Chasing Magnolias

This is Nava’s first studio album ever — written, rapped, produced, and published during his first year at med school. I wanted the cover to match his sad-at-times, mad-at-times, still nostalgic mood. Inspired by the Chinese proverb, 花开花落 (translated into Flowers bloom, flowers wilt), I tried to capture his acceptance that life is equal parts good and bad in the end.

Process

He sent me a poem he had written, titled magnolia. An excerpt:
This flower between us, small, fragile, and blue.
We held it tight.
A memory, tugging at the roots
we planted in our chest.
With every beat fell a petal, rocking slowly
toward cracked earth
below
Drawing all the magnolias in my neighborhood.
Oggling at James Jean’s Eternal Journey exhibit at the Lotte Museum.
Watching Avatar: the Last Airbender for the 10239812048th time.
Fresh-eyes at the traditional Korean jewelry box my aunt gave me.
Starting on paper + pencil, as always. Moving onto iPad for layers and color. Scrapped ideas. Advocating for my vision. Back to the drawing board. Nava is wowed. Final on Adobe Illustrator.