Artist Creates Graphic Worlds That Feel Like Strange Signals From a Place You Have Never Been but Somehow Remember

Jesse Manfre is a self-taught graphic designer and illustrator creating under the name J.WAV Design. His work combines bold graphic abstraction, surreal atmosphere, music-world visual language, and a distinctly eerie, dreamlike sense of place.

J.WAV’s visual world sits somewhere between a late-night radio transmission, a vintage arcade screen, an abandoned beach town, and a strange memory caught in a loop. Rather than relying on literal storytelling, the work uses color, shape, typography, texture, and surreal symbolism to create mood first — then lets viewers invent the narrative.

That makes J.WAV particularly suited to music, games, and culture projects, where artwork has to establish a whole emotional world before a listener presses play or a player enters the first scene.

More: Instagram