Lucy Khanyan, an American avant-garde jazz pianist and composer of Armenian origin, asked me to rework her album cover ahead of the digipak print run, using her original 3D mixed-media artwork.
The goal: to ensure visual consistency and define a unified art direction.
MUSIC
• Art direction
• Graphic design
• Print
2026
ALBUM COVER ARTWORK RETOUCHING
Armed with Love
by Lucy Khanyan
Clarifying to reveal
Armed with Love is the new album by Lucy Khanyan, an Armenian American pianist and composer whose musical world draws as much on Armenian avant-garde folk as on contemporary jazz. Recorded in Paris, the album brings together three artists with distinct cultural roots: Lucy Khanyan on piano, French double bassist Gabriel Pierre and Brazilian drummer Isaias Alves.
Together, they build a rare musical dialogue, where improvisation, crossed traditions and contemporary expression meet in a language that is both personal and universal.
The project
What Lucy already had
Lucy contacted me with a digipak mock-up already made: her personal artwork, a photo from a shoot during her previous visit to Paris and a clear idea of the album’s visual identity.
What was missing
The mock-up lacked overall consistency. Several elements coexisted without really speaking to each other: the artwork and the photo did not come together, the layout could be made more dynamic and uniform, and the colour palette needed some improvement.
The brief
To start from what existed without erasing everything, but to restructure, harmonise and refine it so that the cover finally reflected what Armed with Love really is:
an album of great musical and emotional richness.
The work
The original mock-up mixed two distinct visual worlds: the album artwork on one side and a photo of Lucy taken in Paris on the other. This mix created a visual tension that diluted the cover’s identity. The first choice was radical: remove the photo and rely solely on the artwork, a decision that immediately refocused attention on the essential.
Next, the layout and typefaces were reworked to offer a better information hierarchy. Reading became smoother and the album title stood out naturally.
The text was also repositioned to balance the composition, respect the print constraints and guide the eye effortlessly.
Finally, the colour palette was completely rethought. The grey and blue of the initial version gave way to a blue and pink duo, more in tune with the album’s atmosphere
and Lucy’s jazz world.
before
after
Typography and contrast
The first typeface is used in capitals for the title and other information: its straight, angular lines evoke something powerful.
The second, rounder but just as assertive, brings grounding and contrast. I used it in different forms: in capitals only, in a very thin weight or in a heavier one. These different uses help to organise the information and bring energy to the layout.
Each typographic choice reflects elements of Lucy’s music. The aim is to highlight the album’s identity while creating an object that is consistent with the music it holds.
Clarifying to reveal
Retouching an existing album cover mock-up is a balancing act. It is not about imposing a new vision, but about listening to what is already there and revealing it. Every choice made on the Armed with Love cover answered the same question: does this element serve the album or blur it?
Removing the photo did not mean erasing Lucy. It meant trusting her artwork to tell her story. Reviewing the colours did not mean betraying her initial mock-up. It meant refining it, until finding the right tone for what the music conveys.
The result is a cover that breathes:
a consistent visual identity, from the first glance to the smallest details of the digipak.
The final result
The final Armed with Love digipak is a cover that fully owns its identity. The artwork fills the whole space, the blue and pink colours work well together on the front, and the typography guides the eye without forcing it. Each side of the digipak is part of a visual continuity and has been optimised to create a consistent object, front and back.
This project shows what an outside eye can bring to a work in progress: not starting all over again, but refining, clarifying and giving the whole the strength it deserved from the start.
Thank you to Lucy Khanyan and the Jazz Family label for this project.