Chompathon Design Exercise: Record Roulette

Have you ever been stuck on a layout or logo design and run out of inspiration? Sometimes the best thing to do is to put down your client work and try something fun. This is where the Chompathons come into play! We need to work that creative muscle and keep it toned. Read more about Bluewave’s Chompathon design exercises.

Collage of album art for fake artists/musicians, designed by one of Bluewave's art directors as part of a creative exercise

There’s a design challenge that I found years ago, and it’s so fun – I’ve done it numerous times over the years as a quick little project to get the creative juices flowing (above are a few examples that I’ve done on my own). In a nutshell, the idea is to create some album art using a random Wikipedia page, a random quote, and a random photo from Flickr. The combinations are endless and, often, very entertaining.

 

The Record Roulette design exercise

The instructions are below–spin the wheels and play along! Post your art in the comments, we’d love to see what you come up with.

  1. Find a random Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Special:Random.
    Use the title of whatever page you get as the “Artist/Band.”
  2. Find a random quote: http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php.
    The last few words of the top quote are your “Record title.”
  3. Find a random photo: https://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days.
    The top left photo has to be used in your album art – it doesn’t necessarily have to be the main focus, but it needs to be used in some way.
  4. In one hour, create album art for your new band and their hit record.
    The goal is to stretch, try something new, and have fun!

For a Bluewave creative team Chompathon, each designer did 3 pieces of album art. Then we came together to see what everyone created.

 

And here are our team’s pieces, in no particular order:

Fake album art created as a design exercise. Yellow background with the words Experimental Aircraft Association (record name), Death is the Enemy (artist), and stylized bird photograph. Fake album art created as a creative exercise. Blue and green background with the words Always Forgive Your Enemies (record name), Arctotis stoechadifolia (artist), and stylized curved striations like rings of a planet, or a roadway. Fake album art created by Bluewave design agency. Brown and black background with the words Mysteriously Silent (record name), Boz Scaggs (artist), and double exposure effect on an SUV, bare tree, and birds photograph. Fake album art created by Nayamode digital marketing agency. Black and lavender background with the words Sense of Success (record name), Juliane von Schwellenberg (artist), and stylized photograph of a person sitting under a tree. Fake album art created as a design exercise by Bluewave graphic designers. Yellow-orange background with the words Perfect Men (band name), Hovan (artist), and stylized dog head photograph. Fake album art created as a creative exercise by Bluewave design agency. Blue and green background with the words Intensely Alive (record name), Vallcarca (artist), and stylized photo of people on a mountain. Fake album art created by Bay Area graphic designers. Brown background with the words As We Determine Our Needs (record name), Chasmia (artist), and stylized photo of buildings. Fake album art created by Seattle graphic design agency. White and tan background with the words Concentration Is My Motto (record name), JJ. McCabe (artist), and stylized photos of a vintage car. Fake album art created as a design exercise by Bluewave graphic designers. Blue background with the words It Is Never Pleasant (record name), Diplectanocotyla (artist), and stylized cat photograph.   Fake album art created as a creative exercise by Bluewave design agency. Blue and green background with the words Believe in Life! (record name), Robert William Billings (artist), and stylized photo of an event in an old town square. Fake album art created as a design exercise by Bay Area graphic designers. Blue and black background with the words Because Your Lap Is Warmer (record name), La Dame de Monsoreau (artist), and stylized photo of a pier over water. Fake album art created as a design exercise by Seattle graphic design agency. Green background with the words Ordinary Situations (record name), Mexetro (artist), and stylized photograph of a person about to eat a dandelion puff. Fake album art created as a design exercise by Bluewave graphic designers. Blue and green background with the words Can't Wait for Inspiration (record name), Fawcett Forest (artist), and silhouette of a hiker over a mountain photo. Fake album art created as a creative exercise by Bluewave design agency. Blue and green background with the words Open to Your Dream (record name), John Glasby (artist), and stylized photo of a person walking by an open door in silhouette. Fake album art created as a design exercise by Bay Area graphic designers. Blue and black background with the words Throw Your Heart Over the Fence (record name), 2nd baronet (artist), and stylized photos of an anatomical heart, rhinoceros, and netting.

 

This ended up being only Part 1 of a 2-Part Chompathon. Click here for part 2!

 

By: Ben Grefsrud | Art Director

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