Hey kiddo!
So now that you have intimate knowledge of the failure that is my album cover creation process, (unless you missed those ones, which can be found here in the archive) I think it’s time to show you what actually made it to the final cover.
After lamenting about my failures with my buddy Sean Cusson of COMPUTRONIC, we started spitballing ideas. After trying to salvage the staked heart idea, we decided it just wasn’t going to deliver the message I wanted, so we scrapped it.
A classic bite mark was suggested, but we decided that was a little to cliche. It’s been done a million times before. Plus, it was a little too on-the-nose for the Love Bites title. I really wanted to play both sides of the idiom; “Love Bites”, the playful nibbles that a puppy might give you on your fingers, and “Love Bites” the idea that sometimes being in love (or out of love) can feel like more pain than it’s worth.
So Sean came up with the brilliant idea to turn the blood dripping from the wound into a heart shape. Does it perfectly encapsulate the idea? No, not really. Does it look cool? HELL YEAH.
From a humble sketch, to the final product:
Pretty awesome, huh? Wait, does that sound like bragging? Again, I just feel like I’m along for the ride here, just as surprised as (hopefully) you guys are. I went from bummed about the crappy heart picture, to totally blown away by Sean’s artwork.
Not only that, but he went above and beyond to design a GORGEOUS cassette package, making it something really special. You’re gonna love it. But I’m not going to show it off here, cause I want the cassette owners to be surprised by how awesome it is.
I’m waiting on one last detail before I launch preorders. I’ve got this super awesome extra thing in the works, but I can’t announce it until I’m 100% sure I can pull it off. It’ll be unlike anything you’ve ever seen sold by a musician, and it will be so Vampire Step-Dad you’ll laugh and roll your eyes and want one all at the same time. Hopefully, anyway.
Thanks so much for all the positive response to the last two emails. I had a lot of fun writing them, and I’m glad you guys are enjoying them. I plan on doing this sort of thing more often.
Actually, I have something ELSE in the works that’s directly related to your response on the last two emails. One lucky person is going to get something one-of-a-kind from your dear ol’ step-dad.
OK, enough of my babbling. I hope your week starts off awesome, and stays that way.
Vlad, your Vampire Step-Dad
