2023 ALBUM ARTWORK OF THE YEAR | Jud Haynes (Art Director & Designer) | | The JUNO Awards

Jud Haynes

Art Director & Designer

ubasonics’ music tells the lively story of Ukrainian culture, they’re one of the most exciting bands in Atlantic Canada and Jud Haynes knew he wanted to create something special for this release. Vytynanka is an ancient Ukrainian art form: paper cutting to make images. Jud has been experimenting with paper-cut art for a decade, but he’d have to push his limits to create something that could be mass produced. 400-plus hours were spent designing, illustrating, cutting, folding, stapling and gluing ‘Kubasongs’. Each cover made one at a time by Jud. Six months of designs and one month creating the original template, lead to a full year of cutting the deluxe edition LPs Kubasonics fans would take home. All text was hand written, even logos were hand drawn – the only part that needed a computer is the barcode. 

Less than two weeks before the album’s release, Russia invaded Ukraine. The importance of spreading Ukrainian art, music and culture in this time is not lost on us. Jud Haynes focuses the majority of his design and illustration work on the music industry. Designing album covers, tour posters, band merch, and dog walks are how he spends his days.