Secret 7"

7 iconic music tracks. 700 one-of-a-kind record sleeve designs. All on display at the Secret 7” exhibition and auction.

The project, now in its 10th year, brings together musicians, artists, and supporters to raise money for War Child, a charity helping children whose lives are devastated by violence and armed conflict, from Gaza to Sudan, Ukraine to Yemen.

After weeks under wraps, I can finally reveal my sleeve design for John Lennon’s track ‘Out the Blue’. As with many of the songs on his Mind Games album, Lennon devoted the song to Yoko Ono, whose own art performance sparked the inspiration for my design.

In the ‘60s, Yoko smashed a vase on stage and invited the audience to collect a piece, imagining that they’d meet a decade later to reassemble the vase. When I was a kid, I would dig up my grandparents' flowerbeds in search of such ceramic treasures. I delighted in finding pieces with unusual designs and colourful glazes (a collection I continued into adulthood).

My Secret 7” cover design is made using ceramic fragments I found during a pottery residency in Japan. Defying the expected shape and material of a record sleeve, the smooth, round Jesmonite base contrasts with the sharp edges of the ceramics: shattered and displaced, like everything war touches. Dinner plates. Homes. Families. And that’s what this project is about – raising vital funds for children whose lives have been devastated by violence.

Making art can feel futile when there’s so much suffering across the world, but this project is a reminder that we can use our creativity to stand up for children's right to be safe.

This year’s auction raised £58,420 for War Child, taking the project’s total to almost £1 million.

See all 700 designs in Secret 7”s gallery

And if you missed out on the auction, you can still support the cause by donating directly to War Child