Vinyl Cover

Seeing Sounds

Seeing Sounds is the third studio album by the American rock band N.E.R.D., released on June 10, 2008. The album plays with the idea of literally “seeing” sound, drawing from Pharrell Williams’ personal experience with sensory perception and how music shapes the world around him.

This project was created for my third Illustration course in my fifth semester. For the assignment, I designed a vinyl cover for the album Seeing Sounds, aiming to capture the overall vibe of its tracks while playfully visualizing the concept of experiencing music through synesthesia.

I closed my eyes, and that's when it started...

This design was inspired by Pharrell Williams’ personal experience with synesthesia and how N.E.R.D. translated the concept into the tracks of their album. Each track had a blend of instruments/genres, with each instrumentation being unique to one another. (They basically knew how well their sounds work)

I aimed to create a visual that evokes the sensory overlap of the condition, while also reflecting the band’s (or The Neptunes’) signature futuristic sound and cosmic, outer-space aesthetic. However, it was very tricky to put the idea into design as I went through multiple concepts before finalizing it.

Illustrating Sounds

I chose to create line focused art inspired by soundwaves to represent both the sound of music and the colorful vibrations that come with it. I mainly pulled colors from original Seeing Sounds album concept. Many of these visuals often lean into outer space or sky-like environments to reflect the futuristic feel of their music production. Because of this, I chose a dark grey background, which not only supports that atmosphere but also creates a strong contrast that helps the colorful soundwave illustrations stand out.

It’s N.E.R.D!

The members of N.E.R.D are illustrated in a simplified, non-realistic style that keeps them recognizable through key shapes and features. They appear as a repeating motif on the cover to emphasize each member’s contribution to the album, especially Pharrell Williams and his sound-driven production approach.

Each member is tied to a specific color that reflects their role. Shay Haley is represented by electric orange for his energetic vocals, while Chad Hugo is represented by blazing pink to highlight the album’s layered instrumentation. Pharrell is represented by an outer-space teal to reflect the project’s storytelling and production style.