The 6th of August 2020 marked 75 years since the first atomic weapon was dropped on Hiroshima. The Telegraph’s correspondent Jonathan Holmes gathered eye-witness accounts of survivors who were on the ground and aim to tell the story from their perspective.
I was responsible for art directing this project and finding the most effective visual solutions for a long-read article on a sensitive topic. We deliberately chose to avoid traditional Japanese art references, such as Ukiyo-e prints, as they felt too literal. Instead, we reinterpreted their visual language, incorporating their shapes into a collage alongside archival photographs of Hiroshima.
To bring a contemporary feel to the composition, we introduced bold neon blocks of blue, white, red, and black, symbolizing different chapters of the article and key stages of the event: the blue sky, the light of the blast, the fire, and the ashes. Gradients were used within the illustrations and blended into archival images to convey the explosion's impact on Hiroshima and the radiation’s effects on its survivors. Additionally, I provided artistic direction to Ruby for the illustrations she created for the piece.
Link to article
Graphics : Fraser Lyness, Liz Gould
Web development : David Stevenson, Oliver Edgington, Florin Bratescu
Product design : Abby Rose, Ed Goldman
Production : Richard Moynihan, Thom Gibbs