A RECORD sleeve created by a York brand design agency for folk artist Kate Rusby has been pitched against albums covers from international artists including Katy Perry and Gorillaz in a UK art competition.

The cover for Kate Rusby’s 2016 album Life in a Paper Boat was designed by the team at Lazenby Brown, based in the Shambles.

Now the sleeve is subject to public scrutiny after being shortlisted in the Best Art Vinyl 2017 awards, which is determined by a public vote.

Lazenby Brown worked with York-based artist David Baumforth on creating the sleeve, which has been shortlisted in the final 50 of the competition alongside album covers from Queens of the Stone Age, Beck and Bonobo.

Lazenby Brown director Mat Lazenby, who is a fan of Kate Rusby music, won the deal to design her album having previously done the design work for her family festival Underneath the Stars.

He said: “I got a involved as a designer for the festival and got to know Kate’s team. She was releasing a new album and they wanted a change in direction for the cover as previously they had been pictures of her.

“We were given free reign with Kate’s album. It’s called Life in a Paper Boat, so I was thinking in terms of seas and oceans and wanted to do something that evoked the vision of the world.

“Also there’s a song on the album called The Mermaid so there’s a mermaid etched into the paper sleeve.

“The feedback from Kate has been great, she absolutely loves it, and even had it as her profile picture on social media for a while. We’ve got a great working relationship with her.”

The Lazenby Brown team have created record sleeves for other artists through working with record labels such as Ninja Turtle and Big Dada.

They have also done further work with Kate Rusby, creating a cartoon video for her children’s character Big Brave Bill, a super hero Yorkshire miner, working in conjunction with York-based Inkblot Films.

They will find out if they are a winner of the Best Art Vinyl 2017 award when winner’s are announced on January 9, 2018.