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 Bluesky if you have a project you’d like me to get involved in, or if you have a question or comment about the work.

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.

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…

Here’s a small selection of some of the music design projects I’ve been involved with in the last 40 years or so. 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…

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).

The UK Music Festivals interactive map was commissioned by UK Music 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. I also designed an A2 poster version 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, although some have changed beyond recognition, 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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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.