Richard originally asked me to make a cover for his song, “Stay.” The song’s lyrics are fraught with inner turmoil about romantic commitment — the promises of happiness and fidelity that neither  side can guarantee.

When drafting the cover, I incorporated texture with pixel brushes I’ve been learning to use, along with my traditional vector style. For the back, I maintained the design theme but made it strictly minimalist, in order to balance out the vibrance and detail of the front.

For the concept, I was particularly inspired by a scene in the title song of “Banana Fish” (MAPPA Studios, 2018). In it, Eiji is standing atop a mountain in the breeze, looking into the distance as feathers fall around him. This is one of the most memorable anime shows I’ve watched, highly recommended and available on Amazon Prime.

I put my spin on this scene with the album's artists, Richard and Gene, looking through the image and beyond the viewer, while doves take off above their heads. These same doves are flying in the back cover, but now they're little more than specks in the distance -- as if much time has passed. 

Below are my original sketches, which I then recreated digitally on my iPad Pro, and finally exported into Photoshop to include text.