Z. by Mike Ambach

Z., originally uploaded by Mike Ambach.

~/–, by dalioPhoto

~/–,, originally uploaded by dalioPhoto.

Untitled by Dan!e|e

Untitled, originally uploaded by Dan!e|e.

Boots

Boots, originally uploaded by tom_gifford.

London, April 11th, 2013 by The Gentleman Amateur

London, April 11th, 2013, originally uploaded by The Gentleman Amateur.

Non-place #8: Scrap field by magastrom

Non-place #8: Scrap field, originally uploaded by magastrom.

Untitled by Mr_ina

Untitled, originally uploaded by Mr_ina.

I haven't the foggiest what's going on in this photo but I love it. Some kind of Fawlty Towers moment presumably?

Zeiss Ikoflex 1 by Milda Batakyte

Zeiss Ikoflex 1, originally uploaded by Milda Batakyte.

German matchbox label by Shailesh Chavda

German matchbox label, originally uploaded by Shailesh Chavda.

As seen on the excellent Present and Correct blog.

Secret 7"

A while back I entered the Secret 7" competition and I was lucky enough to have one of my designs picked. It's a really nice idea, they got people to design 100 covers for 7 different 7" records which were then sold off for charity at £40 each on Record Store Day. The Guardian ran an article on Secret 7" here which will probably explain it better than I can.

There were some properly talented people involved like Ai Weiwei, Gilbert & George, David Shrigley. Buyers didn't get to see who had designed which cover, so you might end up with one of the 350 covers designed by a famous designer/artist, or alternatively you might be less fortunate and end up with one of mine...

You weren't allowed to use the name of the recording artist or song title in your design so that buyers wouldn't know which of the seven different records they were getting either. My design was for one of Nas' tracks, 'The Don'. I found it surprisingly tricky to design without any text, but I had a look through my existing photos and found one of a London car park I thought might work well.

My original photo which formed the basis of the design. 

My design lurking on the shelf waiting for unsuspecting customers.

Fame at last, I'd secretly been hoping they'd order it by surname and I'd appear next to Gilbert & George...

Me, trying to look all cool and nonchalant (and failing miserably)

Most importantly, the whole event raised thousands of pounds for charity. This year's proceeds go to Art Against Knives, who tackle knife crime through a series of creative initiatives. All in all it was a great experience. I love music and still buy bits of vinyl now and again so the idea of designing my own record cover was something of a dream come true and I'm looking forward to giving it another go next year. 

Untitled by Jamie Mellor

Untitled, originally uploaded by Jamie Mellor.

Your time will come by A.MILLAR

Your time will come, originally uploaded by A.MILLAR.