This is my artwork for UK based Smerin's Anti Social Club "Primordial Cordial" album. I made the illustrations for a 4-panel digipak package and for the CD label as well. The album is vailable at Amazon.com and iTunes Store.

When the band approached me asking for a artwork for their next album I didn't know even what a "cordial" was... They told me a little bit about the title and their expectations: "we are after something quirky, funny, bold (...) We have a couple of fairly specific concept ideas (...) although we would be equally open to something straight from your imagination, as long as it makes some reference to the album title."

For the members of Smerin's Anti Social Club, the album title - Primordial Cordial - evoked "Images of simple organisms, missing links, half-formed species and failed genetic prototypes, somehow combined with a fantasy mass-produced ultra-sugary drink, high in additives and probably marketed to kids." That was a good starting point… ! 

The concept offered a lot of interesting and inspiring ideas: science, creativity, trying to combine different elements to create something artistic, basic life forms, primordial ooze, abiogenesis… I tried to fit them in some (hopefully) coherent and eye catching image. I thought about a machine that creates the "Primordial Cordial" drink and put it in the center of the stage: The front cover itself. The Machine captures these little floating creatures (I call them "Primordials") and turns them into drink.

The album artwork was created for a 4-panel digipak: A one-piece, sturdy board package encasing a plastic disc tray. It unfolds like a small book or album. That meant I had to create a single artwork that would be later turned into the front and back covers and the internal art. Bellow the complete image ready to be applied to the digipak template.

I also created the artwork for the CD label. To me it was very important that the CD label image should complement the look and feel of the entire package. I imagined this top view of a cup full of Primordials in a twirl, suggesting a liquid (the cordial itself) or a look inside the Machine.

 

Bellow the artwork for the CD label with some space for the band's name and info (like the Compact Disk logo for example). The artwork has a kind of Yin-Yang symbol vibe that I thought to be quite suitable...