Variety 500

Owen was approached to create a typographic cover illustration for the inaugural Variety500, a new initiative by Variety magazine indexing the 500 global leaders in the entertainment industry.

Being the first ever issue Owen wanted to create something special, so he played with the title type to create a graphic and abstract artwork that will hopefully make people look twice. He also wanted to nod at the theme of the magazine, so subtly referenced an Art Deco aesthetic – An explosive period in the entertainment industry – adding an iconic feel to the image.

The design was digitally drawn-up and then hand-cut out of sheets of coloured paper. A sophisticated monotone palette was used, inspired by the magazine's branding, with additional red tones to add a flash of vibrancy to the image. These intricate cutout sheets of paper were then painstakingly layered up at varying heights to give the artwork an interesting visual depth and photographed in Owen's studio using natural light.