brain magazine

The cover I made for Japan-based Brain magazine! The topic of the magazine’s issue was creative addition. My first thought was to steer away from the negative connotation of the word “addiction”, and focus on a different meaning. From my point of view, nowadays it is very important to show creative addiction in one’s professional field. This thought reminded me of a Nike ad campaign I liked, dream crazier. One may think “crazy” is bad, but the campaign explored a positive, inspirational meaning. Similarly, since ancient times, the obsession to grasp more, to know more, to expand one’s horizons has pushed men towards greater and more ambitious goals. From Copernicus’ heliocentric model, Leonardo da Vinci’s use of aerial perspective, the discovery of the atom or the serendipitous one of penicillin, to Sigmund Freud’s speculations about the subconscious or the scalable invention of renewable energy storage. This was the type of creative addiction I was thinking about when working on this cover. As a guest designer, I wanted to show my interest and respect for Japanese culture, but I wished at the same time to combine it with my background. Since the cover of this Brain Magazine issue is due to hit shelves in June, I wanted to draw upon the season and work with the theme of “blooming”. I read that June is the flowering period of Azaleas, Iris, wisteria and peonies in Japan. I focused my attention on peony and its shapes, since figures and lines are my creative addiction. Thus, my graphic and message “let your creative addiction bloom” on the theme proposed by Brain Magazine. I liked the idea that a simple shape like a circle, placed in a certain context, can turn into blossoming peonies or perhaps even hint to the Japanese flag. After that, I began my process of “subtracting” form and looked for minimalist decoration to finalize the composition.