Role: Designer | Year: 2024
Tools:
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign
Project Type:
Conceptual
About Alternative Press
Alternative Press is a long-standing music magazine dedicated to alternative culture, known for spotlighting artists across punk, emo, rock, and emerging subgenres. With a focus on both established icons and rising voices, it serves as a platform for storytelling within music culture, blending in-depth features with visually driven editorial design.
Objective
The project required designing a conceptual two-page feature spread for Alternative Press magazine, spotlighting the comeback of My Chemical Romance. The objective was to create a visually striking layout that reflects the band’s updated aesthetic while appealing to fans of alternative rock, emo revival, and music culture enthusiasts. The design needed to balance bold imagery, typographic drama, and editorial hierarchy to guide readers through the feature, highlighting the intensity and emotion of the band’s return.
Process
The creative process began by defining a colour palette of deep blacks, blood reds, and muted greys to convey intensity, darkness, and theatricality. The first page features a pencil portrait of Gerard Way in black and white, with red accents emphasizing dramatic details and emotion, creating a tactile, intimate connection with readers. The second page presents a vector illustration of the full band, balancing the personal focus of the first page with a dynamic group presentation. Distressed typography was applied to headers to echo the band’s edgy, rebellious tone, and layout choices guide the reader’s eye between text and imagery, ensuring editorial flow while highlighting the visual impact and emotion of the band’s comeback.
