New York-based designer Shangning Wang has created these intricate designs for a new album from Chinese rock band Chinos's new album. The imagery takes the form of delicate monochrome illustrations, weaving natural reference points into something that feels crisp and modern. According to Wang, one of the concepts informing the work was the idea that designing for music means designing the “audiences’ visual memory of the music.”
For his approach to this sleeve, he looked to the album’s themes of creams and fairytales. “Some research on dreams suggests that the vast majority of people actually used to dream in black and white,” says Wang, “which means there are no popping colours to draw focus.
“In order to to demonstrate and visualise Chinos’ songs. I decided to combine black and white illustrations with a flexible layout to express its spirits. The partnership of black and white in the illustrations is an ideal match of opposites. The purity of white, coupled with the mystery of black, shows a balance on the eyes which can produce a powerful emotional response, so elements such as type, illustrations and graphics take on an added importance.
“I wish to remind the audiences of their own dreams, hoping to make them stop for a minute, and start to create their fairy tales.”
Get the best of Creative Boom delivered to your inbox weekly