February Graphic Design Round-Up
- wehearrva
- Feb 2, 2023
- 2 min read
Written by: Tyler Blankinship
What's up everyone! This is the first entry of my monthly column for HearRVA where I'll highlight some of my favorite designs and design resources each month!
I wanted to start this column because visuals are such an important part of releasing and promoting music and can sometimes feel out of reach. These should work as both inspiration for people needing ideas and a celebration of designers doing great work. You can send cool designs my way or commission me for work via email or Twitter
Favorite Fonts of the Month
Baymanat (RidType)
Brush Script Std. (Adobe)
Calcio (Graphic Fresh)
Obviously (Adobe)
Seashore Pro (Adobe)
Favorite Album Covers of the Month
Dende - Before We Crash
Jordan Ward ft. Ryan Trey - "White Crocs"
Luke Bar$ - Angels Never Die
Samia - Honey
SG Lewis - AudioLust & HigherLove
Favorite Show Posters of the Month
Favorite Work I Released this Month
Kayo - It Was Fun While It Lasted poster concept
Lil Yachty - Michigan Boy Boat poster concept
Lil Du Bois ft. King $ly- "playin malcolm" cover art
Babyface Ray - FACE concept in the style of Blue Note Records
"2022: Cold Beer & Ice Cream Is All We Keep, The Only Things We Really Need" playlist cover collage
Featured Resource of the Month
Featured Designer of the Month
Blog Author - Tyler Blankinship: What's up everybody! I work primarily as a freelance graphic designer focused on music work (album covers, concert flyers, merch, etc.). I've also got experience in concert planning, radio hosting, music management, and a wide array of miscellaneous music work that I've been able to get my hands on. As far as music taste goes I love a bit of everything, especially local Richmond, VA acts like Fly Anakin, Lucy Dacus, McKinley Dixon, and Benét. Some of my favorite outside acts that I've gotten to see perform in Richmond are Smino, Mac Miller, Robert Glasper, & Courtney Barnett. Supporting independent musicians, especially Virginians, is one of the most important things to me so joining HearRVA felt incredibly natural when I started living in Richmond full time this year.
I liked how this article balanced timely reporting with analysis that will likely hold up well beyond just this particular news cycle. The author connected a specific development to broader patterns worth understanding regardless of how this particular story eventually unfolds. That balance made the piece feel valuable both as a timely update and as a genuinely lasting resource. I found the analysis especially useful, offering a framework I can apply to similar situations going forward. This piece delivers news and insights that feel considerably more durable than a typical quick update. Thanks for such a durable and genuinely framework-building piece.
There's a certain kind of writing that feels effortless to read even when the subject matter itself is fairly dense, and this online blog pulled that off impressively well. I went in expecting a fairly dry overview of the topic, but instead found myself genuinely engaged from start to finish. The examples used throughout did a great job of grounding some of the more abstract concepts in something relatable. It's clear a lot of research went into putting this together, but it never came across as overly academic or hard to follow. I also liked that the piece didn't try to cover too much ground at once, which kept everything feeling focused. This has quickly become one of my favorite…