A four panel digipak design for Americana rocker Tommy Rickard’s debut full-length “Dream California.” Tommy has been a close friend and collaborator for many years both in Los Angeles and his native San Francisco, so it is a great pleasure to be involved with this carefully crafted record, which features the title track “Dream California.”

Tommy’s skills on the drum set have taken him to stages all over the world and into the studios of legends like Linda Perry.  Now he is stepping out on his own with his own work, including one song written by Perry.

The album artwork features a dreamy California poppy field on the cover with an inset poppy field window.  The album title and his name are humbly set above and below the window in a relaxed script font.  The reverse simply lists the song tites, leaving an uncluttered, calm feel.

Inside is a great picture of Tommy by photographer Scott Kowalchyk and full credits for the record under the cd.  The cd face echoes the cover design, with faded flowers and floral writing around the edges.

So many debut artists stumble on their art, trying too hard to impress, but Tommy shows the wisdom of many years in the business with this beautiful, straightforward design that lets his awesome tracks lead the charge.

When Rich McCulley approached us about creating a cover for his fifth Americana record “Starting All Over Again,” we jumped right into it.  This is our third album together now, and the last two have seen quite a bit of radio play and placement activity on TV and in film. 2009 was a tough year for Rich, in which he lost not only a close friend but also a former girlfriend, both of which were music partners too.  So this record carries the theme of loss and inevitable change, not always for the best.

Typically we begin with me listening to his master recordings and sketching out dozens of ideas, a process that works well for artists that don’t come with set image or theme ideas out of the box.  I keep my sketch pad handy in the car and in the studio and just spin the record as much as possible.  All in all I presented about 30 finished sketches to Rich and this one struck a chord right away:  a little toy house burning right to the ground.

We had some difficulty locating just the right plastic house, but finally an Echo Park 99 cent store turned up two packages of the structure seen on the cover, allowing us to burn one as a test and use the other for the final shots (and only cost $1.98).  As it turned out, both sets of shots yielded some great stuff, so we ended up using one set for an animated film on the splash page of his website, and the other for the cover.  Who would have thought it would be so tough to burn down a little plastic house?  But it is, probably for kid safety I suppose, and it took an entire box of wooden matches set aflame inside to get the houses burning correctly.

The inside photo was taken on a concrete staircase nearby to Rich’s recording studio, showing him in a reflective mood that matches the vibe of the record.  All the album notes fitted neatly under the cd face, allowing the rest to remain relatively untouched.  On the back cover we placed a closeup of a match, which also appears from a different angle on the cd face.  The texture and color of the asphalt adds a nice grey tone to the whole package.

This album drops on March 16, 2010 with a full press campaign, so listen for it on a station near you soon…

This was a very fun 6 panel digipak (with 16 page booklet) project for Christian rockers Jesus Band Los Angeles, which is putting out this debut record this spring.  Their vision of the message of the Bible is not exactly a happy one for those “not in the fold,” so this artwork was intended to show a dramatic, somewhat terrifying world in which the cross appears as a saving grace.

No matter what your religious bent, you are sure to enjoy the heavily manipulated original images and photo collages I created for this package, showing famous LA landmarks (Capitol Records, City Hall, Union Station, the Hollywood Sign, etc) with crosses blazing out their windows and key Biblical verses replacing the familiar lettering, all underneath extremely forbidding and stormy skies.  It is a rare thing to see as much as a shred of cloud in Los Angeles, so of course there was a need to replace the skies with something more interesting. There was also some interesting touches thrown in at the suggestion of the band, including a plane flying over LA with a banner reading “Jesus loves Los Angeles,” a carpenter tacking up an addition to the Hollywood Sign, and lots of lightning.  You’ll see flaming letters, a blue planet crashing into the Earth, and more.

The band that will be touring the project is different from those heard in the studio (except for singer Pat Rettig), so there were two separate musician credit sections with pictures to be shown.  Sadly, we had only low res pictures to work with on the musicians, so there was a fair bit of editing that needed to happen to bring them up to snuff.

The LA landmark shots were originally photographed to be displayed in large format on the walls of a Los Angeles legal practice, and it was great to be able to extend their use here.  The shot of Union Station with the palm tree shadows is not a digital manipulation (though the landscape behind is of course) — I just caught the right moment of sunset when the tree aligned exactly with the clock.

The CD face has an aerial shot of the Los Angeles grid screened over black, and the letters of the band name cut through to the silver disc — a very powerful, impressive looking disc to hold in your hand.  Around the edge are the names of all the tracks, also cut through to silver.

Christian rock fans, keep your ears peeled for JBLA!

A new album cover design for “Find A Way,” the debut recording of modern rock band Sugarwall.  The band came to me with a set of gorgeous photographs by Rian Flynn taken waaay out in the high desert (to the point where the production assistant found a tarantula climbing up her leg).  I probably would have suggested a composite shot from an air conditioned LA studio for this one, but you have to admire all their dedication to getting something very unique and cool.

Laying out the album was all about letting the imagery speak for itself, so we carefully chose some elegant fonts and laid them out in colors that complimented the photos.  There was only a small need for some photo editing (not telling where!), and the package was done.

These guys are old friends and I wish them well with this great sounding record.

Singer songrocker Scott Warren’s folkish new record “Quick Fix Bandage” bakes just the right mix of rock, twang, and singer songwriter mood together into a very satisfying cake for the ears.  Keep your ears open for it — it has been receiving a lot of indie radio play both online and off.

This artwork was primarily designed by Scott himself, but we were there to provide some design help, assemble the package for him and make sure that the record sailed safely through the print process.

The record has a haunting look about it, thanks to the atmospheric, double-image photos by Sara Jane Colgin.  Thoughtfully packaged in an ecofriendly sleeve design (with a spine so it doesn’t get lost on the shelf), QFB looks a bit like it was beamed from another world.  Sonically, it has everything you’d ask for in a fresh folk rock record.

Have a listen for yourself.

A very attractive and compact promo mailer for Brad Colerick’s beautiful new record “When I’m Gone,” to be mailed to radio and music supervisors. Brad has a number of critically acclaimed albums to his credit as well as a large pile of film and TV placements, and performs regularly around in Southern California.

It’s a tall, thin package similar to a dvd box in shape, but made without plastic (except the CD, which tucks safely into a pocket on the left side).  Eco-friendly and light for keeping mailing costs down.

When produced, the artwork shown folds in the middle, and then each side folds over to make a double sided sheet, so you end up with a sturdy 4 panel booklet.

Complete information on the record, its inspiration, its players, and its songs are detailed, shown alongside some of the art drawn from the record’s actual packaging.

A standout item that really gets attention without being overwhelming.

Honkey-tonkin’ rocker Grant Langston has been building an enviable live reputation and a deep catalog of recorded songs over the last 10 years, but his latest record “Stand Up Man” tops it all.

It has all the twangy guitars, clever and comedic-tinged lyrics, ripping solos, and danceable country grooves that you could want, delivered in Grant’s immediately distinctive style (once again delivered by his long time band “The Supermodels”).  Production with Rich McCulley at the board and mastering by Todd Herfindal gives this one the stamp of guaranteed quality sonics.

This is our third record design with Grant, and for this one we went for a sparse, straight up look (in 4 panel digipak form) that features high quality photos we shot of him in the Amplitude studios.  Standing simply with his guitar, albeit in a sharp suit, speaks volumes about the humility and lack of artifice heard all over his music.  Grant’s stuff is the real deal, and he cares about his craft, which we reinforced with a close up shot of his hands across his guitar (where he has spent thousands of hours practicing and writing).  But he also likes to rock out a bar, so the CD features an action shot of him making his guitar sing.

We’re proud to have worked this long alongside one of the hardest working and swiftly rising Americana artists in Southern Cali.  If you haven’t seen his band live you have been missing out!

For a detailed portfolio of work prior to 2009, please visit:

DUFFOTO.COM