2014 was a tough year for album design. Maybe we can blame the economy for that. Not enough money for musicians means not enough money to pay photographers and designers to make musicians and music look their best. Tons of albums came across my desk this year; many of them with unintended subtexts, such as "Hey, my friend's got Photoshop!", "DIY, baby!" or "Look at this blurry iPhone photo that has half my face and most of my armpit in it!"

Some albums were so weirdly designed I didn't eve...