This is a collection of imagined album covers I made as a means to enjoy aesthetics without constraints. I started making these after a 10-day meditation retreat in Montebello, during which I started missing my roots as a designer: the early days when I'd explore visuals with Photoshop out of pure aesthetic pleasure.

After getting back from the woods, I made covers like this for about 200 days straight.

In contrast to my client work, these were made without specific goals or guiding principles; simply playing freeform with image, color & feel until something visually striking emerged.

I've discovered several creative techniques in these free explorations—some of which have served me in client work, and some of which are just plain fun to use. These were made pre-AI, and all work is mine unless stated otherwise in the captions.

Double-exposure, gradient maps, exotic blend modes... I may just have explored every nook & cranny of Photoshop making these (to my great satisfaction).

I enjoy the abstract nature of these works; they're wide open for interpretation, and a nice change relative to my objective-oriented projects. Here are some of my favorite covers!