MIKA
This illustration of fishing lures (Some real, some made up) is from a book and EP called Songs Of Sorrow by the singer Mika. I designed and art directed the book, which was slightly awkward because it involved art-directing illustration legend Jim Woodring.
I also designed Mika’s debut album Life In Cartoon Motion. This was a collaboration between me and his sister Yasmine Penniman (AKA DaWack). I would design the layouts and she would hand paint them, adding her own characters, then I would re-collage them into the final designs. An unorthodox process but it worked well for us. We designed two albums and a bunch of singles this way, plus I directed the video for the single Relax. It was a mad time because Mika was really blowing up as a pop-star and I was hanging around on the fringes of that. He was still living at home with his family and I’d go round for a cup of tea and his mum would give me delicious Lebanese food. I miss Mika and his lovely family.
