design for music
collage
analogue techniques
album + single cover design
record packaging
poster design
spotify canvas creation
about warde
Warde Elliott is an Australian singer-songwriter whose music blends heartfelt storytelling with a powerful, unmistakable voice. Born in regional NSW and spending three decades in Melbourne, Elliott brings the landscapes, characters and emotional threads of those places into everything he writes. His work sits at the crossroads of acoustic-rock, Americana and alt-country, shaped by lived experience rather than genre boundaries (wardeelliott.com).
I've worked with Warde since early 2024 throughout multiple music related projects. What was initially a casual gig poster arrangement evolved into a full-blown artistic collaboration for an album identity project: 'Rough Ride Home'.
various gig posters
rough ride home
Warde's forthcoming album, Rough Ride Home, marks 30 years since his 1996 debut and represents a significant milestone in his artistic journey. With songs shaped by real people and real events, it explores themes of fractured childhoods, complicated friendships, and the long process of finding peace with the past (wardeelliott.com).
creative strategy
Considering the raw, vulnerable and retrospective nature of this album, the visual identity is grounded in analogue techniques and an undercurrent of authenticity. The photographs used throughout the entire project are from Warde's own family albums - echoing the personal nature of its lyrical content.
Collage and analogue image manipulation were the main cornerstones of the album's visual identity. Images were interwoven with song lyrics, burnt, cut, rotated and pieced back together - creating a powerful metaphor exploring memories, identity and personal healing. Every asset was created by hand, before piecing everything together digitally.
vinyl packaging
Consisting of the front & back cover, a double sided lyric sheet insert and 2x centre labels. All design elements were constructed by hand.
front cover, side one insert, side one label
back cover, side two insert, side two label
side one insert, side one label
side two insert, side two label
single covers
Leading up to the release of the Rough Ride Home album, 2 singles have been released so far: Footbridge, and Any Other Way Out.
The single cover designs remain consistent with the visual language established within the album identity, creating a strong and confident theme.
spotify canvas videos
As part of two single releases to Spotify, canvas videos were an additional requirement. Adding animation to the central collages brought them to life and created an interesting and powerful visual linked to the central theme.
Listen to footbridge here:
