Making Vinyl Magazine, Cover Design, 2026

My aim was to illustrate how vinyl is a culture carrying object. How it inevitably becomes an artefact, a record of not only sound, but a snapshot of time and a vessel of memory. That process doesn’t end with the first playback, it continues with every listen, every fingerprint on the sleeve, every event that happens when those sounds are played. Records capture memories of the people you were with when you heard them, they become ritual objects. The wild nature in the image is symbolic of what this interaction with culture can grow over time.

There is within the image the natural record of time within tree rings, and the folklore of ancient stones carrying within them both sounds and images of the past. I certainly believe that places and things carry memory with them. The Jay is symbolic. The Jay helps re-wilding by moving heavy seeds to open cleared fields, here they symbolise the intention and effort required to contribute positively to our future. Building shade for future generations. We need to consider what we put out into the world and also what we conserve and protect both in nature and culture.