DOGDAD
Project Overview
I collaborated with local musician DOGDAD (Paul) and photographer Maddi to create a full visual identity for his upcoming music releases.
My role involved concept development, design exploration, photo editing, typography, and assembling the final artwork across all formats. Our goal was to build a cohesive look and feel that represented this era of DOGDAD’s music while supporting a successful digital release across platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.
Objectives
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Create visually unified album art for 3 single releases and the full album
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Develop looping visuals for Spotify Canvas
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Produce flexible graphics for social media promotion
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Ensure artwork fits all platform specifications and maintains visual consistency
Moodboard
DOGDAD’s moodboard leaned heavily into bold colors, gritty textures, and experimental mixed-media influences. The challenge was translating that aesthetic into a visual direction that could work across all deliverables. This moodboard helped us align on tone before moving into the photoshoot and design drafts. You'll notice that for a lot of these images, you aren't quite sure what you're looking at. Many of the images are a little ambiguous, and that became something we leaned into during the design phase.
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Photoshoot
The project began with a photoshoot led by photographer Maddi, giving us original imagery to build the artwork from.
Film Souping
and Developing
Film souping is an experimental photography technique where film is intentionally soaked in various liquids before or after shooting. The chemicals in these substances interact with the film’s emulsion to warp the image. While results can vary and sometimes even destroy the film, the goal was to create images with unique textures, color shifts, and distortions. Since most labs won’t process souped film, we developed it ourselves.
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Film Souping Results
Once developed, the souped film created chemical distortions that made each image unique. Combined with the digital photos, we had a rich mix of assets to begin designing with.
Album Art Iterations
We began by exploring several colorful, high-energy designs inspired by the original moodboard. As the drafts evolved, DOGDAD decided he wanted all artwork to move in a fully black-and-white direction. We refined each piece through multiple rounds of small adjustments where we experimented with contrast, negative space, and a variety of layered effects.
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Final Album Covers
& Assets
The final visual system includes artwork for three singles, the full album cover, looping Spotify Canvas visuals, and social promo graphics. Each piece uses black-and-white film-souped photography paired with minimal typography and strong contrast. This cohesive identity creates a cinematic and emotionally grounded atmosphere across streaming platforms and social media. The final visuals were used for official releases on Spotify and Apple Music and helped define the visual tone of DOGDAD’s new music era.
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SWAN DIVE PITY PARTY
Album Cover
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Dewar's Good Time
Single Cover
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Hospice
Single Cover
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Ouroboros
Single Cover
Video Assets
Reflection
This was my first real-world project working on a design team for an actual client, and I’m grateful I got to experience it alongside two close friends. I learned a lot about the design process, communicating clearly during feedback rounds, and adapting designs based on a client’s evolving vision. Paul (right) and Maddi (left) are both incredibly talented artists, and collaborating with them strengthened my confidence in working across photography, mixed media, and design.
You can stream DOGDAD on Spotify here and view more of Maddi's work here.
