Baba Jaga

 all images in this post © La Cicala editore 2020

Samples from the illustrations I made for the book Baba Jaga by Fiorella Colombo, published by La Cicala editore. This time I used another techique I always loved: ink pen on paper.

The story is a revisiting of traditional east-european folk tale Vassilissa the Beautiful, in which appears the terrible and enigmatic witch Baba Jaga. For this project I was in charge of all the graphic design of the book, besides the illustrations, and together with the author we decided to compose the whole book around the concept of light and darkness (known and unknown), visualized by an alternation of white and black pages. I designed also a series of decorative vegetable friezes to frame the illustrations and the text pages. These branches flourishes as the story progresses, to symbolize the growth of the protagonist, the girl Vassilissa. The addition of a third colour, red, was necessary to give visual prominence to the third force symbolized in the original story by the red knight, servant of the witch. The red color is a digital addition to scanned drawings.

Monster Alphabet

all images in this post © La Cicala editore 2018

A showcase of the initial letters I drawn for La scuola notturna dei piccoli mostri (Night School for Little Monsters), a children book by Dario Apicella published by La Cicala editore. Technique: ink.
This book is designed as a spelling book written in rhyme, with every letter of the alphabet personified by a fictitious character, drawn with great humour by fellow illustrator Alessandra Berti Riboli. So I thought to add big initials illustrated with "real" breed of monsters which introduce every letter with the sentence "A like...", creating this way a sort of bestiary of myths and legends worldwide.

The Tale of Colours

all images in this post © La Cicala Editore 2015

My first book for newborn series Libri da Cantare ("books to sing-along") published by La Cicala Editore. Short stories for kids aged 3-7, including a CD with the narrated text and an original song about the characters, to sing and play along.

This tale, written and narrated by singer Artemidoro, tells of a yellow baboon kid asking his grandfather how the different colours were born. The basic idea for the illustrations was to use a colour only when the little baboon named it, so the book goes from a yellow-tinted beginning to a rainbow-coloured ending. A funny thing to imagine and to paint.

In the Beginning - Dialogues with Masters of Eish Shaok

all images in this post © La Cicala Editore 2014

Cover design for the book In principio (In the beginning), a spiritual essay published by La Cicala editore, Italy.

Technique: digital.

Mediterranea

Cover designed for 2-tracks promo CD Mediterranea by Francesca Gancitano.

Media: digital

NOS

media: digital

Cover art and package design for NOS, an electronic 'supergroup' formed by three experienced underground musicians here in Genoa: Riccardo Canessa, Claudio Ferrari and Marco Cacciamani.

Since NOS project rise from the meeting of three musicians, their history and their styles, I based the whole concept on number three: from the band logo (formed by three letters associated with alchemic symbols) to the image of three forms of different kind, provenance and colour (the musicians) which meet in the black (void space, nowhere, or silence), intersecting each other and generating white colour (light, energy, or music, if you like).

You can listen a selection of tracks from this album on the NOS official myspace site

Fludd - True Temper

media: digital

Cover art and graphic package for another album by Marco Cacciamani.

This time I wanted to pay tribute to the cold graphic of the '80s, with its risky color combinations. Incidentally, it became also a tribute to Warhol's graphic art.
Just at the end of the work Marco told me he had taken the title of the album from a painting by Warhol he had seen at an exhibition. To both, it seemed like the perfect closure of a circle.

You can listen some tracks from this album on Marco Cacciamani's myspace site.

Fludd - Vast and Fixed

media: photo, digital.

A cover for electronic music composer Marco Cacciamani. He dreamed the concept, and I visualized it as a personal tribute to Hipgnosis. Strange suspended mood with all the realistic precision of the photography... do you remember Wish You Were Here and Presence?

Again, an opening cover, this time in a more conventional horizontal layout.

Snika

media: colour pencils

My very first CD cover, for Snika's debut (and sole) album, a little gem of underground rock from Bologna.
Clearly, a tribute to Cream's covers like Wheels of Fire or Disraeli Gears. I always loved that graphic style, very Rock but also very free and artistic.
Another thing I always loved are the opening covers with artwork that continues on the back side.
This one continues in vertical because the booklet is a square mini-poster folded four times. I thought was funny to let the listener free to choose as main cover the lower half part with the creamy "Snika" logo or the upper half part with the portaits of the musicians.

You can listen I Can't Shine Like You, a track taken from this album, on Snika's myspace site. Enjoy!

Snika on Capetown Radio

media: ink

In 1998 my friend one-man band Snika won a contest held by Radio Città del Capo in Bologna for underground bands and musicians. Among the prizes there was a regular playing of one of his song on the radio. This poster celebrated the event. The sixties-styled lettering and, above all, the little flying saucer are a tribute to Cream's Wheels of Fire cover art (to me, maybe the best rock cover ever drawn).