We always use a professional for our album covers. Not sure about the sites you mentioned, but I am sure others will chime in.

Rev

Canadian Surf

http://www.urbansurfkings.com/

Putting to one side the various ethical problems with using AI-generated art, at a practical level it almost always looks... off.

If you've got an idea of what you want but you don't know how to create it, ideally you'd pay an artist. But if it's just a case of needing something for digitial distribution, here are a couple of DIY ideas that you may find approachable:

• Find a suitable public domain photo, and just add some text

• Make a simple image that looks like the label on a 45 - a lot of people do this for digital single releases. Example from Hi-Tide:

The Miramars (2017-2022) https://www.facebook.com/themiramars / https://soundcloud.com/themiramars

Yes, please avoid using AI , at any cost…

Not to sound preachy , but as tempting as it is because it is so cheap and fast , it is posed and intended to replace literally tens of thousands of artists jobs …

I’ve noticed some bands using AI for gig flyers and promo materials and you can almost always spot it as there is always something “off” in terms of style and execution…I can’t help but automatically dislike the bands that do use AI lol

From a personal perspective,as a professional artist of 20 plus years myself I find the advent of AI “art” both amazing and wholly depressing…
I never thought I’d see the day where artists would be 100% replaced , but that’s exactly what we are witnessing….and that’s not hyperbole …Not just for art , but writing , programming, office work, etc…

Just some food for thought!

Last edited: Feb 24, 2025 16:07:07

SixStringSurfer wrote:

I’ll avoid AI, but may use a pre-made templet or photo if that makes sense. I appreciate the response, wierd_oh84. Big shout out to Samurai, as he played bass on 3/4 songs on this EP!

Cool!

I too use pre existing images as reference/ inspiration…. But when the time comes to actually create, 100% human made!lol

And congrats on the album! Can’t wait to check it out !

We've done a mixture of images, bandshots, AI, etc.
We typically do the layout ourselves using Xara and other software. I'm not an artist, but come from a family of artists. Unfortunately none are layout artists so I'm self taught.

Our last 2 releases pulled graphics from AI as an experiment. It was fun, but gets kind of looking similar. I did like the images and laid out the rest myself, but still feel we fall short of the bands who use professionals. We try to avoid the traditional layout rehashed from the 50s, 60s and 70s. There are a lot of those in the surf community. Some are great, others are just uninspired copies.

It would be easier to use a good graphic artist if we had some solid recommendations. Trying to go online or look locally is a crap shoot, and finding a true creative layout person is hard. Choosing wrong is expensive and trying to get the rights to the artwork purchased, would be costly.

So maybe SG101ers could give some referrals.

Regarding AI, it's taking over my accounting industry too. The younger generations and some older folks are not as concerned with quality or long term consequences.

So go into programming and IT maintenance before we are all just being controlled by droids...

Surf.The most dangerous of genres...

Surfcat

MARCH OF THE DEAD SURFERS! (2024) - Agent Octopus
THE JOURNEY HOME - Free download (2025) - Agent Octopus (Single)

BANDCAMP - Agent Octopus
YOUTUBE - Agent Octopus Surf
BANDCAMP - Reverb Galaxy

Last edited: Feb 24, 2025 19:50:17

Interesting !
In the same vein of question, does anybody knows where to find the typical surf fonts ? Those kind of hand-written irregular ones on usual surf records covers ...
Thanks in advance !

You can never have too much reverb.

Jerome wrote:

In the same vein of question, does anybody knows where to find the typical surf fonts ? Those kind of hand-written irregular ones on usual surf records covers ...

The Mighty Souly font could be what you are looking for:
https://www.fontspace.com/mighty-souly-font-f111821

I used it last year for a flyer which had to be made quickly, but for something more permanent such as an album cover I would either hire a professional to draw the letters or work on it myself. It takes some practice but it is really not the hardest thing to do, and in my opinion these old album titles get a lot of their appeal from the fact that every letter is unique. The early work of Rick Griffin for the Challengers, Greg Noll etc. really is the stuff to study here:
https://www.rickgriffindesigns.com/surf-art

Los Apollos - cinematic surf music trio (Berlin)
"Postcards from the Scrapyard" Vol. 1, 2 & 3 NOW available on various platforms!
"Chaos at the Lobster Lounge" available as LP and download on Surf Cookie Records!

simoncoil wrote:

Jerome wrote:

In the same vein of question, does anybody knows where to find the typical surf fonts ? Those kind of hand-written irregular ones on usual surf records covers ...

The Mighty Souly font could be what you are looking for:
https://www.fontspace.com/mighty-souly-font-f111821

I used it last year for a flyer which had to be made quickly, but for something more permanent such as an album cover I would either hire a professional to draw the letters or work on it myself. It takes some practice but it is really not the hardest thing to do, and in my opinion these old album titles get a lot of their appeal from the fact that every letter is unique. The early work of Rick Griffin for the Challengers, Greg Noll etc. really is the stuff to study here:
https://www.rickgriffindesigns.com/surf-art

Thank you very much ! Yes I agree, most of the fun would be to draw the letters myself. I'll have a try !

You can never have too much reverb.