Travis Smith (born February 26, 1970) is an American

graphic artist A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, p ...

best known for designing heavy metal

album art An album cover (also referred to as album art) is the front packaging art of a commercially released studio album or other audio recordings. The term can refer to either the printed paperboard covers typically used to package sets of and 78-rpm ...

. He has been called "renowned" by ''

Alternative Press Alternative press may refer to: Individual publications * ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine Alternative journalism * Alternative media ** Alternative media (U.S. political left) ** Alternative media (U.S. political ri ...

'' and "unquestionably one of the most talented graphic artists in metal today" by '' Chronicles of Chaos''.Azevedo, Pedro (January 14, 2002).
Chaotic canvas of creation
" '' Chronicles of Chaos''. Smith has done work for many established rock and metal bands, including

Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

Devin Townsend Devin Garrett Townsend (born May 5, 1972) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He founded extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad and was its primary songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist from 1994 to 2007. He has also ...

Katatonia Katatonia are a Swedish heavy metal band formed in Stockholm in 1991 by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström. The band started as a studio-only project for the duo, as an outlet for the band's love of death metal. Increasing popularity led them to ...

Nevermore Nevermore was an American heavy metal band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1991. The band has been inactive since 2011, due to personal issues between the band members. In April 2015, lead singer Warrel Dane confirmed that Nevermore had n ...

Opeth Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal/rock band from Stockholm, formed in 1990 by lead vocalist David Isberg. The group has been through several personnel changes, including the replacement of every original member; notably Isberg in 1992. Mikael ...

Anathema Anathema, in common usage, is something or someone detested or shunned. In its other main usage, it is a formal excommunication. The latter meaning, its ecclesiastical sense, is based on New Testament usage. In the Old Testament, anathema was a cr ...

CKY CKY may refer to: * CKY (band), American rock band, formerly "Camp Kill Yourself" ** ''CKY'' (video series), named after the band **CKY crew, people involved in the video series and related projects *CKY-DT, a television station in Winnipeg, Manito ...

, Soilwork,

King Diamond Kim Bendix Petersen (born 14 June 1956), better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Danish rock musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his powerful and wide-ranging countertenor singing voice, in particular his far-reaching falsetto ...

, Novembre,

Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Zacky Vengeance, ...

Strapping Young Lad Strapping Young Lad was a Canadian extreme metal band formed by Devin Townsend in Vancouver in 1994. The band started as a one-man studio project; Townsend played most of the instruments on the 1995 debut album, '' Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing ...

Persefone Persefone is an Andorran progressive death metal band formed in October 2001.Official Persefone website, http://www.persefone.com The band's name is derived from Persephone, a figure in Greek Mythology. Overview Persefone was founded in ear ...

Riverside Riverside may refer to: Places Australia * Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania Canada * Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon * Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta * Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...

and Overkill.

History

Travis Smith was born on February 26, 1970, just outside

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Growing up, Smith had no formal art education aside from a semester in

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

. He got his start designing album covers for his friend's band,

progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad :Fusion music genres, fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven s ...

group

Psychotic Waltz Psychotic Waltz is a progressive metal band formed in El Cajon, California in 1988. Biography The first incarnation of the band was under the name Aslan, after a character in the novel '' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'' by C. S. Lewis. W ...

. As of 2005, Smith has worked with nearly 100 bands. He currently resides in San Diego.Glenday, Duncan (March 31, 2005).
Cover art and cover artists
(Part 1 of 3). ''Sea of Tranquility''. When asked what his favorite artwork is at the time, Smith has responded: "

's Terria,

Blackwater Park ''Blackwater Park'' is the fifth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. It was released on March 12, 2001 in Europe and a day later in North America through Music for Nations and Koch Records. The album marks the first collaboratio ...

, and

Last Fair Deal Gone Down "Last Fair Deal Gone Down" is a song by American blues musician Robert Johnson. It was recorded during Johnson's third recording session in San Antonio, Texas, on November 27, 1936. The song was released on a 78 rpm record in April the foll ...

Art

Smith's work base primarily consists of

for

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

bands. Smith is known for a "dark and introspective" style that is largely

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

-based, digitally composed with various other media.Glenday, Duncan (June 1, 2005).
Cover art and cover artists
(Part 3 of 3). ''Sea of Tranquility''. For example, in creating his art for

's ''

Nightmare A nightmare, also known as a bad dream, Retrieved 11 July 2016. is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong emotional response from the mind, typically fear but also despair, anxiety or great sadness. The dream may contain situations of d ...

'' (2010), Smith "did a few actual painted textures with acrylics and watercolor, scanned them, and blended them with the whole picture." For some specific parts, like the skull and the girl, Smith "would digitally paint over photos and blend them into their originals."Bennett, J. (November–December 2010). "Avenged Sevenfold's ''Nightmare'': Guitarist Zacky Vengeance and artist Travis Smith live a dark dream." ''

Revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...

''. p. 106.

List of works

References

Additional references

* Tagmatarhis, Alekos; Tsakonas, Giannis (January 16, 2005).
Interview – Travis Smith
" ''Metal Perspective''.

External links

Seempieces
Smith's studio {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Travis 1970 births Living people Artists from San Diego Album-cover and concert-poster artists