Harlem Nocturne Record Sleeve Artwork Design

Record sleeve design for a music track entitled 'Harlem Nocturne'. Having been lucky enough to visit New York and its suburb of Harlem, I saw for myself how things have changed for this notorious neighbourhood. It is no longer a poor community riddled with violence and crime, but a colourful, vibrant society of multicultural characters and local businesses. With a collage of images I had taken on my trip and a subway map I'd kept as a souvenir, I used colour to suggest this new trend for the front sleeve design. The subway in New York is the only underground system in the world that never closes, it runs all night long. Which is why I used it for the reverse. Darkening the tonal value and distorting the font slightly to symbolise the shadowy opaque nature of the night time.