Costin Chioreanu

Born on the 13th of March, 1982, Costin Chioreanu is a Romanian graphic designer, illustrator and video artist. His passion for drawing and his interest in heavy metal music were juxtaposed in the mid 90’s, when he realized that the artworks found in his own collection of bootleg cassettes released in the post-communist era, had to be improved.

Not long after, Costin discovered the urge to play heavy metal music so this is how he got into a deeper level of illustrating music, starting with his own releases. His first official works in terms of illustrations and designs related to the metal music are actually the cassette covers and logos created for his bands’ demos between 1997 and 1999.

Specializing in Graphic Design, with a bachelor’s and a master’s degree at the National University of Arts, in Bucharest, he started his graphic studio in 2003, under the name of TWILIGHT 13 MEDIA. Since then, he has been covering all types of expression regarding music illustration, from covers, posters, merchandise design to filmed or animated videos, live DVD’s, or full concert screenings. Some of his more renowned collaborators are At the Gates, Opeth, Arch Enemy, Darkthrone, Napalm Death, Arcturus, Ulver, Enslaved, Triptykon, Decide, Mayhem, My Dying Bride, Wardruna, Paradise Lost, Sigh, Necrophagia and many others.

Despite his pretty powerful visual identity, his style is still volatile, ranging easily from decorative touches to abstract principles, from traditional black ink illustrations or watercolour paintings to photo manipulations and collages. Many’s the time that he simply intertwines all these visual mediums in order to produce something really particular and visionary. Costin Chioreanu takes the realm of the heavy metal artwork to a deeper level and keeps doing exhibitions featuring personal projects, in which the themes and concepts emerging from the metal music interlace with a complex philosophical analysis.