yahya abdul-basser.
@THELIFEOFYAHYA · NEW YORK
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Album Art Collection

17 covers

  • The Heartbreak SagaThe Heartbreak Saga (EP)for me
  • The Hopeful / The Lost / The LoverThe Heartbreak Saga (chapters)for me
  • the return?The Heartbreak Saga (single)for me
  • THE VAULTTHE VAULT (EP)for me
  • specialTHE VAULT (EP)for me
  • American DreamAmerican Dreamfor me
  • BEAUTIFUL/BROKENBEAUTIFUL/BROKEN (unreleased EP)for me
  • summerluv.September Singlesfor me
  • styll summer.September Singlesfor me
  • twenty-one.September Singlesfor me
  • HIATUSUnreleasedfor me
  • (re)memoryFreshman writing seminarfor me
  • Life LionLife Lion (single)for Töph
  • Life Lion (alternate)Life Lion (single)for Töph
  • valentine's dayvalentine's day (single)for Töph
  • Bye Bye SavannahBye Bye Savannah (single)for Indie pop-rock artist
  • SANDSTORMSANDSTORM (single)for Featured artist single

How I make them

These covers weren’t made as one project. They came together over years, release by release, for my own music and for artists I love. What ties them together is the process, and I do all of it myself:

  • Sketching and drawing. Most covers start on paper: thumbnails, symbols, hand lettering. Some, like the Life Lion alternate, stay hand-drawn all the way through.
  • Composition. I lay out the idea before any photo is taken, so the type, the subject and the empty space are planned together.
  • Photography and lighting. When a cover needs a photo, I style it, light it and shoot it. The purple Bluelight Sessions behind The Hopeful trilogy and The Heartbreak Saga are mine end to end.
  • Photoshop. This is where everything meets: collage, texture, color and handwriting layered over photos until the cover feels like the song.

It’s a mixed-media approach. Each cover has to work on its own, tiny on a phone screen, and still feel like it came from the same hands.