Humpback Whale songs are transferred from year to year. They evolve similarly to the verbally transmitted tribal lore of Aboriginal cultures from where the term Songlines is derived. Songlines documents the evolution of the intricate and beautiful East Australian Humpback song. Stephen used the audio waveform of each year's Whale song as the unifying theme for the design. Each piece has a unique fingerprint that visually shows the progression of the audio over time. As a result, the cover and booklet design accurately reflected the hour of pristine digital recordings selected from five different years between 1992 and 2008, drawing the listener into this mysterious and majestic world.

Photography: Dr. Trish Franklin & Dr. Wally Franklin
Recording and Mastering: Mark Franklin
Creative Direction: Stephen Franklin
Graphic Design: Stephen Franklin
Illustration: Stephen Franklin
Cover and CD showing the progression of the Whale song over five different years.
Stephen went with a clean white cover, allowing the audio waveforms to be easily identifiable.
This walk through of the design shows the audio waveform used to define each section of the booklet and the Whale song it relates to.
CD booklet cover and internal page spread of the 1992 Humpback Whale Songline.
The line work represents the axis of movement the whales have in their environment.
Internal page spread of the 1998 Humpback Whale Songline.
This page shows the background image 'fingerprint' of the whale song audio for the 1998 Songline.
Original pencil illustration for the Songlines cover artwork.
Franklin began with a pencil illustration for the front cover which he later developed into a digital illustration.
Final cover art showing the fingerprint of each whale song.
The completed digital illustration for the Songlines cover, showing the fluid shape of a Humpback whale swimming up through the slices of Whale song audio.

View more projects

Tony Ferguson Product Range
Creative direction and design development for the Tony Ferguson range of calorie-controlled weight loss products. This involved designing and producing finished artwork for a range of packaging types from foil bags through to shrink wrapped bottles.
Citroshield
Tony Ferguson Classic Shake Packaging
Terry White Chemists Rapid Shake Range
Design and rollout of the Terry White Chemists Rapid Shake Range for the Ishimodo Brand and Design Agency. Included the design development and finished artwork for five SKUs (Stock-Keeping Units) based on supplied design handover.
VLCD Packaging Design and Brand Identity
Creative direction and brand development of Tony Ferguson’s VLCD meal replacement shake range for the Ishimodo Brand and Design Agency.
Strive Protein Bar Packaging & POS
Design development and production of the Ferguson Nutrition range of Strive Protein Bars for the Ishimodo Brand and Design Agency. Included the design of the product shippers and development of in-store Point-of-Sale material.
iWhales DVD Video Covers & Title Menu Design
Creative Direction and design of The Oceania Project's DVD collection. Included print production for the range and authoring of the DVD menus for each title.
Jewellery Stand Industrial Design
Creative development and industrial design of a jewellery display stand. Used at wholesale trade shows by Vivant Creations for their bracelets and other jewellery products.
Slavutych Beer Artwork
Finished artwork for a Slavutych Beer bottle label based on design files created by LFH Brand Identity.
Vivant Spirit Product Range & Packaging
Creative direction and design development of the Vivant Spirit range of products and packaging, including candles, wall canvases and other homeware items.
Back to Top