Redlines

In the Summer of 2019, I got a call to design a cover for a new band, Redlines. A friend of theirs recommended me for the design. Three teenage guys with one vision needed a designer to make their dream a reality. This side project became a permanent artwork for the UW-Milwaukee Student Union, purchased by the director, Richard Thomas.

Chris had an idea. He wanted an album cover featuring a 1960s Chevy dashboard with a leather steering wheel. He wanted the speed to be 70 and the RPM redlining. To accompany the cover, he wanted a logo in cursive.

I started with some rough sketches. I realized how cliché the cover would appear if I simply used an image of a Chevy. For months, I drew every detail of that car in Adobe Illustrator. No filters. No image trace. Pure illustration. The band loved the idea.

As for the logo, I originally sketched the name in a 60s typeface. I noticed a missed opportunity when illustrating the car. I rounded the “R” to become a circle, similar to the RPM gauge. I changed the dot of the “i” to become the marker in the middle of the gauge. Chris loved the change in logo design.

The quote above was one of many messages from the lead singer. I never had a client as excited as him throughout the process. We messaged often to make edits and changes. I enjoyed being able to work back and forth with the band. The collaborative work provided necessary critique and communication to reach the final design. Overall, the project taught me the importance of building strong client relationships throughout the design process.