The designer behind Charli XCX’s ‘Brat’ artwork has opened up about his design process and the cover’s evolution.
READ MORE: A ‘Brat Summer’ timeline: how Charli XCX kept fans gagged in 2024
Brent David Freaney worked with Charli and creative director Imogene Strauss on the distinctive artwork for the 2024 album, and they went on to win Best Recording Package at the 2025 Grammys.
Speaking at a recent conference in San Francisco, Freaney shared some of the inspirations for ‘Brat’, as well as early drafts of the green cover in different typefaces and colour variations.
He explained that the project was shaped by the idea of the “death of the finished state”, and the question of when a piece of work is ever really complete.
He also revealed that the final blurred ‘Brat’ cover came about after an export error involving a low-resolution screenshot.
“I think it’s a misconception that from design one to two, three, four you need to be getting better and better, and closer to the thing,” he said. “Sometimes you’re just exploring more and learning and trying to define what you don’t want it to be, so you can understand what the boundaries are.”
Brent David Freaney is the founder and principal of New York–based creative agency Special Offer, Inc. His work spans art direction, brand identity, campaigns, publications, live media, and album packaging. In addition to his work with his studio, he is currently the Global Art Director for i-D magazine, collaborating with world-renowned talent to develop visual systems across print, screen, and space. In 2025, he received a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package. Brent shares how he approaches design work that spans albums, magazines, live media, and screens. Showcasing Charli XCX’s album cover for BRAT. #brat #design #figma #config
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Freaney added: “We had no idea what was going to happen to [‘Brat’] and what it was going to do. I was just really happy to have gotten Charli to a place that she was really happy with and that she felt like really represented her album in the right way.”
‘Brat’ was released in June 2024 and went on to become a defining pop culture moment, with its simple green artwork becoming one of the most recognisable album covers of the decade.
In a four-star review of the album, NME wrote: “With ‘Brat’, XCX demonstrates that going her own way will always sound pretty good.”
The era later expanded into the remix album ‘Brat And It’s Completely Different But Also Still Brat’, which NME gave the full five stars.
Charli’s next album ‘Music, Fashion, Film’ is set for release on July 24, with visuals also designed by Freaney’s Special Offer, Inc. The album’s black-and-white cover was shot by Aidan Zamiri and features John Cale, Marc Jacobs and Martin Scorsese.
It includes the recent single ‘SS26’; as well as the cheeky ‘Wink Wink’ and the earlier track ‘Rock Music’.
Charli also recently opened up about spending time in Paris with Madonna, after the pair appeared to end speculation of a feud by partying together in the French capital. She said she found it “very inspiring to hang out with her”, adding that she had enjoyed hearing Madonna discuss her own relationship with pop, fashion and the dancefloor.
Elsewhere, Charli recently spoke candidly about her mental health, saying: “I’m in the worst place mentally that I’ve been in my life.”
She added that she was “struggling” in the wake of the ‘Brat’ era, while also moving into a new creative chapter across music, fashion and film.
She has also opened up about her Indian heritage, saying it can be “difficult” to understand her “identity” as a mixed-race person, after seeming to make reference to it in the lyrics to ‘SS26’.
Charli will return to the stage to make her headline debut at Reading & Leeds in August, topping the festival bill alongside Fontaines D.C., Raye, Florence + The Machine, and Chase & Status. Visit here for tickets.
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