Richard D. James (best known by the stage name Aphex Twin) is an English musician, producer, engineer, DJ, who is best known for his work in electronic music genres such as techno and ambient. In 2001, the Guardian published an article on James, calling him the “most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music”. Although James has been putting out music almost thirty years (and still does today), many people consider his work to be timeless.

The concept for this editorial spread was to showcase the diverse visual elements that Aphex Twin has incorporated into his body of work, hence the article title: “The Visual Language of Aphex Twin”. His stiff-smile serves as the viewer’s focal point, which is the defining image of his brand. To reflect the chaotic, yet sophisticated quality of his music, a complex web of lines emerge out of his eyes and connect to images that all have symbolic meaning. For example, two overlapped images of a window and a woman sticking her tongue represent the title of the Windowlicker EP, which was released in 1999, and the blimp to the left represents the way in which he promoted his 2014 album, Syro. With the images connected to his eyes, viewers can get a sense that they are seeing pieces of his artistic vision. In a similar fashion to the images, multiple lines surge out of his mouth to connect to the title of the article, as if he is shouting its words out.