Working with DSM6

When frontwoman Julia Hood came to me for this design, she knew she wanted the cover to be inspired by water and the feeling of drowning.

I’d heard the songs on the EP prior to creating the artwork, and knew the lyrics were rich with reflection on self-perception and relationships.

My instincts were portraiture, collage, water-marbelling. I tried my hand at suminagashi over the collaged portraits of the band but ultimately ended up hand-drawing the water ripples over the collage. I did this after I first stained the paper by placing soap suds over my collage and dropping sumi ink into the sud clusters. The result was an interesting grey speckled effect over the image.

I have about seven different versions of this artwork, playing with the paper staining and the water ripples. Julia and I sat together for a long time deciding on this as the final design, and I am glad this is the one we landed on and added Julia’s final touch to — her handwriting for the band name and EP title. Taped over the top of the design, holding everything together.