SHAED Vinyl Package — Sana Kewalramani's Portfolio

Vinyl Album Redesign

Packaging | Illustration | Typography

Program: Adobe Photoshop

Institution: Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University

Art Direction: Sean McCabe, Fall 2021

This is a redesign of the album Melt from the band, SHAED, pronounced “shade.” SHAED is an electro-pop trio consisting of members, Chelsea Lee, lead vocalist, and twins Spencer and Max Ernst, vocalists and producers. Melt expresses the agony the lead vocalist, Chelsea, felt when under creative control as a burgeoning musician. She felt external pressures that were undermining and compromising her creativity in the process of trying to appeal to the music industry as an artist, comparing herself to being “frozen in ice.” My goal was to visually express her journey to overcome her situation and find her unique individuality. I worked with Photoshop to collage and create the visuals.

This project was truly special because I got to feature my own photograph I took of Chelsea at their Fillmore Philadelphia concert!

Listen to Melt.

There are seven total tracks. Give it a listen!

Sketches

While brainstorming, I listed out the music groups I enjoy listening to. When creating my moodboard, I was inspired by surrealism, photo manipulation, and breaking apart elements of the face to create an unexpected sense of depth. I found that photo manipulation would be a technique to reveal a message about the album deeper than the surface. Focusing on the band, SHAED, I explored the feeling of being frozen in the ice and worked with a drip effect and blending the vocalist’s face with an icycle.

The Album Cover

Front and Back of the Melt Vinyl featuring the three band members with Melt type

Melt Vinyl Record with Gatefold cover and Front cover laying beside it

“The development of the persona behind each lyric is authentic and relatable — life’s lows are inevitable, but they are also followed by highs. SHAED reminds us of life’s sublime, rollercoaster nature in their EP ‘MELT.’” (Studybreaks)

The Gatefold

Inner gatefold and front and back of outer gatefold cover

For the gatefold cover, I designed a dark blue abstract texture that looks like cracking ice to help break up the light blues. The interior of the gatefold reveals an image of Chelsea, a photograph I was fortunate to capture at their Philadelphia concert, standing confidently facing the spotlight on stage. This represents her breakthrough moment in my eyes.