I’m sad that I didn’t grow up during the hey day of vinyl records. What an experience it must have been to go to the store and find the record for the artist/song that you heard on the radio. To pick it up, to feel and study the art work and packaging, and read every single word on the cover. Our modern format of buying and discovering music doesn’t even compare! One of the major things that gets lost in our modern music buying, is the liner notes.
Liner notes were usually the inner sleeve that protected the record in the main sleeve. The liner notes would include the lyrics, who wrote the song, and possibly who played on the song. Sometimes there would also be stories behind the music and the process of writing and recording the album. This information isn’t all that important to enjoy the music, but it helped build a connection with fans and let them feel like they were getting a personal connection with the band and the music. In todays world, we consume music through streaming apps, YouTube, and other social sites, so we have lost the beauty and art of the liner notes.
JW’s Notes is a play on the “Liner Notes” idea, and is going to be a place for me to share some of my insight and knowledge of graphic design, album covers, branding and more. This will also be a space for you learn about my design process, learn about the behind the scenes details of some of my favorite projects, and will also be the new home for the visual content for the Judged by the cover podcast. You are probably thinking that sounds like a blog, and you’re right, but the term “blog” didn’t feel right for this content.
You never know what might make it my version of the “Liner Notes” so make sure you subscribe below to stay in the loop. Also make sure you share this with friends and family that are interested in graphic design, music, album cover design, and whatever else I decide is worth talking about.