My Chemical Remix” Album Cover

Emotional Strength” T-Shirt

Design #2: “My Chemical Remix” Album Cover

Sound

Throughout my life, I’ve always used music to comfort and help me get through some very difficult times. One of my go-to, which happens to also be one of my all-time favorite, albums to listen to is My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade. While this album does not maintain the aggression from their previous albums, its overall narrative is what captured me the most. The Black Parade tells the story of a man who is diagnosed with cancer and each song touches on the various aspects of his life as he tries to accept his sealed fate. It’s even allegedly assumed that the album’s most popular and title hit “Welcome to the Black Parade” is a representation of the patient succumbing to his illness and in turn, the curtains raise as he is welcomed into the afterlife with a massive parade. What made this album so special to me was how each song told such a raw, emotional story about a man processing his own mortality which was something I had to observe in my own life when mom was diagnosed with stage-4 breast cancer. Even years later, this album has given me comfort through the knowledge that someone else understands what it’s like to go through this.

Since this album shared a deep connection with my own life, I decided to mesh the album’s original imagery with my own story in order to emphasize the deeper narrative behind the album itself. Instead of the gray and distressed look of the previous cover, I opted for a more colorful and cheerful look to visualize the transition between the mundane real life into the festive afterlife. Additionally, I focused on creating a composition that represents how I would like to be welcomed into the afterlife: to be reunited with my mom and return to my former child self.