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An illustration of a lush, surreal jungle in deep purples, blues and greens. A person lies resting among oversized tropical leaves, surrounded by a flamingo, an elephant and various colourful birds.

Graphic Design: Boat Studio and Micah Lidberg's incredible album artwork for Glass Animals

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Date
18 June 2014

They say that two’s company but three’s a crowd; not so apparently when launching a much-anticipated album and the creative collateral around it. The Glass Animals album Zaba was released last week, with the visuals overseen by our pals over at Boat Studio (the same gang who do the city-hopping magazine of the same name).

Creative director Davey Spens commissioned longtime It’s Nice That favourite Micah Lidberg for the illustrations, while She Was Only built the accompanying website and not surprisingly this talented triumvirate have done a belting job.

The album takes its name from William Steig’s children’s book The Zabajaba Jungle, which Davey describes as “ a beguiling story that lives somewhere between the strange and familiar, with its young lead slashing through creeper vines with his bolo knife and going where no human being has ever penetrated. That’s not just probably the best reference for the sound of the record, but a measure of the band’s talent and ambition!”

Micah used washes of watercolour on the artwork to stunning effect while the gold foiled lettering was hand-drawn by the band’s frontman Dave Bayley himself.

So take that cliched saying, good things really do come in threes! Oh.

The cover of the Glass Animals album Zaba. Gold foil text reads “GLASS ANIMALS” and “ZABA” over a dense, colourful illustration of tropical foliage and animals.
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Boat Studio/Micah Lidberg/She Was Only: The Glass Animals – Zaba

The back cover of a vinyl record featuring a dark, psychedelic illustration in purple, blue and orange. A tracklist in white sans-serif type lists songs including “Flip”, “Black Mambo” and “Gooey”.
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Boat Studio/Micah Lidberg/She Was Only: The Glass Animals – Zaba

The album artwork for Glass Animals’ Zaba, featuring colourful, psychedelic illustrations in purple and blue. The CD and its accompanying booklet are stacked on a white surface.
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Boat Studio/Micah Lidberg/She Was Only: The Glass Animals – Zaba

An iMac sits on a white desk with a keyboard and mouse. The screen displays a colourful illustration of tropical foliage and birds in shades of purple, teal and orange.
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Boat Studio/Micah Lidberg/She Was Only: The Glass Animals – Zaba

An iMac on a white desk displays a colourful, surreal illustration of a jungle scene. The artwork features stylized plants and animals in purple, blue and yellow, with the words “Glass Animals” at the top.
Above

Boat Studio/Micah Lidberg/She Was Only: The Glass Animals – Zaba

A detailed illustration of a dense, surreal jungle in shades of purple, blue and green. Figures and animals are tucked among oversized tropical leaves, including a person reclining in the lower right and a flamingo on the left.
Above

Boat Studio/Micah Lidberg/She Was Only: The Glass Animals – Zaba

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About the Author

Rob Alderson

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Rob Alderson is a freelance writer, editor and strategist. He was previously editor-in-chief of It’s Nice That and WePresent, and editor of Design Week. He publishes the newsletter Undo, which tries to make sense of how AI is changing design work, the design process and the design industry.

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