For this project, I was provided with an empty cover layout for a zine called Bluster, and my job was to make a cover illustration relevant to one the headlines. Bluster's cover featured interesting and unusual stories, aiming for a mix of coolness and humor. The task was first to provide cover concepts, then comprehensive sketches, and then ultimately a full-color illustration.
The headline story I illustrated was “Elon Musk Names His Baby,” an article about the news at the time of Musk giving his newborn child the name "X Æ A-12." After my initial brainstorming, I provided two dozen thumbnail sketches with a mix of ideas either leaning toward the magazine’s humorous tone or aiming for its “cool” tone. These included some concepts with direct portrayals of Elon Musk or his companies like SpaceX and Tesla, while some instead relied on visual reference, associations, and symbolism for ways that could approach the subject matter indirectly. I was assigned to move forward with a concept that portrayed a baby astronaut floating in space. The composition aims to mirror a fetus in the womb, with the space suit’s tether being a metaphor for the umbilical cord (which was then angled in the direction that the headline was placed in the cover layout). The space suit itself was based on the ones used by SpaceX, in reference to Musk’s aerospace company
Initial thumbnail sketches (left) and then comprehensive draft sketches of alternative approaches that were explored
Comprehensive sketch (left) and final solution with provided cover contents (right).
(Note: Zine masthead and cover layout not my design, my role in this project covers only the illustration.)
(Note: Zine masthead and cover layout not my design, my role in this project covers only the illustration.)