concept
Optophobia means the fear of opening one's eyes. The podcast features improv comedians discussing fictional conspiracy theories, mocking fake news and the spread of misinformation. For the artwork, the client wanted a strange convergence of comedy, conspiracy, sci-fi and mass hysteria—the more disjointed, the better.
The skull and airplane would be frightening in another context, but the hippo lightens the scene and transforms the image from horror to surrealism. The strange woman riding the hippo symbolizes performance and manipulation in the media. Finally, the evil eye inside the skull reinforces the idea of opening one's eyes.
Set in a scene that could be another planet, dimension or simply a desert wasteland, the artwork for Optophobia combines strange details that invite you to look closer with images that are visible when the artwork is a small thumbnail on your phone.
