Deafheaven – Sunbather album art
The cover artwork for Sunbather was designed by Nick Steinhardt who also designed the band’s 2011 debut album Roads to Judah. The pink and orange colors on the cover are meant to resemble the color seen on the inside of one’s eyelids when lying in the sun.
The inspiration to have the title written out in a simple block formation was drawn from Pulp’s 2001 album We Love Life. George Clarke named the album Sunbather because “that’s the feeling it gives me. It is the sadness and the frustration and the anger that comes with striving for perfection. Dreaming of warmth and love despite the pain of idealism.” He recalled watching a woman in a wealthy neighborhood sunbathing on her front lawn and juxtaposed her life with his as an uneducated, poor, struggling 22-year-old.
The lettering was extended into a typeface by the same name: Sunbather. Referencing early 20th century experiments by Swiss typographer Jan Tschichold, Sunbather challenges your eye to infer what isn’t there. Sinewy curves meet sharp serifs to entrance the viewer’s gaze.
The Regular weight stays true to the original font, while an added lowercase, diacritics, and stylistic alternates allow you to change terminal shapes or add in serifs that were purposefully omitted in the original. Two new masters were drawn – a delicate ‘Thin’ and a newly redrawn sturdy ‘Black’. Interpolated between these two, five more weights were added, expanding the family to count seven weights.
10 years anniversary release with colored vinyl and die cut stencil detail.
1 Comment on “Deafheaven – Sunbather album art”
Love this album, it’s so intense and melodical. Didn’t know it was a typeface commissioned. So cool. 💪🏼 Thanks for sharing.