Here’s a cross-section of my work, dating back to the mid-eighties and Bill Smith Studio (BSS), where the main format was vinyl (funny how things go full circle), through to projects undertaken since going solo, back in 2008. You’ll mostly see the final design but there’s a couple of alternative, preferred layouts. There’s also several music projects that pre-date digital design and have been scanned from the original vinyl sleeves.

Please note: Hovering over many of the images will produce a brief project description and links to artist websites etc.

Feel free to get in touch via my Contact page or through Facebook or Twitter if you have a project you’d like me to get involved in, or if you have a question or comment about the work.

Here’s a small selection of some of the music design projects I’ve been involved with in the last 35 years. Some go back to Bill Smith Studio days, others since I set up on my own. Some were produced in close collaboration with the artist or band, others trust in you and basically, let you get on with it! There’s no ‘typical circumstances’ when it comes to designing an album or single. Hover over several of the images to see a brief project description.

Designing for Paul Carrack began in 2000 when Bill Smith Studio were approached to design his album ‘Satisfy My Soul’; the first under his own Carrack-UK label. In the years since, I’ve been involved with all aspects of Paul’s graphic design; albums, singles, DVDs, website, posters, ads, on-screen graphics, opening titles / end credits, tour merchandise including programmes, tee shirts etc…

One of my favourite areas of graphic design is logos and branding. Here are a few examples of some I’ve produced over the years. Unfortunately, a couple of them don’t seem to have gone any further than the logo but where available, clicking the image will take you to their website. You can also hover your mouse over several of the logos for brief project descriptions…

In addition to my album sleeve and book designs, over the years I have worked on a huge range of what could be described as ‘corporate’ projects, a small selection are shown here. Again, please hover over the images for a brief project description.

As well as book covers, I also design entire books, here you’ll find several examples of both. I’ve worked with IB Tauris & PWP (now imprints of Bloomsbury Publishing) for many, many years. I’ve also designed many covers for JKP (an imprint of Hachette UK).

With music festival fever in full swing (as I write this), I thought it an appropriate time to add my UK Music Festivals interactive map. The map was produced last summer to highlight the huge amount of music festivals held across the UK each year. The full version has 200+ festival names, all of which are clickable links to their websites. You can click on the image to see the interactive version. An A2 poster was also produced which was given to those attending the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

I have had the pleasure of designing a number of my client’s websites. It tends to be that they are initially looking for a new logo and once that has been organised, a new website is the next step.

4 of the 5 designs shown here are such cases with the Mike Oldfield microsite being the exception. This was commissioned by Warner Music Spain and was produced in English and Spanish. This type of site doesn’t tend to be around for long as they’re purely used to promote a new album. This was pretty much the case with cathead.tv too. The others are currently live and can be viewed in isolation by clicking the appropriate image.

Whilst at BSS I became interested in the Spanish music scene and after a few trips to Madrid, portfolio in hand, created the opportunity to work with several popular Spanish acts. The first was Alejandro Sanz’ second album ‘Si Tú Me Miras’ which led to projects with 21 Japonesas, La Unión (pictured) and Presuntos Implicados (also pictured). The success of these albums led to other Spanish acts taking an interest and sleeves for Ana Torroja’s first solo album and Mecano’s Greatest Hits followed (both pictured).

Whenever the opportunity arises, I love getting the wonderful calligrapher Ruth Rowland involved. Our working relationship goes back many, many years and includes several well known album sleeve designs including those of Emma Bunton, Presuntos Implicados and Ana Torroja. More recently, Ruth provided the lettering for Paul Carrack’s, Soul Shadows.

En la época en que trabajé en BSS empezó a interesarme la escena musical en España y después de unos cuantos viajes a Madrid, portfolio en mano, llegó la oportunidad de trabajar con varios artistas españoles. El primer proyecto fue ‘Si Tú Me Miras’, segundo álbum de Alejandro Sanz. Siguieron trabajos con 21 Japonesas, La Unión (foto) y Presuntos Implicados (foto). El éxito de estos discos atrajo el interés de otros artistas y así llegaron los trabajos del primer álbum en solitario de Ana Torroja ‘Puntos Cardinales’ y un ‘Grandes Éxitos’ de Mecano (fotos).

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Reuniting with Bill Smith in 2010 to design the official European MotoGP™ event programmes for BSSP was a real pleasure. Each season I designed 11 or 12 event brochures, each one in 2 languages except Silverstone (English only). They undergo a major redesign at the start of every season and for 2010 I designed a custom headline font called Vrooom in both Roman and Italic. This was used throughout each programme.

Volver a trabajar con Bill Smith en 2010 y diseñar los Programas Oficiales de MotoGP™ para BSSP ha sido todo un placer. Cada temporada producimos 11 o 12 Programas en 2 idiomas, excepto Silverstone que sólo se hace en inglés. Los Programas se diseñan desde cero cada temporada y para 2010 creé una fuente llamada Vrooom tanto en Roman como Itálica. Ésta se utilizó en todos los Programas.

For 2011, the MotoGP™ programmes were given a loose, hand-painted treatment for each cover image. The main inner articles used duotone images as overall backgrounds and everything was stripped back for a much cleaner look which contrasted sharply with that of 2010. Cover image treatments by Bill Smith.

En 2011, los Programas de MotoGP™ se hicieron con un tratamiento pintado a mano para cada portada. Los artículos principales del interior utilizan imágenes duotone como fondo y se utiliza un look más limpio que supone un gran contraste con el de 2010.

The design of the 2012 MotoGP™ event programmes was a continuation of where we began to take it the previous season. A stripped back look with more white space (despite the sample pages shown here). Cover photos were given a solarised treatment throughout. We recently began work on the 2013 season in Austin, Texas then returned to Jerez, here in Spain. Several of the new designs have been added at the start of the page.

      

I had the great pleasure of working with Melanie and her management team since the setting up of her own label, Red Girl Records back in 2004. This coincided with the release of her third solo album, ’Beautiful Intentions’.

4 spreads from the DVD booklet.