Murder In The Red Barn: Package Design

Description: 2022 marks the 40th anniversary of the iconoclastic singer and songwriter Tom Waits' jump to Island Records and the beginning of his influential "junkyard orchestral deviation" period. To commemorate the occasion, Island will issue a series of vinyl 7" singles of songs from this period with illustrated covers. I created a cover illustration and design that was inspired by the style of Ben Jones and is called Murder In The Red Barn.

Concept: The song Murder in the Red Barn is based on events in Suffolk, England, in 1827. The murderer, identified as William Corder, loved his significant other Maria Marten, and he arranged for her to meet him at the Red Barn so they could start their life together. When Marten arrived at the barn, he murdered her and then went on the run.

The red barn is attached to the murderer and his story, with his body comprising wooden pieces that decay throughout time. The lower half represents the forest behind the barn as the bloodhounds track the fugitive's scent. Inside the top window, the woman screaming represents the murderer's lover screaming before she gets murdered.