You’re the coolest ever

Hello everybody! I hope your summer has started off well! I know mine has been exciting, I have a lot of half baked projects in the works! In the meantime, I am excited to show you some finished artwork and sneak peaks into the future!

First off, I designed a cover for an EP for the first time! I went ahead and wrote a huge caption on my Instagram post about it, I will go ahead and drop that down below. It is a long story, but is a very special one to me!

“@azra.wav just dropped a new EP today titled “you’re the coolest ever” and it has a super fun story behind it!

I originally met Azzy as a barista, and over time got to know several of the baristas that worked at the same shop. @cammehaffy is another one of those people, that as I became a regular, I saw more and more.

So when Azzy hit me up about this new two song EP, I proposed the idea of taking the nice notes that they would leave on my teas (in this case Cam), and turning it into digital typography for the cover! These notes have not only served their purpose on the cover of the EP, but have been used for the promotional graphics, the animation you see on Spotify, and for other (for the time being) secret mini projects in context to Azzys music.

This is something I had experimented with before, but finding an actual professional use proved to be fun! Not only did I have the privilege to work two wonderful people, but this specific project feels so authentic, a form of digital recycling. Taking an object that served its original purpose, and giving it a second life! The design wasn’t just something we created collaboratively, it’s something we have now preserved.

Thanks for reading all this, if you want a closer look at anything make sure to check out my website. I’m blessed with the coolest baristas in the world. Make sure to go check out the new EP!

God bless.”

A huge shoutout to Azzy and Cam, it has been such a pleasure getting to know them personally, and now having the opportunity to work with them both on such fun project was awesome!

Down below I will show off the animation, it ended up being my favorite part of the project. If you would like to see the entirety of the project, you can check it out on my portfolio page!

Secondly, I did design another single cover for the Occasions. Which also had a very heartfelt caption on Instagram. I will leave that down below too! I think this one is shorter.

“@occasionsfl has a new song coming out on June 12th titled “Crashing Down”, and you can go pre save it at the link in their bio right now.

I was blessed with the opportunity to design the cover art. Challenges like this never fail to excite me, and working with these dudes continues to be such a blast. I can never thank them enough for trusting in me and my process! I am so thankful for my relationship with them, and how it has and will continue to evolve.

“Crashing Down” is punk rock, coming of age, high energy, song of the summer, and it may even be a little political. Speaking from experience it’s a great song to yell in your car, play the air guitar to, and a reliable pick for any summer playlist. I would dare you to prove me wrong, but it’s just not possible.

Thank you for reading all this, I appreciate you! Make sure to congratulate the band on their upcoming release, and if you would like a closer look at anything, check out my website!

God bless.”

This is probably my favorite cover I have ever made (thus far), and it comes out this Friday! If you want to see the whole project, you can check out my portfolio page!

Lastly I would like to show you a little sneak peak!

I have mentioned in a few other blog posts and YouTube videos that I am actually working on illustrating a card game with a team of wonderful people. Well, we are currently finalizing the logo, the illustrators (including myself) are starting to finish everything up, and realistically we are looking at an end of summer launch of “The 9th TCG” - which is so exciting.

I just finished up drawing the card “Owl Guardian” and I am super pumped on it. I am going to leave that down below! Stay tuned for more updates on that!

June is going to be a great month! I have some “for fun” illustrations and graphics that I have in the works, some professional work that I am very excited to share, and maybe my favorite project of the summer is exploring animal photography. I hope to have a full collection of photos to share by the end of the summer, with a message about how important our natural world is. I will be traveling a lot this month, camera in hand!

In the meantime I would like to challenge you to explore something creative this summer! Write a poem, doodle in a notebook, go on a hike with a camera, attend a piano lesson - anything to spite artificial intelligence and get your brain juices flowing!

Thank you for reading all this, you’re the coolest ever. I appreciate you!

- Judah Cooper