After an eight-year sabbatical from the music industry, singer and songwriter Martin Rossiter returned with his debut solo album The Defenestration of St Martin to critical acclaim. To launch this new chapter of his career, Martin needed a visual identity that felt raw, personal and honest, something that would reflect both the intensity of his music and the intimacy of his storytelling. We worked with Martin to create a striking, hands-on identity built through illustration, photography and screen printing. The result was a body of artwork and assets that captured the vulnerability, chaos and humanity of his work, brought to life across his album cover, record sleeves, merchandise and launch materials.
Martin didn’t want a polished, over-designed identity. His album was deeply personal and often unflinchingly raw, so the visual world surrounding it needed to match that spirit. The challenge was to create something authentic and imperfect, art that felt alive, flawed and emotionally charged, while ensuring it could be applied consistently across a range of formats, from CD packaging to t-shirts.
We took a deliberately hands-on, experimental approach working closely with Martin. Starting with his portrait photography, we created screen prints that we then defaced by scratching, scraping, bleaching and tearing into the images. Martin’s children were also invited into the process, adding their own drawings and mark-making to the artwork, creating a sense of intimacy and connection that mirrored the album’s themes. These experimental visuals were developed into a flexible visual system that spanned record sleeves, album covers, CDs, posters and merchandise, giving Martin everything he needed to launch the album.
The identity gave Martin a bold and distinctive return to music, cutting through with artwork that was as raw and emotive as the record itself. The Defenestration of St Martin was met with widespread critical acclaim, became Album of the Day on BBC Radio 6 Music, and placed in the Top 50 charts. The visual identity helped frame Martin’s return as something fearless and uncompromising, building a narrative that resonated with fans and critics alike.
