hero-populous
Illustration, Art Direction

W by Populous

Art Direction, Illustration Nicola Napoli
Artist Populous
Producer La Tempesta Dischi

Creative direction and illustration for the album ‘W’ by Populous.

A music tribute to women

I curated the creative direction and designed the 8th album of the Italian music producer Populous. Titled ‘W,’ the project serves as an ode to femininity and freedom of expression. Each of the 10 tracks on the album is a collaborative effort with some of the most prominent figures in Italian and South American electronic music, all of whom proudly identify as women.

For the cover artwork – a visual manifesto of the album – we imagined a utopian party. It was populated, among others, by powerful ladies of the music industry such as Grace Jones, Amanda Lear, Aaliyah, Missy Elliott, Loredana Bertè, Peaches, Beth Ditto, Divine, and RuPaul. An eclectic crossover party, improbable yet coherent, where all music genres are mixed together, and freedom is the only rule.

The singles

Next to the main artwork, I designed the covers for the three singles extracted from the album in collaboration with guest artists MYSS KETA, Emmanuelle, and Sotomayor. All four artworks are designed to function seamlessly on a small scale, specifically optimized for the mobile interface of Spotify and iTunes. To achieve this, I chose a minimal illustration style characterized by flat shapes and a carefully controlled color palette.