XiRO

The brief required building a complete visual world for the fictional underground punk band, XiRO (pronounced 'Zero') taking them from a raw conceptual trio to a fully scaled touring identity.

I wanted to avoid the sanitized, corporate imitation of alternative music, instead focusing on bringing a tactile, unapologetic energy back into design.

To build the world around the music, I handled the creative direction and high-contrast photography, while taking part as a subject in the shoot. I positioned the band in various textured, street-level environments where underground music actually lives. For their debut vinyl release, Opportunities, I blended physical and digital mediums, clashing ransom-note typography against a deep, silhouetted void to mirror the harsh, kinetic transition of alternative subcultures.

The identity proved its scalability when taking XiRO on the road. For the tour posters, I abandoned standard layout structures in favour of jagged, hand-cut paper paths that tear across the dark imagery to map out the UK tour dates. This chaotic layout language was seamlessly expanded into a comprehensive monochrome merchandise line, proving that a raw, DIY aesthetic can function as a highly cohesive, commercial visual system.