Lucy Naland



Podcast: The Empty Grave of Comrade Bishop
“The Empty Grave of Comrade Bishop” is a Peabody award-winning investigative podcast from The Washington Post. The series follows journalist Martine Powers as she raises new questions about a 40-year-old mystery on the Caribbean island of Grenada.

I developed the show’s visual identity. I spent weeks attending meetings with The Post's audio team to better understand the story and looked through hundreds of archival documents and photos they collected as I began putting together ideas. My research and illustrations resulted in the show’s key art and other assets below.







Maurice Bishop, the revolutionary leader of Grenada, was executed in 1983 alongside seven others. The location of their remains are unknown. | Photo by Getty Images.
Grenada is an island nation of 125,000 people at the edge of the Caribbean. | Map by The Washington Post.
Archival images of the U.S.’s invasion of Grenada and its aftermath in November 1983. | Photos by National Archives and Records Administration; AP.
Archival documents compiled by The Post’s audio team.
Very first ideas. I attempted a grid setup to incorporate various photos and documents from the team’s research.
Another iteration on this idea. I made the title smaller to make room for visuals and centered Bishop’s photo. This color scheme makes it feel like a history podcast, but it doesn’t feel very exciting.
I went back to Grenada’s flag and thought about how to inject the art with more energy and Caribbean elements.
Green, red and yellow allude to Grenada’s flag and geographic location. The new color scheme will also help this podcast stand out from other history shows.
Next, I added photos and documents inside the shapes.
I also added a thin red outline behind Bishop’s photo to help it stand out against the black background.
We later swapped the draft image out for an updated photo of Bishop.
I consulted with the team to land on the final photo and document selections.
Final version.
After the main art was finalized, I created alternate sizes and design options for The Post’s website and off-platform use cases. The second example appeared on Apple Podcasts.
The lead art on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Another version for The Post’s episode guide.
Thumbnail designs for the show on YouTube.
Updated November 2025