Interview was made by Ed Ricketts for ImagineFX magazine in january 2007

How did you get into designing album art?

When I was a child I fell in love with Iron Maidens artwork and those great pictures are the reason why I did start to paint and draw in the first place. At some point I wanted to do artworks for albums and when the first possibility came, I really was enthusiastic. That was CD-artwork for Finnish band ‘Afterworld’. That cover was never to be used, they chose a cover made by Joe Petagno(famous artist who did covers for ‘Motörhead’ and other heavy metal bands). It was a good decision because when I look at that cover now, I think it wasn’t all that great.

But with that project I took the first step into the world of album artwork and I received new projects related. I made CD-artwork for ‘Wizzard’ back in 2000 and that was the first album artwork that was released and done by me. Since then I have made a lot of different album artwork projects for bands around the world and seems that more and more projects are on their way.

What are the differences between in creating a general piece of art versus a CD/album cover? What are the most important things to bear in mind?

The square shape of the CD canvas is different from the normal canvas that I use, which creates some difficulties in the designing process. I have to think how to place the band logo and the album title, you have to leave room for those. Usually bands use cover artwork also in posters, shirts etc. And that is also one of the things that I need to keep in my mind.

How much does the music itself influence a cover design, if at all?
Obviously areas such as heavy metal suggest a certain visual style, but how far does that go?

Naturally music influence a lot. I always try to have lyrics and demo versions from the album before I start the work. That way it is much easier to find those right feelings which get me inspired. Seems that I do good job with that because very often customers say that I found just the right look for their cover and are really happy with the artwork. Projects where customers trust me and give me the freedom are usually the best projects. If band sets too tight guidelines for me, artwork rarely will become the best one possible.

What happens if the band, record company, stylist or anyone else wants to completely change your designs? In your experience, how far should you compromise?

Usually customers are satisfied with my work but sometimes they do want to change something and I will do those changes – my goal is that both customer and I are 100% satisfied with the outcome. But there are naturally limits how much one can compromise. Sometimes I got customers who want all kind of changes but they really don’t know what they actually do want and it’s those customers usually don’t understand that I can’t make all that extra work for free of charge.

Do you get much feedback from fans about your covers?

I get quite a lot of feedback from fans and that is always really nice to receive, but fans are not the only ones who send me positive feedback. Many magazines and webzines mentions my artwork, when they do reviews from the albums or if they interview the bands.