Seek out opportunities instead of waiting for them to come.
Of course as a creator, I can't help but be swayed by the designs used on products when making a selection. I remember as a kid sorting through my dad's large CD collection in search of a new disc to listen to, but truthfully I was just picking out the ones with cool covers. From techno compilations to surf music to 50s lounge, inadvertently my taste in design had a direct affect on my taste in music.
Nowadays with music streaming services, like Spotify, I often find myself discovering new music almost solely by the music itself. I don't know how they do it, but Spotify uses an amazing algorithm to make suggestions all bundled up in your very own "Discover Weekly" playlist. Perfectly catered to my unique music interests, I refer to this personalized playlist quite frequently. I have almost made it a weekly ritual to spice up my Mondays by listening to what Spotify thinks I'll enjoy that week. Finding new musical gems definitely puts me in a better mood while going through emails and notifications at work.
I now let the song speak for itself. No longer do I look through a library of album covers to pick out what I'll listen to next. With all the technological advances, I feel album artwork's role in the music industry has also developed. No longer is it a marketing tool used to entice, instead the cover is there to support the message or ideas the musical artist wants to share with the world. Similar to anything else visual, the artwork also assists with recognition and finding a once loved but forgotten song.
Since my days of sorting through CDs, I thought it would be amazing to work on designing an album cover. I fear the opportunity may never come, so why not just do it anyways? With the ability create a shareable playlists on Spotify, I thought a good substitute for designing album covers would be to make my own covers for my customized playlists. This is my chance to put out the visuals that I see in my head when I listen to music that evoke specific feelings.
If you know me personally, then of course you know that I have set up a plan for this project. Each playlist will start with a theme. The title, short description, and cover will all tie back to the theme and hopefully communicate clearly how I see the playlists fitting into our lives. That's not it. A blog post will be written for each playlist explaining in more detail either how the playlist got started or why I made it the way I did. I feel it is always nice and helpful to provide extra context and explanation to any project as from previous experience people usually appreciate the extra effort.
Follow along with this blog to find all the playlists I plan to release and to learn a little more about me and the music that inspires me. ♪