Behind the Artwork: Living Hope (Single)
To begin, I've gotta be honest and say that this single artwork came together very quickly and without pain -- amen!!
"Living Hope" is a song written by Phil Wickam and Brian Johnson, released firstly to radio by Phil for his album of the same name. This single is Bethel Music's live version of the song featuring newcomer Bethany Wohrle.
When it comes to our single artwork, there aren't many boundaries (unless it's part of an album release -- which dictates the brand and style we have to follow) so we're pretty free to be as creative as we want, which is always a fun challenge!
For "Living Hope" I was brought onto the project about 1 month from release - which works great as there's only a cover plus a few social posts.
The lyrics of "Living Hope" are very gospel oriented and tell the story of Jesus' death, resurrection and the subsequent freedom made available to us through His blood. As I was listening to the song, I was visually inspired by an old 80s worship album called "Call To War" by David and Dale Garratt (Scripture In Song). I was drawn to their simple cover artwork and use of a duo-tone color palette.
"Call To War" by David and Dale Garratt (Scripture In Song) -- 1981
As I set out to design the art for "Living Hope", I wanted to base the concept on this 80s album artwork -- an honorable nod to the rich worship-warfare history of this era -- plus I felt it tied in strongly with the bold-gospel narrative of "Living Hope".
Personally, designing artwork with a full color background isn't something I'd naturally gravitate toward, but I wanted to give myself the challenge -- could I successfully modernise "Call To War" and re-appropriate the design feel to bring "Living Hope" to life.
Four concepts from the initial and revised concepts for "Living Hope"
As you can see from the concepts above, it was either the red or blue that would win and after some back and forth negotiations with our leadership (sneaky sneaky) the red cover was chosen and with some tweaks and changes, the final artwork for the "Living Hope" single was born.
The changes and tweaks were mainly to feature Bethany more prominently as this single marks her first feature as a Bethel Music worship leader. I also wanted to simplify the type a bit -- as much as I loved the warped type, it was getting illegible and causing a headache when placed on the already bright red background.
1981's "Call to War", 2018's "Living Hope"
I'll leave you with the final single artwork and it's 1981 counterpart for your comparison enjoyment. Notice the small circle "Living Hope" type -- it's the "Call To War" font -- looking as dapper and tasty in 2018 as it did in 1981!
Sometimes I find the best inspiration is to go back. Dust off the old records and use the best of the past to unlock the keys to the future -- plus it's so much fun looking through old album artwork when we have such a rich, incredible visual history all around us!
Much love friends, keep creating!