About the project…

“Anything human can be felt through music, which means that there is no limit to the creating that can be done with music… it's infinite. It's like God" - Nina Simone

This project was done in partnership with fellow illustrator Olive Hall as a part of the collaboration module during the second year of studies on the Illustration course at Falmouth University. We produced a mock up of a limited edition re-release box set of Nina Simone's 1976 concert at Montreux.

Being fans of Simone's work we were both aware of the concert that took place in 1976 at the Montreux Jazz festival. The performance is rich, full of Simone's complex electric stage presence and her masterful musical ability. Weaving in and out of a spectrum of emotions Simone exhibits reserved consideration playing, explosive dialogue exchanges with the audience, thoughts spoken at almost a whisper, then moments later barreling into a musical piece with such energy and ferocity that it seems that the piano might fall apart at any second. Dynamic from top to bottom; it was the perfect source of inspiration for an illustrative project.   

We used a mixture of black and red ink on Fabriano etching paper soaked in a bath of tea and orange ink to capture the atmosphere and colour palette of the powerful performance. 

We produced work away from each other, responding to the footage of the concert. We worked collaboratively on all final design elements combining our individual knowledge and skillsets in graphic design, colour, surface pattern design, portraiture and figurative work to create the final outcome. The creation of the physical product was done by Olive Hall and photographs were taken by Hannah Swadkins.

We found this performance and the audio recording of it inspiring and we highly recommend that you take the time to listen to it.