Chₓt*yₓncy is an album cover for Fibr built around the idea of chatoyancy. The final direction focuses on a leopard resting on a weathered branch, surrounded by an isolated desert landscape and suspended visual elements.
The artwork combines hand-drawn illustration with real desert photographs created specifically for the release. I developed the cover as more than a single image: the final package included the master artwork, source materials, social and physical-release mockups, and 15 delivered assets.
Cover artIllustrationArt directionEditorial designVisual storytelling
Client
My role
Designer and illustrator.
Concept development, illustration, composition, typography, colour direction, photo integration, mockups, and final asset preparation.
Duration
Tools
3000×3000
Final master cover resolution in pixels
15
Delivered assets across the album package
Overview
The central focus of the artwork is a leopard resting on a weathered branch — a symbol of patience, tension, and quiet observation. The desert landscape reinforces isolation and timelessness, while suspended ropes and a ribcage introduce a poetic contrast between life and stillness.
The final composition balances a detailed illustrated subject with a deliberately calm editorial layout. Soft shading, controlled colour harmony, and smooth desert tones keep the atmosphere quiet while allowing the leopard and surrounding narrative elements to remain visually dominant.
The business context
The album title, “chxtoyxncy”, is a stylised spelling of “chatoyancy”. The client’s initial direction was intentionally open, with several possible visual routes built around a leopard, a ribcage, and a desert tree.
The project needed to translate these separate ideas into one coherent visual language that could work as an album cover and also extend into promotional and physical-release applications.
Research and discovery
The initial brief proposed several possible directions: a leopard resting in a Joshua tree in the desert; an upside-down hanging tree inspired by the Hanging Man tarot and pittura infamante; and a close-up of a leopard’s eye with a ribcage integrated into the iris.
I explored these directions through sketches before developing the final composition. The selected route combined the strongest narrative elements — the leopard, desert, weathered tree, suspended ropes, and ribcage — into a single editorial scene.
Real photographs of the desert were created specifically for the release. I used these photographs as environmental references and visual source material, integrating their landscape and dead-tree forms into the illustrated artwork rather than relying entirely on a synthetic environment.
Key decisions
The leopard became the clear focal point, positioned on the branch to communicate stillness and observation. The surrounding desert was kept visually open to strengthen the feeling of isolation.
The ropes were treated as suspended graphic elements rather than literal functional objects. Together with the ribcage, they create a sense of tension and introduce a second narrative layer beneath the calm surface of the scene.
The visual language was built around soft shading and a controlled palette. Warm sand, muted browns, and cooled sky blues create a balanced, quiet atmosphere while keeping enough contrast between the leopard, tree, and environment.
Typography was intentionally restrained and editorial. Clean sans-serif lines, controlled letterspacing, line length, and grid alignment provide structure without competing with the illustration, allowing the artwork to remain the primary focus.
What was delivered
The final 3000×3000 px album cover was delivered together with 15 assets covering the artwork and presentation system.
The package included development sketches, source photography, and presentation mockups for social media, CD, poster, and vinyl applications.
The final system demonstrates how the same visual language can move from the main digital cover into physical and promotional formats while preserving the core composition, typography, and colour direction.
