurt, once representative, is now abstracted, yet a column appears that hints at putting [x] on a pedestal, worship, &c.
Lambchop - The Bible LP, front cover showing varnish
The title appears in varnish on the front cover, intentionally not lining up with the more visible title overlaid on the painting.
Lambchop - The Bible LP, inside of gatefold jacket
We created a music credits guide with contributors on the left of the inside gatefold and their musical contributions on the right. The listener must follow the lines of color through the interior spine. This intersection of lines and range of color emphasizes the collaborative nature of the project.
Lambchop - The Bible LP, inner sleeve
The typographic treatment of the lyrics reference the original Bible: we used red to denote song titles and drop caps, and each is line numbered as if a Bible verse.
Lambchop - The Bible LP, inner sleeve
The back of each LP inner sleeve features the lyrics translated into Latin clumsily using the internet, effectively rendering them unreadable. This hints at the history of translating the Bible, controversies over common languages in church services, etc.
Lambchop - The Bible LP, vinyl record
The LP labels focus on the painting and cover details, zooming in to show brushstrokes at the closest level yet, while integrating graphic elements. The essence of the painting adheres to the component that carries the music [i.e., the vinyl record].
Lambchop - The Bible LP, back cover
The original photograph of the painting by Kurt was lighted to emphasize the dimensionality of the paint. It features larger on the back cover of the LP jacket.
Eric Church - Heart. Design: Craig Allen. Art Direction: John Peets.
Eric Church – Heart [EMI Records Nashville, 2021]. Art Direction and photography: John Peets. Design: Craig Allen
Eric Church - &. Design: Craig Allen. Art Direction: John Peets.
Eric Church – & [EMI Records Nashville, 2021]. Art Direction and photography: John Peets. Design: Craig Allen
Eric Church - Soul. Design: Craig Allen. Art Direction: John Peets.
Eric Church – Soul [EMI Records Nashville, 2021]. Art Direction and photography: John Peets. Design: Craig Allen
Lambchop - TRIP. Design: New Formalists [Craig Allen, Kurt Wagner]
Lambchop – TRIP  [Merge Records, 2020]. Photography: Elise Tyler. Design: NFsansJJ [Kurt Wagner, Craig Allen]
Lambchop - What Another Man Spills. Design: Craig Allen
Lambchop – What Another Man Spills [City Slang, 1998]. Illustration: Vic Chesnutt. Design: Craig Allen
Lee Ann Womack: Call Me Crazy. Design: Craig Allen
Lee Ann Womack – Call Me Crazy  [MCA Nashville, 2008]. Photography: Danny Clinch. Design: Craig Allen
Darius Rucker - #1's. Design: Craig Allen
Darius Rucker – #1’s Volume 1  [Capitol Records Nashville, 2022]. Design: Craig Allen
Gary Allan: Smoke Rings in the Dark. Design: Craig Allen for Team Design. Art Direction: Virginia Team
Gary Allan – Smoke Rings in the Dark  [MCA Nashville, 1999/2019]. Art Direction: Virginia Team. Photography: Tony Baker. Design: Craig Allen
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