For Wet Bandits' Bad Tattoos & Weathermen album campaign, I led the visual direction across artwork, merchandise, packaging, and promotional assets, creating a surreal illustrated world that unfolded throughout the release.

The project began with an unexpected creative prompt from frontman Finn: a dream about a fat cat riding a Shetland pony. Acting as a metaphor for the weight of bad habits and self-destructive tendencies, the image became the foundation for the album's visual identity and evolved into a narrative that carried across every stage of the rollout.

The objective was to create a distinctive and cohesive visual universe that reflected the band's personality, while supporting the storytelling behind the album through illustration, symbolism, and world-building.

Services:

• Illustration

• Album Artwork Design

• Vinyl Packaging Design

• Merchandise Design

• Tour Poster Design

• Creative Direction

The Challenge: Develop a visual identity that could support an extended album campaign while remaining flexible across multiple formats and releases. The artwork needed to feel memorable, character-driven, and uniquely tied to the themes of Bad Tattoos & Weathermen, while giving each single release its own place within a larger narrative.

The Solution: Drawing inspiration from the textured grit of modern indie rock visuals and the nostalgic attitude of classic British rock culture, I created a series of custom illustrations centred around the recurring horse-and-cat characters. The initial artwork established the visual language for the campaign, introducing a sun-drenched, surreal world filled with texture, character, and symbolism.

The visual identity continued to evolve through promotional assets, including the New Zealand leg of the Bad Tattoos & Weathermen tour.

For the tour poster, I revisited the established artwork and introduced a bold orange colour palette inspired by the It's No Use single artwork. The original illustrations were recoloured and reworked, while the hand-drawn typography was retained to preserve the campaign's personality. Clean supporting type was introduced for improved hierarchy and legibility, creating a fresh interpretation of the existing visual language.

Results

The finished campaign transformed a single dream-inspired concept into a fully realised album universe spanning artwork, merchandise, packaging, motion design, and live promotion.

By developing a strong narrative foundation and consistent visual language, the project created a recognisable identity that accompanied the band throughout the album rollout while giving fans multiple ways to engage with the world surrounding the music.

This collaboration demonstrates the value of long-form visual storytelling within music branding, where a single concept can grow into an expansive creative ecosystem across physical and digital touch points.