An album identity built around the instrument

The cover centres on a guitar tuning machine: the worm gear, screws, metal plate and tuning button usually encountered as a small functional detail. Isolated against an off-white background, it becomes the subject in its own right. The worn metal gives the image texture and character, while the surrounding space keeps the composition quiet.

Black typography establishes the artist’s name, with the album title picked out in olive green. That limited palette gives the packaging a clear hierarchy and a recognisable relationship between text and image. The design reflects the title through restraint, leaving the instrument’s construction and material qualities to carry the visual interest.

CD packaging, booklet layout and disc artwork

Album packaging brings several different reading tasks into a small format. The front cover introduces the record; the back cover presents the songs; the interior holds photographs, recording credits and acknowledgements. My design work connected these elements through typography, image placement and a consistent approach to colour.

On the back cover, the track titles and running times form a compact, readable list beside a closer view of the tuning mechanism and its wooden mounting. On the printed CD, the same visual vocabulary moves into a circular composition. The hardware photograph, artist name, album title and track listing are arranged around the disc’s centre aperture.

The interior booklet layout integrates portrait photography with the production information, bringing Freddy himself into a package whose exterior focuses on the instrument. It gives the album a human presence while maintaining continuity with the cover and disc.

Freddy Koella, James Trussart and the character of the guitars

A guitarist, violinist and composer from Mulhouse, France, Freddy Koella has worked with musicians including Willy DeVille, Bob Dylan, Lhasa de Sela, k.d. lang and Francis Cabrel. Minimal presents his own instrumental compositions, bringing the focus onto his playing and the sound of the guitars. Read more about Freddy’s musical background.

The photographs also connect the project with Freddy’s friend, French guitar designer and luthier James Trussart. Working from Los Angeles, Trussart is known for custom steel-bodied guitars whose engraved, weathered and patinated surfaces give each instrument a distinctive visual character. Freddy plays his instruments and appears in Trussart’s official artist roster.

Trussart also took several of the photographs used in the album’s promotional graphics. The portrait below shows Freddy holding one of his metal-bodied instruments. Its metallic surface brings another expression of material and craftsmanship into the project, alongside the close-up guitar hardware on the album cover.

Promotional graphics beyond the album sleeve

The project extended into web banners, online publicity graphics and downloadable desktop wallpapers. These gave the album a consistent presence beyond its packaging, combining portrait photography with the cover image, album title and artist-name typography.

The wallpapers use different photographic moods within a shared layout system. Dark studio portraits, an outdoor guitar photograph and a black-and-white close-up each receive a composition suited to the image. Vertical lettering, compact cover thumbnails and carefully placed title treatments connect them as a family while allowing the photographs room to work.