Mike Farrell- Graphic Designer

'I guess graphic design is the umbrella term that covers illustration, typography, and design. Typography is the design and composition of letters or words, just as illustration is the design and composition of images. When all those elements come together it’s referred to as Graphic Design. There’s a lot more that goes into it, but I will leave it at that.'- Mike Farrell.

Mike Farrell is the graphic designer at Fearless Records. I emailed him a couple of month ago, asking questions about his work and his role in creating a CD for a band/artist.
I tried searching for some of his work, and I found he has helped design the quite popular 'Punk Goes...' albums. (Punk Goes Pop, Punk Goes Classic Rock, ect.)

Next I went onto the Fearless Records' website and looked through all their albums.
I printscreened some and grouped a couple from the same artist together for comparison.

I think it is amazing how the only similarities there are are when artists have several or more than one albums and there is a look about them. But if you look at Blessthefall and Mayday Parade, they are completely different.
Looking at one specific artist, let's say Tonight Alive, there are some similarities that create an image for that band. First noticable thing is the main text, where it shows the audience the band name. This is the same on 3 of the album covers I can find. Another similarity is that none feature a picture of the band. They have illustrations which all look like they have been done by the same artist (Not particularly Mike Farrell. He probably did the text on the cover.) They are all quite simple, and very interesting.

Mike is incredibly good at typography, and you can definately see this in these album covers. He was interviewed by Jeff Fuller and the interview was put onto his website; http://www.rebelliousreflection.com/?p=1089

He thinks his first exposure to typography was his childhoods friends older brother. He would write graffiti style letters in a notebook and Mike wanted to copy that. This interested died down during highschool and pick back up again in college. In college he worked in a small graphics shop with a friend who got him back into it. This friend taught him a little more about typography, such as the do's and don't's.
He says he is insprired by sinage in and around L.A. He takes pictures throughout the city when he sees something interesting them tried to incorporate it into his drawings. Also being around his friends and taking inspiration from their work.