Hmayra

In 2017 I did the album artwork for Shubh Saran's modern-jazz fusion album Hmayra. You can read about the album concept on Shubh's website. At the bottom of this page you'll find a few music videos for songs from Hmayra.

Sketches

Shubh sent me demos of his songs and I let myself get completely lost in them, pen and sketchbook in hand. Shown below are notes and sketches from listening to an early version of the album.

Concept

As per Shubh, the album title Hmayra is an ancient Syriac word that roughly translates to hostage. In ancient Syriac, this word didn't have the negative connotation that the translation may suggest, but rather represented a sacrifice for a greater good.

To convey this concept I chose to center the design around a camel - an animal that conveys sacrifice and hard work. These creatures have evolved to live in some of the harshest conditions in the world, embarking on long journeys while carrying heavy loads. Camels are most famous for inhabiting the Middle East and Asia, which hints at the Eastern sound influences in Shubh’s music.

People used to think that camels carried water in their humps - a myth that I've played with by portraying the camel as carrying an ocean on its back. I've drawn a ship floating in the ocean to symbolize the outside world and the audience for Shubh's projects and performances.

I generally like to fuse together structures/machines with organics in my artwork. This style aligned well with the album's core theme of The Profane and The Sacred. The structures and the machines represent The Profane, while the organics represent The Sacred.

One of the more noticeable elements in the design is the staircase/pyramid at the back of the camel. The pattern of sound loops in Hmayra made me think of an endless flight of stairs while the heavy bass and thumping sounds brought to mind images of huge physical structures like pyramids.

Final Design

Shown below is my final ink drawing for Hmayra. Dylan Aiello did the styling and graphic design for the actual album cover, also shown below. 

Music of Hmayra

You can listen to Hmayra on Spotify and Apple Music. I’ve also included music videos for some of my favorite songs from the album!