The band Bad Suns has been super important to my life and my art since I discovered their second album Disappear Here in 2016 (see right). The cover of that album is what made me first interested in designing covers for musicians. The music on their 4th album, 2022’s Apocalypse Whenever, has become very important to me but there’s one thing that bothers me: the cover (see left).
This is my rebrand of one of my favorite albums and my favorite graphic design project I’ve completed to date. The project started as a rejection of the band’s misuse of a Native American symbol as well as the belief that the message of the 2022 album could be furthered by more specific visuals.
The refrain of Apocalypse Whenever says:
“Life tried to break me down,
love broke my heart.
Made my mistakes, have I learned from them all?
Life’s not been pretty but I’m still not ready to die.”
With this and the band’s general image in mind, I set to work creating a cover, symbol, merch and tour poster for the band.
Here’s my concept art.
