Replay Magazine Illustration, 2019

In the summer of 2019, one of my favorite Korean singers released an EP in Japan. The photoshoot that accompanied the the release of the album inspired me to produce a mockup of a magazine cover to celebrate the new music. I was especially inspired by Taemin’s interpretation of temptation and the role it plays in fame.

To start, I pulled images of the album photoshoot from Google to use as reference, and then I also looked up some of Taemin’s older photoshoots to help me decide how to pose him. I focused on the illustration first, and later decided on the composition of the magazine cover.

The title of the EP album was “Famous,” and I wanted to emphasize the perceived glamor of fame by playing with colored lighting and a dramatic pose, especially because the photos from the album and music video were very evocative and emotive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F32hhOsJ14k

After collecting reference images, I moved on to sketching and then rendering the final illustration. I ended up with two versions of a final illustration as I adjusted hues and saturation. Final edits included adding a dot pattern to create an old-fashioned printed texture.

The final composition of the magazine involved experimenting with different fonts to see what paired well, and practice layouts. I settled on a composition that mixed elements of the fashion magazine with those that report on celebrity ongoings or music.

Role: Illustrator, Graphic Designer | Software: Medibang Paint Pro