Blood of Gods
Industry: Music & Beverage
Project Type: Crossword
Role: Illustrator & Designer
Media: Micron Pen
Size: 5.5in x 10.25in
In 2021, Blood of God’s founder Stacy contacted me with a new vision for the next issue: a hand-illustrated crossword puzzle.
Operating out of Washington State, Blood of Gods is a zine that unites the heavy metal and craft wine communities. As Decibel’s Sean Frasier puts it, “Blood of Gods explores the stuck-up stigma surrounding wine with a combination of self-aware humor, fantastic artwork, and thoughtful features. Almost every page belongs in a frame, boasting artwork from illustrators the caliber of Decibel‘s Mark Rudolph.”
As a fellow lover of both heavy metal and wine, I eagerly set to work, envisioning a dark, freezing wine-bottle-ridden tomb. The puzzle itself would emerge as a series of frosty blocks frozen in time and space, flanked by two columns of ice. The crossword’s clues materialize below in the tomb’s entrance like two heaven-sent tablets, emerging from the shadows beyond.
With this project, I sought to lean into a contemporary heavy metal show flyer style, relying on considerable amounts of hatching for light, depth, and texture. High contrast pushes the border, puzzle, and text forward, allowing for more drama and better legibility. When I set out to start this piece, I made it a goal to handwrite all the text, and I can gladly say I achieved that goal. Every piece of text is written in blackletter, emulating the dual nuance and precision of medieval manuscripts and heavy metal album covers.
