Avid fan dream come true: The story of how a Pinoy creative became Charlie Puth's album artist

On a typical day in June, Bryan Justin Abad posted on Instagram his own concept for a vinyl label for Charlie Puth songs. It has already become a creative outlet for him, a Multimedia Arts freshman, to do some art for his most-admired musicians: Arianna Grande, Shawn Mendes, among many others.

And like tossing a message in a bottle at the ocean, he would post his works on social media to satisfy the intense urge to express his fandom.

“Share ko lang iyong ideas ko kasi I’m really a fan,” he’d say.

Little did he know that in the vast ocean of the internet, his art would wind up on the eyes of one of his well-loved artists, Charlie Puth himself.

On June 24, Mathew Daniels, the creative director from Puth’s management reached out to Bryan via Instagram, showing interest for a collaboration and offering to commission his work.

Giddy as he was by the message, Bryan had to make a quick check if this Matthew Daniels was the real deal. Upon confirming that it was a legitimate offer from Charlie Puth’s camp, he became overwhelmed with the same surreal excitement that he felt when he was approached by Shawn Mendes’ manager a few months back.

The 19-year-old soft-spoken lad would listen to new song releases, and his imaginative mind would wander around for a concept of a possible album graphics. His other concept was also used for Shawn Mendes' hit song “When you’re Gone” and despite this, Bryan still couldn’t believe his work was noticed again, this time, by the creatives of international artist Charlie Puth.

“Nakakatuwa kasi because of my love for these artists, my art is being noticed,” Bryan humbly said.

In a post last July 8, 2022, Charlie Puth credited Bryan for his vinyl art concept in a post which will be used as the graphics for the much-anticipated new album Charlie.

“This is the official artwork for my album CHARLIE. This album was born on the internet, and I’ve had so much fun making it in front of all of you this past year,” Charlie wrote on Instagram.

Bryan’s concept art would have not come at any other perfect time, indeed.

He also gets to work on other graphic materials for the album, including the posters, CDs, and vinyls, among others. In fact, recently, Bryan has just completed the mock-up for Charlie Puth’s website.

Bryan is currently working on personal projects for his profile to hone his craft and gain more milestones as he goes about his studies.

“Hopefully I get more opportunities like this because this is what I love doing; even though it seems like a reach, I want to work with other artists I love and adore. I also want to graduate from college with good grades,” he shares.

See more of Bryan Justin's works here.