My parents have this record wall in our dining room, and when I was thinking of how I could find “design in the wild” while self isolated, this record wall was the first place I looked. For this assignment, I chose Billy Joel’s album Streetlife Serenade because I have always liked it’s uniqueness, and because I felt it was perfect for this particular assignment.

One of the reasons that I love this album is because it’s very different from the other ones shown on the wall. Almost every other record features the artist on the cover, but this one doesn’t. At first glance, this just looks like a vintage painting of a town rather than an album, and I think that is a part of what makes it such an interesting album cover. I also really like this album because it is very simple as a whole but shows a lot of detail if you really look into the image. It’s a very pretty and cool picture.

The reason that I thought this cover was fitting for the wild design concept is because while the record itself is design, there are also design elements featured within the image. For example, there are elements such as store signs and posters in the image that are themselves graphic design. Other elements, such as shadows from the different structures and a contrast of lighting in the sky, on the cars, and on the windows show the presence of light. There is also some graffiti on the side of the tan building which I think is a unique stylistic element. All of these bits of graphic design within the image add to the detail and uniqueness of this cover.