VINYL RECORD DESIGN
Project Type
Vinyl Record Design
Package Design
My Role
Album Design
Typography
OVERVIEW
For the debut vinyl album of DC-based bluegrass band Swamp Grass, I collaborated with musician and band member, Jake Younger, to create a visual identity that captured the band’s raw, homespun sound and distinctive personality. I designed the album layout and hand-drew the loose, flowy typography, while Jake illustrated the central image of a silhouetted musician playing a washtub bass. Together, the illustration and expressive lettering created a bold, tactile cover that feels rooted in the DIY spirit of bluegrass and the band’s DC roots.
CHALLENGE
As a debut album, the design needed to establish a memorable visual identity for the band while capturing the energy and character of their music. The challenge was to create something that felt authentic to the handmade, improvisational nature of bluegrass without leaning too heavily on traditional or expected genre imagery. The design also needed to translate effectively across the physical vinyl format and the band’s broader promotional materials.
SOLUTION
We created a hand-crafted visual language centered around the silhouetted washtub bass player and custom, flowing typography. I developed the album layout and lettering to complement Jake’s illustration, allowing the organic forms and imperfections of the artwork to give the piece a distinctly human quality. The result is a playful, character-driven album cover that reflects Swamp Grass’s sound while giving the band a memorable visual identity for their debut release.
preliminary concept sketches + hand lettering
