Yo yo
It has been quite a while since I last posted in the Critics Lounge. I've been really busy.
Well, I've just finished the cover for an EP I'm doing. The music on it pretty crazy combined with spoken words in Danish.
Any comments on it before I sent it to print?
(http://www.nielshs.dk/junk/JegErGardin-Cover(final).png)
The cover - front and back
(http://www.nielshs.dk/junk/JegErGardin-cd.png)
The print on the cd...
I hope none of this is too offensive for anyone...
Cheers!
I'm sorry, but I don't really like it. Looks too much like a cover for a reallyy cheap disc released by really cheap band...
All the detail on main image looks really cool, but it's a bit too colorful and disturbing. Especially dog nose and ugly mouth.
On song list part, the font and background doesn't fit one bit. First that ugly body, do you really need this? And the font belongs to a classical music compilation, not something crazy. Either a punk or hiphop band, the font should be something different. To match better with main cover and whole thing.
The image on disc itself is cool and fine in my opinion. Maybe a bit too colorful for my taste, but I like it anyway.
Thanks for the answer. I'm glad you find it disturbing!
I think I'll remove the ugly body on the back side.
Actually "crazy" might have been the wrong word to use about the music - it's more of an really avant-garde art thing. (Neither punk or hip hop)
Cheers.
BTW this cover IS for a reallyy cheap disc released by really cheap band...
I don' t really like to see the image of an event who killed 2,500 people, really...
Quote from: Nacho on Tue 25/09/2007 12:48:13
I don' t really like to see the image of an event who killed 2,500 people, really...
I'm not entirely sure, since it is so small, but I might see something in the picture that killed over 200 000 people.
What is hanging off his shirt where the lizard face is? Is that what i think it is?
Quote from: Nacho on Tue 25/09/2007 12:48:13
I don' t really like to see the image of an event who killed 2,500 people, really...
Why?
Is the sharp edges sign intentional or is this due to some kind of regulations?
I like the picture, but I wouldnt like it on a CD though. I wouldnt probably buy a CD looking like this....
I like it but I think it would be better suited for the inside cover.
Something more simplistic might work better as a cover.
(btw, is that a penis on his shirt?)
This "cover" spells chaos to me. I would skip over it if I encountered it at a store, or even on a website. It doesn't appeal to me and the images you used to create the image are... Sketchy, at best.
A lot of the things I see on it make me go "well, isn't that unnecessary?"
Also, I have no idea what Nacho is referring to, so I can't say it's bothering me. What IS bothering me is the 'slave' on his forehead. It reeks of mild racialism.
I disagree with almost everyone. Having 9/11 in the image or slave on the forehead is not a promotion of any kind.
To be so sensitive that to even see that image offends someone is pretty sad really.
I think that it maybe looks a bit too busy, but otherwise I think your asking the wrong audience.
Also, how is saying slave racial? The fact that you jumped to that conclusion says something about that word and the effect that it has in this image.
The only really disturbing thing imo is the thick penis on the guys chest, that also seem to carry a blister or something :-\
I'm sorry, but I just find it of awful taste. I can see why some are bothered, I'm not personally, but I simply can't get over the simple chaos in the whole image, plus the bad technique that seems to be made with.
Sorry. :-[
Besides this being a forum where mainly adventure gamers reside, I can only make out a mish-mash of cut & paste.
I'm struggling to realise any purpose behind most (all) of the images you have chosen.
I find the use of 9/11 totally unnecessary, although it's not insulting or offending one bit, just why use such an image on an album cover?
The penis on the shirt... the upside down head... the thing with the apple... the leg... the list basically spans all the objects in the image.
For me it just looks terrible even though I can see you have put time into it getting all the photoshoppery done.
Your album cover doesn't affect me in any single way, maybe you want to captivate your audience and get them to have a closer look at an image which actually means something.
Just my opinion...
Quote from: Andail on Tue 25/09/2007 15:59:47
Quote from: Nacho on Tue 25/09/2007 12:48:13
I don' t really like to see the image of an event who killed 2,500 people, really...
Why?
Eeer... well, It was a sad event for me... I wouldn' t accept an image of iraqui babies blowed by an american bomb, either... I would think as those image just as a cheap trick to make the cover more "intellectual" creating controversy, but for me it only looks like that, like a silly cheap marketing trick.
I agree with everyone else... Your cover is way too overburdened with tiny useless images crammed in there and the few images that are large enough to examine are grotesquely vulgar. If you want something that will shock people with your music album cover, why not go with something simpler that express what you are trying to say?
You can always browse DeviantArt for ideas, here's the Macabre/horror section: http://search.deviantart.com/searchcraft/?q=earth+in:digitalart/photomanip/macabre§ion=browse&qh=boost:popular%20age_sigma:24h%20age_scale:5
It's interesting. I don't hate it, but I think the concept would make a better music video. I say try it with just the guy and the baby, with just the ground and the sky. Unless it's a time thing.
It reminds me of this Barenaked Ladies cover.
(http://www.jb-online.net/kim/images/barenaked_stunt.jpg)
Thanks for all the replies.
The reason why some the images are a little hard to figure out is because I've scaled down the image to fit the forum.
Too bad that most of you don't like the image because it's too weird or chaotic. Actuallly I thought that it should have more chaos. I wanted it to look as f**ked up as possible...
Maybe I'm just aiming at the wrong audience here or maybe I just have bad taste.
Sorry but I dont like it either!
Why IS there a penis monster on the t-shirt anyway?
That manis hideous in a bad way, and why is he groping that baby like that?
You clearly are competent at photoshop, but I too don't like the design..
This image is a combination of different things, but they're all relevent to the theme of the album.
(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00005A8H0.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg)
Messy. That is how I call your album art. It is not so bad, it is just messy. ManicMatt explained it exactly.
"The reason why some the images are a little hard to figure out is because I've scaled down the image to fit the forum."
But it'll be even smaller on a CD cover?
I don't really have an opinion on the art. It's a mishmash of things that you probably had a reason to include but I can't really extract it from the image.
However, I want the shirt that guy is wearing. I love the penis monster.
If I had to pick the best imagery out of this cover I'd say the central "slave" boy, the penis monster [he'd make a nice icon for the band] and the eagle with the sphere connected by a tube to it's head. I like that last image a lot.
Other than that the design is really haphazard. Things are just stuck in places. It looks like you made something and then looked for a place to stick it and then just crammed it in there. I am of the opinion that chaotic art could still use a bit of planning and composition.
Quote from: Nacho on Wed 26/09/2007 10:18:02
Quote from: Andail on Tue 25/09/2007 15:59:47
Quote from: Nacho on Tue 25/09/2007 12:48:13
I don' t really like to see the image of an event who killed 2,500 people, really...
Why?
Eeer... well, It was a sad event for me... I wouldn' t accept an image of iraqui babies blowed by an american bomb, either... I would think as those image just as a cheap trick to make the cover more "intellectual" creating controversy, but for me it only looks like that, like a silly cheap marketing trick.
Agreed, partly...I was just curious what your prime reason for not liking it was. As in, didn't you like it because it's cheap to include controversial stuff in promotion art, or didn't you like it because you got personally offended by viewing such content.
I can't really see the controversy when the event is simply represented, just as it happened, and not tagged with political sentences or other symbols.
You say that you wouldn't want to see Iraqui babies blown apart, but if we consider that such material would be much more graphical than a distant building on fire, I'd still say that depicting it can't be inherently immoral or wrong. It all depends on the context. I mean, isn't it good if people keep spreading pictures of events that deserve to stay in our memories? As long as they don't pee on them or turn them on fire?
I didn't mean to stir up polemics here, just asking you to not offer automatic replies (like Mrs Lovejoy in Simpsons with her "oh can't
somebody think of the children!!") without elaborating why you say it.
Thank you :)
Quote from: He-Man on Thu 27/09/2007 08:27:27
Thanks for all the replies.
The reason why some the images are a little hard to figure out is because I've scaled down the image to fit the forum.
Too bad that most of you don't like the image because it's too weird or chaotic. Actually I thought that it should have more chaos. I wanted it to look as f**ked up as possible...
Maybe I'm just aiming at the wrong audience here or maybe I just have bad taste.
I agree with the scaling down. I understand how that works. In print it always seems so much more clear and sharp.
Fucked up doesn't mean offensive. Partly because we don't know the music, it's hard to place this. If the band is anything like, say, Mindless Self Indulgence, the cover might make more sense.
I think it's cool, I really do. I think it just needs more movement. Maybe show the legs posed a bit more, or adjust the arms so he looks more in motion.
As for the whole 9/11 thing, it's not in ALL bad taste. I take it (because its not an American band?) that it's symbolic. It's just over the horizon and if we don't do something that it could happen here, where ever that might be. He's taking his baby and moving away from all of the crazy that is associated with pop culture and mainstream, to protect some innocence of the world.
It's not all "SEPTEMBER 11 OFFENDS ME!!1", sometimes it can be a heartwarming story. However a penis-shirted man can be heartwarming.
I vote for Penis-Monster. A simple flat-coloured background, and Penis-Monster ejaculating the bands logo.
It almost designs itself! :D
What ever happened to people NOT making dumb adult jokes on these kinds of threads? ;)
- Huw
They're living in a funny house with lots of nice people now, a place where life is beatiful all the time, and they get to eat ice-cream every day and don't have to worry about anything anymore. If you gather my meaning.
Quote from: Akatosh on Fri 28/09/2007 14:29:01
They're living in a funny house with lots of nice people now, a place where life is beatiful all the time, and they get to eat ice-cream every day and don't have to worry about anything anymore. If you gather my meaning.
Yeah, nice expression. Well, I have seen more offensive CD covers featuring VERY disgusting things. Some metal bands have CD covers that make you vomit in 2 seconds. I think this can be a very nice one if it is organized a bit, like people before me said.
Quote from: Huw "I'm scary" Dawson on Fri 28/09/2007 14:25:01
What ever happened to people NOT making dumb adult jokes on these kinds of threads? ;)
- Huw
I was entirely serious. The Penis-Monster is actually quite an interesting design. I don't usually go for this collage-type art, so the cover doesn't really appeal to me all that much.
But I think Penis-Monster is quite eye-catching.
Akatosh: They're coming to take me away.
Haha.
On topic now... My only problem with the image is that there's nothing really catching my eye. No one thing.
In a bin full of cds, I would get to this one...and keep going.