Big Joe & Marlon Craft - Old (E) English
Artwork developed for Big Joe x Marlon Craft, a project born from the connection between Palermo-based hip-hop production and New York lyricism.
The visual identity is built around a photograph taken by Big Joe: a pair of sneakers hanging from electric wires in a historic working-class neighborhood of Palermo. Raw, urban, and symbolic, the image creates an immediate bridge between Palermo’s street culture and New York’s visual imaginary.
The project brings together two hip-hop geographies: Palermo and New York. On one side, Big Joe, a producer rooted in the Italian and Palermo rap scene; on the other, Marlon Craft, an artist connected to New York’s urban identity. The photograph of the sneakers hanging from the wires becomes the ideal starting point: a visual sign shared by many street cultures, evoking neighborhood identity, belonging, memory, and urban presence. The photograph of the sneakers hanging from the wires becomes the ideal starting point: a visual sign shared by many street cultures, evoking neighborhood identity, belonging, memory, and urban presence.
The challenge was to transform a spontaneous photograph into an artwork capable of supporting an international collaboration without losing its local authenticity. The risk was to fall into a generic hip-hop aesthetic. Instead, the goal was to enhance the documentary strength of the photograph, preserving its raw and territorial character while making it effective as a cover and communication asset.
I built the artwork around the symbolic power of the photograph, treating the hanging sneakers as the central element of the visual narrative. The image works as a connection between two worlds: Palermo’s working-class neighborhoods and New York street culture. The graphic treatment remains direct, urban, and minimal, allowing the photograph to retain its original force. The result is an essential yet meaningful artwork: a cover that does not force the collaboration, but tells it through a shared symbol of street life, belonging, and hip-hop culture.