the hideousness of contemporary record artwork

[blissblogger]

I rarely go in a record store these days so this is just based on what confronts my eyeballs when I go on Tidal or Spotify and see the "Suggested New Albums for You"

What a ghastly panorama of misconceived, garish, cack-handed imagery! The typography alone is an affront

I wonder how much of this stuff is delegated to AI nowadays.

It makes sense that in the age of streaming the art of the record cover would have declined, because of the smaller space devoted to the artwork, and because it's isn't a factor at the point of sale so much.

But then again, given the thriving market for vinyl, and the fact that there's still loads of older artists active who grew up with the notion of the beautifully packaged record.... and then there are the younger ones who came through art school... and just the general intensified visuality of the culture with fashion and the design of commodities.... you would think that there would be artists who cared about how their releases manifest as objects in the world, and equally a market for the gorgeously wrapped record...

Are there even name record designers anymore like Hipgnosis and Peter Saville and Malcolm Garrett of yore?

Okay, very occasionally, you might see an attractive or intriguing one - I'll probably start a different thread for those.

But this one is for the eyesores, the vision stains.

 

[blissblogger]

 

[blissblogger]

 

[blissblogger]

 

[version]

I wonder how much of this stuff is delegated to AI nowadays.

There are 5,000 physical copies of the new Wu-Tang record, each with individual artwork, and people have been complaining they've just generated 5,000 variations with an AI.

 

[pattycakes]

The computer and all the modern generative bells and whistles have allowed for a lot of half heartedness to proliferate. Its all over the place, from album art to fashion to car design and architecture. The lack of physical hand involvement is what's missing imo, in combination with the taking time to mindfully put together something truly representative of what's being offered. The perfected geometry of everything removes the human feel. All of those above make me feel precisely nothing at all.

 

[luka]

View attachment 22768

This is almost genius!

 

[version]

The computer and all the modern generative bells and whistles have allowed for a lot of half heartedness to proliferate. Its all over the place, from album art to fashion to car design and architecture. The lack of physical hand involvement is what's missing imo, in combination with the taking time to mindfully put together something truly representative of what's being offered. The perfected geometry of everything removes the human feel. All of those above make me feel precisely nothing at all.

The ideal was supposed to be that automation would free people up to be even more creative as all the dull stuff wold be delegated to the machines, but given the machines can do more or less everything they get used for more or less everything. If you're lazy, they can do it all for you and lots of people are lazy.

 

[pattycakes]

Also most people won't care about the above artworks because they will only take a quick glance at most. The creativity expectation standards are at an all time low. You have AI generated music playing in restaurants now and most people won't bat an eyelid

 

[pattycakes]

You get these covers of classic tunes and especially 90s/00s pop hits with a soft bossa nova guitar, a generic lofi hip-hop beat and some saccharine angel warbling no woman no cry over the top. It's amazing because it takes a minute to register what song it is and then you half recognize a line and then the chorus comes in and it gets you and you're like damn. No royalties need be paid. I guess this is the economy we're in now. Cutting corners wherever possible

 

[version]

I can't understand why you wouldn't want the best artwork you can get on your album. Surely you'd want it to look as good as possible? That's your work out there and the overall package will influence how people receive it. Sometimes you have to compromise, but so many of them are so bad it's hard to imagine what's going on in people's heads.

 

[pattycakes]

I was a bit half hearted with my releases I put out earlier this year but that was because putting it all together was already so much work and then to have to think about artwork on top was such a drain so I grabbed some it'll do grade stuff

 

[version]

I was a bit half hearted with my releases I put out earlier this year but that was because putting it all together was already so much work and then to have to think about artwork on top was such a drain so I grabbed some it'll do grade stuff

You'd have preferred it to be better if you'd had the energy though.

 

[pattycakes]

View attachment 22773

This style is endemic. Kind of a mishmash of old gig poster/flyers with generic graffiti splodge, vague faded necklace (?) in the background. Just totally thoughtless and void of any emotion. Much like the man himself

 

[version]

You don't see many good book covers or film posters these days either.

 

[jenks]

I was talking to someone about this. He was saying that record companies now want cover art to something identifiable as a thumbnail - hence the crap designs.

 

[pattycakes]

Ah right yeah, that's happened to company logos too. They've all gone super simplified so they work as app icons

 

[version]

Ah right yeah, that's happened to company logos too. They've all gone super simplified so they work as app icons

That horrible, flat style.

 

[luka]

bane of high streets. viciously ugly.

 

[pattycakes]

Am assault on the senses for anyone remotely conscious