I think most of his album covers are too cheap when it comes 2 design...

I know it's his style and as a funkateer i can except tight pants, glitter n gold, kitch, over the top cliché stuff and all of that...

But I think he deserves better graphic artwork for his 'products'... The design as a whole ain't good at all, often not that timeless (graphic effects that are hot at the moment), too many fonts being used, etc...

4 example: The musicology cover pic was cool, but the design, the fonts etc fucked that package up...
Same goes 4 so many other great albums...
He gets treated like an independant b-artist nobody, when it comes 2 sleeve art, even when he was on Warner...

What do y'all think of the Prince cover art, and (his) art direction in general?
[Edited 3/3/06 10:18am]

don't get me started.

i think back in the day when prince had less final say over the quality control of his art direction (but was still able to participate), he was better off. nearly all of the WB albums look fantastic, and some of those album images are absolutely iconic.

i think now, he's not as interested in the visual side of his product as he is in the process of making the music and performing it live. i also think over the last half a decade or so, he's not adventurous enough to work with a variety of artists on different projects.

it's a shame...i've seen some fan art/designs that kick my pants. he has a whole goldmine of talent who'd jump to work for him just for the acknowledgement of it.

Yeah, some of his old sleeves are very iconic (Parade/Purple Rain) but many of them (latest) do not show how great the content is, and that's just what good design is all about!

Somebody bring the message 2 the Prince headquarters!

prince HQ knows. it's the man in charge whose opinion matters, and he doesn't care.

Anx said:

...and it's absolutely pitiful.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

in NPG's defense, i will say that i like the artwork that's been coming out in support of 3121 and its singles. it's nothing revolutionary or spectacular, but it at least looks NICE, like a mainstream hit album by a professional pop musician should look.

i'd love to see prince allow the art direction of his product branch out by recruiting a variety of talented folks from the fan community, but i don't know if that's gonna happen anytime soon.

I don't understand a lot of the album cover decisions either . . .

Prince's PR photos are always AMAZING - any one of those photos would be a great cover. It's just when someone has to play with fonts that it gets messed up!

Musicology wasn't great, but compared to NPS it was a masterpiece.

fonkee said:

I think, the quality of his cover art of the past decade have been indicative of the quality of the music inside.

Maybe he does it for a reason-so you can get pass the crappy artwork and focus on the music instead . Afterall, he's all about the artistic work of creating beautiful music not cover art.

nurse said:

offcourse the music speaks 4 itself but like Prince's dancing skillz: they make the music even more spectacular live, that effect is missing when I listen at home... There's no kraftwerk effect (staring at a beautiful cover whilst listening 2 the lp and they match so well...)
Like I said, the covers just don't show how great that shit is in many cases: maybe it's a bad example (4 it was a warner product of the late 90's)but the sleeve of 'The Vault' was soooo ugly and the cd was the bomb...
I want non-prince fans to look at the covers and be intrigued in a good way
We all know how many people still think Prince is gay, and the thing is, the coversleeves 'prove their point' hehe

The 3121 cover looks nice though, but i'll have 2 watch the full design 2 make a final judgement
We gon cop that shit like we always do!
[Edited 3/4/06 10:44am]

nurse said:

then he should go with more covers like the black album. seriously. at least that was bold.

if prince released an album with just a plain purple cover, i'd be into that more than something like NPS or musicology's art design.

P should hire me as his art designer

Oh and i can do some of his music too

Payt said:

i would like to see that! the art design part, at least! (i'm sure you're a fine musician, just don't touch the hohner)