Original CD, gatefold digisleeve and insert artwork designs for ‘Clockwork Tulpa’ by Circu5. Photo courtesy of Dommett Young Photography.

Last year, I got to tick something big off my bucket list: I was asked to work with the fantastic UK-based Prog-Rock band Circu5 and the wonderful Dommett Young Photography to produce designs for the CD release of Circu5’s second album, entitled ‘Clockwork Tulpa’. It was really great to work on something new and completely different to other projects I was juggling at the time. ‘Clockwork Tulpa’ is a sequel concept album, and the brief required me to create designs to sympathetically accompany and build upon the band’s first album, simply named ‘Circu5’.

The designs needed to include the CD print, outer digisleeve cover artwork, a 24-page lyric booklet, and a ‘secret’ fold-out art print. The vibe is very dark, dream-like, nightmareish, surreal, dangerous, unhinged, mysterious. Colour palettes are dark, heavy, rich, with sparks of kaleidoscopic colour. Visual textures are faded, antique, scratched, torn, distressed.

12 full-colour double-page spread designs were included in the booklet inside the gatefold digisleeve. Photo editing, design, and print layouts by Jennie Anderson, lyrics by CIRCU5, original photography by Dommett Young Photography.

The Circu5 story centres on a classified UK government programme, “CIRCU5”, established in the early 1970s to reshape society through secret human experiments. Its work focused on creating individuals with the positive traits of psychopathy – confidence, focus and emotional detachment – but without its destructive behaviours. Subjects were raised in CIRCU5’s research facility until age three, then placed in controlled home environments.

Not every experiment was a success. One of the failures was "Grady", who became a sociopathic businessman. Circu5's debut album follows Grady as he learns the truth of his past and murders his parents. In Clockwork Tulpa, a cult-like group of CIRCU5 subjects encounters Grady on the run and attempts to mould him into a messianic leader.

The digit in CIRCU5's name alludes to its five founding scientists and circus sideshows, hinting at the "freak show" nature of its experiments. CIRCU5 used the term "Grady" as a codeword for subjects who failed to achieve positive outcomes. The term references real-life circus sideshow performer and murderer Grady Stiles.

Soooo… that’s definitely a departure from my regular programming! I thoroughly enjoyed working on something challenging, edgy and new. Big thanks to Steve Tilling, Lee Moulding, Mark Kilminster and Paul New of Circu5, and Lou Young of Dommett Young Photography, for such a great experience on this project.

You can see more of my designs for the album here

If you’d like to purchase a copy of the CD, you can do so through Circu5’s website: https://circu5.com/clockwork-tulpa

And now for something completely different.

I have so many questions.