Album art is dead.
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- Miguex0
I think album art has evolved to live performance.
I used to do album covers for vinyl releases, then the CD came and went, and eventually (still do every now and then) beatport thumbnails which is horribly small.But where that side of work started to fade away, I started to develop visuals for touring acts (mixing them live, or providing conceptualized pieces by the artists as form of loops that someone else will trigger during the performance)
In essence (to me at least) is the same thing. A visual interpretation of the music to be presented to an audience that will experience it (at it's best) when the artist's music is playing.
These days, musi artists are shifting their money to live shows, so Album art is not dead, (and probably will never be) it will continue to shift onto different forms and music delivery continue to evolve.
- nicewhatthefunk
- yes!
riskunlogic - Flying Lotus.. dude.. more respect than i already had..autoflavour
- been liking ur works Miguex.dobre
- thanks dobre!Miguex
- Miguex0
And going back to the statement 'Print is dead'.
Who here doesn't interact at least once a day with printed mediums? From the embossed paper sleeve on your morning coffee, to packaging protecting your latest electronic gadget, to you laughing at the ridiculous headlines on the cover of that Oprah magazine that sits on that display near the register at the supermarket.Dead means dead, and print can't be dead if we all continue to interact with it on a daily basis. There's a recent portion of some of the print medium that were shifted to digital mediums. Yes of course, but that doesn't mean print is dead.
In my opinion it all comes down to seeing the glass half full vs half empty that's all.
- Ask The New York Times if the glass is full. Print is dying. To me, I think that makes the medium more valuable.instrmntl
- newspaper were never that strong of a reference for designers anyways..Miguex
- Newspaper switched to a different medium, yes. Is that an indication of the entire medium being extinct to you?Miguex
- Yup, and books and other publications going down the toilet. I love print, don't get me wrong.instrmntl
- we have packaging, end cap displays, art books, invitations, clothing, posters, etc.Miguex
- There will always be a need for a printed medium.. might not be as big as before, but it will be there.Miguex
- ORAZAL0
- dope, too bad is FAKE because PRINT IS DEAD
http://southparkstud…Miguex
- dope, too bad is FAKE because PRINT IS DEAD
- whatthefunk0
My earliest memory of album art was Queen's "News of the World" from my father's collection. The robot always freaked me out but I remember playing this and inspecting the album cover. It's a shame that this experience will not happen in the future.
I believe that now with avatars, social media thumbnails, itunes covers, live broadcast graphics like Miguex is describing and the overall artist/album/song graphic production is an interesting evolution of the medium. I've always been loyal to listening to albums from start to finish but the majority doesn't and branding singles and an artist is fascinating in a digital world.
- I see what you are saying, it will be a different experience that's all. Little kids these days learn how to use ipad/ iphone incredibly fastMiguex
- I'm sure they will get to experience a similar feeling that will also stay with them for a whileMiguex
- exactly - as long as artists release apps (like Bjork) to support an album, we're goodwhatthefunk
- animatedgif0
"And going back to the statement 'Print is dead'.
Who here doesn't interact at least once a day with printed mediums? From the embossed paper sleeve on your morning coffee, to packaging protecting your latest electronic gadget"...So print is still useful for trash then?
- clearly, that depends on you and you alone... because on a spiritual level, all material posesion are trash...Miguex
- http://static2.fjcdn…Miguex
- HAYZ1LLLA0
I keep my itunes pretty tight so artwork is still important to me. Cover flow innit!
- Coverflow was removed in iTunes 11
Album view is good thoughanimatedgif
- Coverflow was removed in iTunes 11
- monNom0
Don't you remember how shit most albums were? you had to buy the whole album just for that one song you liked, none of the others were even remotely as good, and the "album art" was complete bullshit with mostly some grungy low-res photographic treatment and or a black and white snapshot of the band, and a bunch of copyright/disclaimer text. no lyrics, no deeper meaning, no art. Just legaleze.
Good album art was really the exception, not the rule.
- while I don't agree completely, I admire your positive outlook on thisMiguex
- cannonball19780
The concept of an album is itself a marketing tool to get you to buy more songs.
At least we're heading back to the way it was.
- jagara0
Albums (that is, collections of songs from a single artist/band) will never die, IMHO... but it will be a niche. And actually, as somebody pointed out, it all started with single songs anyway :)
- ohhhhhsnap0
http://pitchfork.com/features/st… ...but for the purpose of this thread
- jtb260
Allow me to beat a dead horse.
My interest in bringing up this topic was not to bemoan the fact that we've lost the physical medium - but that album art is now a square picture to represent a track in my playlist.
All the content that used to come packed with the music has been left behind. Lyrics, liner notes, bios, photos. I get that it's all on the internet now but I think there is real value in packaging that all together in a clever and visual way. Nowadays that should be visual.
Album art shouldn't be relegated to an avatar for tracks on my phone.
- noel0
- Horp0
Fuck it man, its gone, let it be.
Time was when music was a bunch of holes punched into giant rolls of tough paper on a reel. You dropped them into your pianola and it was like a ghost was tinkling the ivories. The full colour wraps that those cylindrical reels came in were the ultimate format. Exquisitely beautiful etchings and calligraphy brought stunningly realistic evocations right into the parlour. Then wax came along and killed the cylinder format stone dead with its soul-less, completely flat squares of 12" lithographic cardboard. What was worse was that when you put them on the shelf you couldn't even see the pictures anymore, the pictures all got pressed together and you'd be left with a 2mm 'spine' that had 2pt type on you could barely read with a magnifying glass.
- ernexbcn0
I for one like my albums on iTunes with their proper covers, I think I have a kind of OCD about that actually.
- Glitterati_Duane0
- bhahahaha the one doing a split is AMAZINGMiguex
- Makes me smile every timeGlitterati_Duane
- qTime0
I think the simple answer is art cover isn't needed anymore, as sad as it sounds.
Why would you need to see a picture when you can just click a link and listen to the music?