Music

If there’s one area for me where my illustration practice and my life’s loves collide, it’s the world of music. My creative career actually started directing and animating music videos for Skint Records, Domino Recording Co. and Sony Music. Since then I have designed merchandise for The Polyphonic Spree and FUN, collaborated with Rega Turntables and Jade Bird, and created bespoke artwork for a host of private record collectors and legit rock stars (NDAs in effect, sorry!).

Pop your favourite record on and have a browse through a selection of projects I have worked on below, plus of course check out the Cover Versions portfolio! If you are in the music industry and would like to discuss working together, get in touch.

  • Music Festivals

  • Album Covers

  • Performing Arts

  • Industry events

  • Music Editorial

  • Official Emojis

  • Record Labels

Colorful digital illustration of a person shopping at a merchandise market in Manchester 2025, with clothing, a hat, and a t-shirt with the word 'LOVE?' on it, set against an architectural backdrop with pink, blue, purple, and yellow hues.

Tim BURGESS’ MERCH MARKET

Coming to Manchester in 2025, a very special opportunity for bands, musicians and artists to sell their merchandise direct to the music-loving public!

Digital poster on building advertising the Manchester Maker Faire 2023 with an illustration of a person carrying a backpack and holding a showcase and a guitar, colorful graphics, and event details.
Digital illustration of a man in a suit and glasses playing the piano in front of a large letter 'O' with a hanging light bulb, set in a warm, abstract background.

THELONIOUS MONK

Paying tribute to one of the greats as we arrived in 2025. I'm never a big one for New Years resolutions, run a marathon or drink less coffee? Nope. But some years I make a promise to listen to something more, this year I'm going to listen to more jazz, older jazz, I love what's going on now, Ezra Collective and all, and I'm always listening to jazz in hip hop, but it's been a while since I went way back to the originators of jazz. I was raised on jazz, my mum always had Nina Simone and Billie Holiday on in the kitchen, my Dad started listening to Monk and Miles Davis later in life. So I owe it to myself to reconnect with the old team.

A colorful cartoon octopus with blue, green, yellow, and purple colors sitting on top of a park pavilion, with a sunset sky and pink clouds in the background, and people walking on the pavilion deck.

Tim’s Peaks Diner at Kendal Calling Festival

In Summer 2024 my sketchbook and I were invited to document Tim Peaks Diner at Kendal Calling Festival.

For the full project click here!

Sketch of four musicians playing instruments and singing on stage, including a singer with a microphone, guitarists, and a drummer.
Line drawing of a person with headphones, DJ equipment, and a laptop, with flowing lines representing sound waves or music.
Line drawing of four children playing guitars, with one child singing into a microphone, in front of a wooden wall.
A cartoon DJ wearing sunglasses, headphones, and a blue jacket, standing behind a DJ console with a colorful abstract background of swirls and bubbles in shades of pink, yellow, blue, and green.
A cartoon-style illustration of a band performing on stage with musical instruments, red background, and stage lights.
Cartoon image of a DJ with headphones at a party, mixing music on a turntable, with people raising their hands in front of a wooden wall and a large floating speaker emitting sound.
Illustration of two people sitting and talking into microphones during an interview, with a wooden background and checkered floor.

Tim’s Listening Parties

For a few years now I’ve been collaborating with Tim Burgess (lead singer of The Charlatans and all-round legend), starting with illustrations for his ‘Twitter Listening Parties’ and going on to produce bespoke turntables, slipmats, art prints and festival artwork. You can check out more of our work together in this case study and on the Cover Versions page.

Split image of a teenager sitting on the floor holding a smartphone, with artwork and decorations around, divided into blue and red backgrounds. The blue side has a globe with a bird on top, a guitar, and speakers, while the red side has paintings of different faces, a turntable, and more speakers.
An illustrated person sits on the floor of a room surrounded by vinyl records, a turntable, and a lamp. The room has a wall decorated with various framed pictures, including abstract art, a portrait, a waveform, and mathematical symbols. A globe, win
A person with bird-shaped glasses, wearing headphones, sitting in a pink chair, looking at a smartphone, surrounded by green plants, with artwork on the wall behind them.
Woman sitting in a room with shelves of vinyl records, turntable, speakers, and potted plants, looking at her phone.
A person sitting cross-legged on the floor with a dog, looking at their phone, surrounded by framed artwork on a colorful abstract background.
A digital illustration of a person sitting cross-legged in front of a large screen displaying the text 'Bluedot Festival, The Listening Party 2023.' The scene includes a bookshelf with musical equipment, books, and decorative objects, and a window sh
The cover of a book titled "Tim Burgess: The Listening Party" with a blue background, yellow spine, and a sticker indicating it is signed by the author. The cover features an illustration of a person with blond hair, wearing a striped shirt, sitting
Illustration of a room with a large screen displaying a mountain scene and the words 'Kendal Calling Festival The Listening Party 2023'. In front of the screen, a person with blonde hair wearing a yellow hoodie sits on the floor, looking at a phone.

UMUSIC AUTUMN

I worked together with aptly named design agency Music to create artwork for Universal Music’s annual industry showcase at The Roundhouse in London.

Promotional poster for U Music Autumn event at The Roundhouse on September 22, 2022, featuring colorful abstract artwork of a building with trees and a crowd of people in front, against a vibrant sunset background.
Digital illustration of a lively outdoor event at sunset with a large building, Ferris wheel, and colorful sky in the background. People are gathered in front of the building, celebrating.
Banners on a brick building advertising the UMUSIC AUTUMN event at the Roundhouse on September 22, 2022, with colorful graphics depicting a venue, trees, and abstract patterns.
Empty stage with colorful lighting and a large screen displaying the text 'U Music Autumn' at a concert or event venue.
An exterior view of the Roundhouse in London, featuring a brick facade with three large colorful posters advertising 'UMUSIC AUTUMN,' and modern glass entrance with reflections of trees and sky, with a person sitting on a bench and a bicycle parked nearby.

Snap Galleries

As well as printing super limited edition Cover Versions (large format ChromLuxe printing on coated aluminium!) I also work with Snap Galleries to create bespoke artworks of record collectors amongst their favourite records, entitled ‘In My Room’.

A man with glasses and a beard is lying on a yellow rug in a room, surrounded by music records, a turntable, photos, and potted plants. He appears relaxed, with one hand behind his head and the other on his stomach. There are also two speakers, a cake, and a marijuana leaf in the room.
Illustration of a person lying on the floor with sunglasses, surrounded by photographs, a vinyl record player, a cat illustration, books, and a potted plant on a wooden floor.

Dancers

I know, not strictly the ‘music’ industry, but where would music be without dancing? A selection of my favourite dancers, dance crews and choreographers.

Featuring Sadeck Berabah, BBoy HR, Usha Jey and Avant Gardey.

Illustration of a person wearing white standing in front of a large group of people dressed in black, with orange faces and arms crossed, on a dark background.
An abstract illustration of a person performing a handstand, wearing a white shirt and orange shoes, with a background of wavy green, blue, and dotted patterns.
Stylized digital illustration of a woman performing classical Indian dance, wearing a green and yellow sari with a black blouse, against a vibrant patterned red and orange background.
Pattern of women in blue uniforms with white shirts, black hair, and red lips, holding smartphones in a repetitive grid design.

SIMON CHESTERFIELD

To celebrate his new album, Simon Chesterfield asked me and a selection of his favourite artists to create our own artwork on the theme of ‘the pink ladder’.

Simon was founder member of cult indie band The Chesterfields, the album was co-produced by Ben Scott Turner, Rob Ellis (PJ Harvey) and Simon Chesterfield, and orchestrated by Charles Harrison.  Now available from Rough Trade.

A person climbing a pink ladder leaning against a building, surrounded by trees and a cityscape at night.

Summer Festivals

Festival scenes have become a bit of a ‘thing’ for me, they literally could not be more fun to illustrate. Here’s just three for The Big Issue, The Association of Independent Festivals and Hospitality Records.

Colorful festival scene with a large stage, musical performers, food stalls, tents, and a crowd of people enjoying outdoor music, dancing, and activities on a vibrant green landscape with mountains and a sunset sky.
Colorful digital illustration of an outdoor music festival at sunset with a large crowd, stage with performers, tents, and a city skyline in the background.
Colorful digital illustration of an outdoor music festival at sunset with a stage, audience, food trucks, balloons, tents, and a ferris wheel in the background.

Official Emojis

I never quite thought this could happen, but it did, and still does, designing actual usable emojis for publishers, record labels and social media platforms!

Check out the full case-study here.

Illustration of a woman with hands on hips, blonde hair, wearing a yellow dress and a bracelet on her upper left arm.
Illustration of a woman with red hair and a golden circle on her forehead against a pink background.
Emoji of a person's face with brown hair wearing heart-shaped sunglasses with rainbow colors.
Text with hashtags #EltonJohn, #EltonJohnBook, #EltonJohnMe, #EltonBook in blue font, each followed by an emoji of a person's face with heart-shaped sunglasses and brown hair.
Elton John holding two copies of his autobiography with sunglasses, smiling, in front of a dark background.
Book cover of "My Ethnophonie" by Elton John, featuring a black and white photo of Elton John wearing round, colorful sunglasses and a hat.
Illustration of a woman with blonde hair, wearing a yellow dress, with hands on her hips.
Text on white background with blonde woman emojis. The text reads: '#Blondie #ParallelLinesListeningParty #DebbieHarry #ListeningParty1000'.
Screenshot of a Twitter conversation discussing Debbie Harry and a listening party, with emojis of a woman with blonde hair and glasses.
A promotional poster for the musical 'Blondie' by Parallel Lines features five young men in suits with black ties and a woman in a white dress with blonde hair; the title 'Blondie' is written in red cursive at the top.
Illustration of a person with red hair, a beige circular mark on the forehead, and colorful facial features including blue and green eyes, red eyebrows, and red lips.
Text with hashtags #Ziggystardust50 and #Ziggy50ListeningParty, each accompanied by an avatar of a woman with red hair, blue eyes, and a gold headband, on a white background.
Tweets announcing a Ziggy Stardust-themed Twitter listening party hosted by Tim's Listening Party, with mentions of emojis and hashtags.
Screenshot of a Twitter conversation discussing Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars on June 16th for a 50th anniversary event, with tweets mentioning music and emojis.
Abstract digital illustration featuring a central blue circle with white accents, surrounded by multiple black eye and eye-like shapes connected by curving lines on a red background with a gradient to beige.
The hashtag #TheCure in blue text with a small red and blue logo of a snake wrapped around a pole in the bottom right corner.
Screenshot of a tweet from The Cure announcing the upcoming release of their album Wish30, featuring a scene from a video or film showing two members of the band with distinct hairstyles and makeup.
A tweet from John Ore mentioning a Wish emoji with #TheCure and an image of The Cure's album cover for 'Let's Go to Bed', which features a stylized eye and a blue background.