Unhurd

Unhurd wanted to celebrate their newly signed artists — announcements with more personality than a headshot and a logo. My task: take each artist's photography and create illustrations directly on the pictures, with the style of the drawing shaped by the genre they play.

Genre: genre-bending alt-pop — the Ivor Novello Rising Star winner fuses electropop with Afropop, baile funk and house, refusing to sit still in any one lane. The illustration answers in kind: restless, kinetic line-work that shifts shape around her, never settling — because neither does the music.

Genre: indie rock with punk energy — a south-east London duo blending jazz rhythms, rock vocals and hip-hop flows, proudly hard to box. The drawing leans into that rawness: jagged, scrawled strokes with the energy of a gig poster made mid-set.

Genre: soul / R&B — a South London storyteller known for poetic lyricism and sultry vocals. The illustration keeps the pace slow and warm: soft, flowing flourishes that wrap around her like the melodies do, ornamental rather than aggressive.

Genre: left-field electro-pop — the London singer-songwriter best known as a voice of Maribou State, mixing smooth R&B-rooted vocals with shimmering electronic production. The line-work follows the sound: wavy, rhythmic strokes that ripple across the frame like a synth line.

Each announcement started with the artist's sound, not their photo. The genre set the visual vocabulary — then the drawing brought it onto the image.

• Translated each artist's genre into its own hand-drawn visual language — motifs, energy, and line quality to match the music
• Illustrated directly over the artists' photography: lettered names, doodled crowns, stars and planets, traced garments and details
• Kept the artist as the hero — the line-work frames and amplifies the person, never covers them
• Delivered the series in feed-ready formats for Unhurd's announcement rollout

The hand-drawn layer does what a template never could: it makes each artist's announcement feel made for them alone. The contrast of raw photography and playful white line-work stops the scroll, the genre-led styling tells you what they sound like before you press play, and the consistent illustrative hand ties the whole roster together as one unmistakable Unhurd series.