Behind The Artworks: HAVEN - Causes (2025)

Arne (Guitarist and graphic designer for HAVEN): Sometimes good design comes from coincidences – at least in my work. I discovered the front artwork photography online a few years ago and saved it for later – you can never know. As planning and conception for the first full HAVEN album became more tangible I pitched the image to the band and started working with the original image to make it into an artwork suitable for our CAUSES album. I got in touch with original photographer Olenka Kotyk and we worked out an exclusive deal for this image and 4 more which you (will) find on some of the corresponding singles to the album. The first one is being used on our preview single RUE.

I immediately felt that the photography would match perfectly with the music and lyrics we had worked on by the time. It has a certain darkness, a frailty/vulnerability but still an inherent strength and power. It visually transcends themes just as the music transcends genres. The spine showing on the portrayed person’s back stands for turning some of your inner processes, your inner self out to the public. At the same time, the figure turns its back to the camera, staying anonymous on the one hand and mysteriously protecting itself from being recognized or known. The skinny look and rough hair stand for a bit of chaos and the above-mentioned frailty. The person looks into a dark and unknown abyss being colored in cold black and white with a glimpse of the bronze tone we have worked with throughout the artwork.

In a second phot,o we see more of the person, yet she remains unidentified still shying away from the observer.

The third image used appears in an illustrated interpretation. Berlin-based illustrator SEPSYZ took a detail from one of the photos and made it into a combination of two hands grasping each other and maybe yearning for help or a hold in life. This image also corresponds with the core line from the album’s lyrics saying „All will take from all, and all will flow back into all“ which we used on the first t-shirt printed for the album. I combined the images with a font called “Magnetic Pro” which plays in the field between old-fashioned Fracture type and a modern Antiqua, again reflecting the music that draws from classic metal elements just as it incorporates very modern musical styles.

The special bronze color (printed as an exclusive Pantone color) gives it a hint of luxury and class. But it draws more from the aspect of metals used in the context of shipyards and vessels (hinting to the meaning of the band’s name) than it is the color of queens or kings like gold would be. The whole artwork captures the impression of the music very well. It has an imminent cold darkness and despair in it just as it has traits of beauty and warmth.