Album Re-Design

Creative Rationale
These designs were created for Kali Uchis’ 2018 album Isolation, which serves as an intimate journal of her reflections on relationships and self-discovery. Through its 15 tracks, Uchis touches on topics such as abuse, homelessness, loneliness, and self-love, blending genres like alternative R&B, Soul, and Jazz Rap to craft an inspiring, hypnotic sound. Two of my favorite songs, “After The Storm” and “Dead To Me,” initially drew me to the album. After listening to the full tracklist for the first time, I was moved to visually interpret the emotional depth of the music.
My concept evolved into a fusion of two distinct creative directions. The first envisioned a couple under a city streetlight on the front cover, with the back showing two men playing jazz under another streetlight. When opened, the cover would form a continuous scene, and inside would feature a nighttime city skyline. The second concept imagined a galaxy on the front, with a dissolving hand on the back transitioning into the galaxy. When opened, the cover would reveal an isolated Earth illuminated by light from behind. My final design combines elements from both concepts, featuring a galaxy spread across the front and back covers, while the inside reveals a city skyline silhouetted against a starry sky.
The target audience for this special edition vinyl consists of young adults between 18 and 30 who are balancing self-discovery with new responsibilities, relationships, and experiences. To appeal to this demographic, I sought to create a cover that encourages deeper reflection. Since Isolation is not strictly a Jazz or Jazz Rap album, I used symbolic and strategic imagery to connect with listeners.
In my design, the galaxy represents the grounding, nostalgic elements of jazz—the melody. The chaotic city silhouette, meanwhile, symbolizes rap—the lyrics. The imperfect skyline conveys the many stories within a single city, but the ever-present galaxy represents a comforting constant, something you can always return to.
For this project, I used a blend of traditional and contemporary art techniques. I began by painting the galaxy with acrylics, applying the paint with sponges and brushes. For the city, I outlined the silhouette in black graphic markers and layered acrylic paint to darken it. Once satisfied with the physical artwork,
I scanned it and refined it in the Adobe Suite. I used Lightroom Classic to crop, color-grade, and make general adjustments, followed by Photoshop to remove any mistakes or extra stars. Finally, I brought the design into Illustrator, where I added constellation lines, thickened lines on my typeography, and brought in secondary elements. To explore typography, I accessed the Adobe Creative cloud stock. By using Adobe’s tools throughout the post-production process, I maintained a cohesive flow across the design.