A tribute to our artist friends.

The album packaging is now currently on the printing process. It has been a very long and tedious process to nail the final artworks and designs that would be used for the new album. And we really couldn't have done it without help from 3 artist friends who took time to help us come up with the most creative album that we have ever come up with. The whole concept of our second album is called a "Build Your Own Album". Here, we ask the buyers of our album to creatively create the presentation of the album according to what their preferences would be by using the pre-printed cd sleeves and other stuffs that we have included in our album. The main packaging of the album will be an envelope that has an artfully designed sticker (done by Jeniffer Aranaydo) to serve as the heading of the packaging. Inside would contain 3 pre-printed CD sleeves, a band name logo sticker (designed by Alvin Carreon), a lyric card (Designed by Jennifer Aranaydo), and of course the CD. The first pre-printed CD sleeve is done by our former bassist Alvin Carreon, the second pre-printed CD sleeve is done by budding painter Kelly Ramos-Palaganas, while the third one is a lyrics sheet with a blank cover that the owner of the cd could later on design an album cover for himself. The owner of the CD would then have the option to transfer the CD in a standard Jewel Case and use whatever album art that he prefers to use, thus creating a new look for the album. In our previous experience from our debut album, a lot of comments were made about our album cover artwork. Although I have to admit that I'm not a good album designer, it was the best that I could come up with. Through that experience, it gave us an idea to make the owner of the CD to be involved in the creation of the album cover. And also, In order to satisfy the different artistic tastes that our possible album buyers have, we have decided to ask help from Jennifer, Alvin, and Kelly to come up with different album cover art designs that are so diverse from each other. Each with a story of their own, each with an appeal of their own. Here I will talk about their work and the impact of their work in our album as well as post some early drafts of their works. And if the owner of the CD would still not be satisfied with the artworks of our friends, we included one extra CD sleeve that they could design for themselves. Thus giving him a sense of owning of the album and become an important part in the creation of the album that is in their possession.

Here's my review of their work. The photos posted are not the final designs, these are rough drafts or works that are in near completion.

Jennifer Aranaydo's cover artwork is the sum total of all the key ideas of the songs in the album. It is a visual representation of the contents of our songs. The heart with angel wings would represent the songs Runaway Angel and Safer in my Heart. The streak of light would represent the songs Beloved Savior and A Promise, The clouds would represent the song Cloudy Day, and so on and so forth. And also, It's lively colors could easily attract attention, and her artwork is pure eye candy. We have worked with Jennifer the longest and we had a lot of revisions before we arrived at this artwork. This is also not the only artwork that she has contributed, she also contributed an artwork for the lyric card which is also very very good. Jen does graphic art designs for web layouting, packaging, and other graphic designing needs. You can view all of her other art works at www.jenipur13.multiply.com I urge you to contract her for you graphic designing needs.

 

Alvin Carreon's artwork is a smartly designed album cover that retained certain elements that I've used in our debut album's artwork cover. The photoshop rendered photo is reminiscent of our debut album's cover but since I'm not a good user of photoshop, his work came out as the better and more improved version. Alvin also provided us our first official band logo. A sticker of that logo is also included in our album. Alvin also managed to put a summary of the key theme that is contained in our album, which is Love, Faith, Hope, and Redemption. This artwork also has a mass commercial appeal because it is very light on the eyes, especially because of the combinations of green and light colors. Alvin is also running a band website dedicated to us and you can view it at www.thoughtsandnotions.co.cc Alvin will soon work in a prestigious printing company here in Cagayan de Oro.

Kelly Ramos-Palaganas contributed a painting artwork she did which is called The Mandala of Opposites. This is an Oil on Canvas painting with 30.5x 30.5 dimensions which she made way back in 2002. This was on exhibit along with the rest of her artworks. While the design might not have a mass commercial appeal, it cannot be denied that the artistic value of this work cannot be easily measured by the definitions of what a mass commercial appeal is. Because this artwork is so much more than meets the eye. Mandalas are sacred circles that some of the world's religions use as meditation aids. A full explanation of this work is included in our album. I am very happy that Kelly allowed us to use this painting as one of our album cover designs included in the album. I personally believe that we should be more appreciative of real paintings such as these. I know that we could never do justice to the beauty of this work by printing it in a paper, or by posting it on the web. To appreciate this artwork is to see this artwork in the flesh. But i'm taking this opportunity to highlight Kelly's work by using it in our album. This painting is still available and it is for sale along with other of Kelly's work. You can reach her at artnanay@yahoo.com for inquiries about her works.

Kelly is a practicing painter and art writer in Cagayan de Oro City. She has a once a month published article in the local weekly newspaper The Mindanao Current. Aside from painting, she also handled curating duties in Art exhibitions at a national level as well as organized some local painting exhibits along with her group the Red Lamabago Arts Collective. More of her credentials are included in the album.

So basically this is the preview of their works. This upcoming album is our dedication to all the artists out there, not only musicians, but also graphic artists, painters, and other artists that believes in their craft and has chosen to persevere in these times. They say that the digital age is upon us. Music downloads and other online endeavors has chosen to replace the hard copy. But still, nothing replaces the real deal. And we hope to prove that in this new album by giving you guys not the standard CD albums that you have commonly come to know, but by sharing to you this very critical collaboration that we have worked in tandem with among Cagayan de Oro's best graphic designers and painters. The album will finally be out next week. Keep posted for further developments. We still have a lot of things to share. God Bless! =)