A record cover design I did for the band "Cramped Hammies". The album is called "Seawall", so I came up with the idea of an illustration with hamstrings riding a tandem bicycle across Vancouver's Seawall. Since the band is quite fun, and funky in and of themselves, I wanted to create an illustration that would represent their fun loving nature. 

The name of the band is Cramped Hammies, and the name of the album they wanted to call, "Seawall". Before I started any sketching, I took a trip down to the seawall to get a feel for the atmosphere and seek out inspiration. I saw people riding bikes, being active, couples and friends walking. I drew a quick sketch of the seawall - all the while keeping the band in the back of my mind.

The band is a punk-rock band, so I wanted to create an illustration that verged on edgy and playful. I spoke to some of the members of the band to get a feel for their personalities, and what the overall vibe of the group was. They were all pretty fun, easy-going people. 

In order to determine where to begin, I looked at some of the record covers I had nearby. They were all fun, bright, and seemed to represent the overall vibe of the music on the album. 

Some quick thumbnail sketches of potential ideas for the cover. I wanted it to be fun, and quirky, so I played with the idea of having legs riding tandem bicycles along the seawall - inspired by the name, Cramped Hammies. Some of the other sketches were things like the Cramped Hammies playing at a stage near the Seawall, some visuals from the seawall collage style around the title, and visuals of the forest. 

I pitched some of the ideas to the band, and they liked the image of a couple of legs riding tandem bikes along the seawall.

I determined a visual style by looking at some of the record covers I'd looked at for inspiration, as well as some illustrators on the internet. I decided on flat, vector graphics, brightly illustrated. The above image is some of the styles of drawing I'd explored for the illustrations.