Bit tacky, but less tacky than the gun mic

ian said:

Didn't like the mic stand, thought the symbol guitar was pretty iconic. I liked the gun mic. Music as a weapon or Prince putting a gun in his mouth (which harks back to Francis L's suicidal streak in Purple Rain and Grafitti Bridge and for that matter the father in papa "How come I don't love my woman, then took aim and died, oh papa")

robertgeorge said:

Didn't like the mic stand, thought the symbol guitar was pretty iconic. I liked the gun mic. Music as a weapon or Prince putting a gun in his mouth (which harks back to Francis L's suicidal streak in Purple Rain and Grafitti Bridge and for that matter the father in papa "How come I don't love my woman, then took aim and died, oh papa")

I remember when I attended the Arsenio Hall taping and "someone" had the audacity to steal the gold gun mic!

MattyJam said:

ian said:

Bit tacky, but less tacky than the gun mic

Nah man, the gun mic was cool. The Symbol mic stand looked cheap and gaudy.

Totally. Looked really flimsy. I like the Symbol, liked the Symbol stage, but thought it detracted from the look of the 3EG band on stage

Robbajobba said:

MattyJam said:

ian said: Nah man, the gun mic was cool. The Symbol mic stand looked cheap and gaudy.

Totally. Looked really flimsy. I like the Symbol, liked the Symbol stage, but thought it detracted from the look of the 3EG band on stage

Aye - for me it just seemed to get in the way.

*

I still wonder whether it was a can't throw this around anymore...? I don't know - probably his beliefe in the symbol as image association is a strong explanation, too.

Madhouse6 said:

Stood behind it in PP Jan 16 and was a shame no cameras were allowed. Think it’s pretty cool that you can just look at it instantly know whose mike stand it is Oh and the reason for 2 symbols is for the close up of his face - you still get the smaller symbol I. 😎

Thank you. It makes perfect sense.
It's like he felt the need to remind people who he was.

lurker316 said:

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My objection to the symbol mic stand was that he block the view. When he plays the guitar I really like to watch his fingers, but that damn stand was always getting in the way.

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[Edited 5/15/19 13:12pm]

....and maybe that was on purpose.
I've wondered if the reason for 3rdEyeGirl was for him to share lead guitar with another player because he was having trouble with his hands.

Sometimes I can tell who's playing lead, and other times not.

laytonian said:

lurker316 said:

.

My objection to the symbol mic stand was that he block the view. When he plays the guitar I really like to watch his fingers, but that damn stand was always getting in the way.

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[Edited 5/15/19 13:12pm]

....and maybe that was on purpose.
I've wondered if the reason for 3rdEyeGirl was for him to share lead guitar with another player because he was having trouble with his hands.

Sometimes I can tell who's playing lead, and other times not.

Blimey...hips...hands and bump-so-daisy! The poor bugger.

It reminds me of some of the dodgy candlesticks that he sold in his Camden store. I would visit regularly hoping for new music but invariably came away with a bloody candlestick.

SimonCharles said:

lurker316 said:

.

My objection to the symbol mic stand was that he block the view. When he plays the guitar I really like to watch his fingers, but that damn stand was always getting in the way.

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[Edited 5/15/19 13:12pm]

Couldn't agree more. I appreciate that there are those who like it, love it. That's all good - I just wanted it out of the way!

That's exactly how I felt about the Twitch Twins.

Personally I found that late-career Prince often got things a bit wrong in terms of the branding and visual design, ended up looking a bit overdone, cheap or tacky. Examples I'd give would be the 3rd eye girl logo and fonts, the symbol mic stand, the ugly vinyl wrap on his Vox semi hollowbody guitar, all the album cover art for his later work, and the printed graphics on his clothing etc. It's all part of the same problem I think - all a bit inconsistent and amateurish. Not sure if it was because he was trying to make all the calls himself rather than trusting design professionals, or if he was just working with so many different contractors that there was no unifying style across any of it.

[Edited 5/17/19 0:23am]

ian said:

Personally I found that late-career Prince often got things a bit wrong in terms of the branding and visual design, ended up looking a bit overdone, cheap or tacky. Examples I'd give would be the 3rd eye girl logo and fonts, the symbol mic stand, the ugly vinyl wrap on his Vox semi hollowbody guitar, all the album cover art for his later work, and the printed graphics on his clothing etc. It's all part of the same problem I think - all a bit inconsistent and amateurish. Not sure if it was because he was trying to make all the calls himself rather than trusting design professionals, or if he was just working with so many different contractors that there was no unifying style across any of it.

[Edited 5/17/19 0:23am]

.

Prince's album covers stopped being great and professional with Graffiti Bridge. That was horrendous (but I did like the lettering). After that, only a handful turned out to be really nice (D&P, 3121 comes to mind, but I'd struggle to mention a lot more), and more and more were a total mess, inconsistent, amateurish and/or kitsch – simply because he preferred to employ people he liked and gave them chances even when they lacked any sort of professional training or experience.

.

And the thing is, Prince never studied aesthetics, never had a refined taste in arts or design, even though he did develop a sense of style in clothing during his more mature years. He had a childish attraction to kitsch, the sometimes tacky things and many of his album artworks reflect that.

[Edited 5/17/19 5:25am]

I thought it looked cheap and tacky when I saw it up close on stage in Manchester in 2014 but it didn't detract from the show or his electric performance at all.

.

I didn't give it much thought really, let's be honest a lot his clothes, props, merch etc could be viewed as tacky

ian said:

Personally I found that late-career Prince often got things a bit wrong in terms of the branding and visual design, ended up looking a bit overdone, cheap or tacky. Examples I'd give would be the 3rd eye girl logo and fonts, the symbol mic stand, the ugly vinyl wrap on his Vox semi hollowbody guitar, all the album cover art for his later work, and the printed graphics on his clothing etc. It's all part of the same problem I think - all a bit inconsistent and amateurish. Not sure if it was because he was trying to make all the calls himself rather than trusting design professionals, or if he was just working with so many different contractors that there was no unifying style across any of it.

[Edited 5/17/19 0:23am]

Yeah, I agree entirely… a lot of the videos had that quality too. The “cottage industry” thing is quite cool in a way, but he didn’t exhibit a great deal of taste in his latter career. It was nice that he reached out to young designers and artists, but many of them were on the amateurish side (even on the web side of things). Far too many tacky Photoshop effects from the mid-90s onward.

The artwork for both “Nothing Compares 2 U” and “Piano & A Microphone” is probably better than anything that he put out himself – simple, elegant and tasteful.

[Edited 5/17/19 11:44am]

fen said:

It reminds me of some of the dodgy candlesticks that he sold in his Camden store. I would visit regularly hoping for new music but invariably came away with a bloody candlestick.

I was so good...music or bust, whenever I visited.

Kares said:

ian said:

Personally I found that late-career Prince often got things a bit wrong in terms of the branding and visual design, ended up looking a bit overdone, cheap or tacky. Examples I'd give would be the 3rd eye girl logo and fonts, the symbol mic stand, the ugly vinyl wrap on his Vox semi hollowbody guitar, all the album cover art for his later work, and the printed graphics on his clothing etc. It's all part of the same problem I think - all a bit inconsistent and amateurish. Not sure if it was because he was trying to make all the calls himself rather than trusting design professionals, or if he was just working with so many different contractors that there was no unifying style across any of it.

[Edited 5/17/19 0:23am]

.

Prince's album covers stopped being great and professional with Graffiti Bridge. That was horrendous (but I did like the lettering). After that, only a handful turned out to be really nice (D&P, 3121 comes to mind, but I'd struggle to mention a lot more), and more and more were a total mess, inconsistent, amateurish and/or kitsch – simply because he preferred to employ people he liked and gave them chances even when they lacked any sort of professional training or experience.

.

And the thing is, Prince never studied aesthetics, never had a refined taste in arts or design, even though he did develop a sense of style in clothing during his more mature years. He had a childish attraction to kitsch, the sometimes tacky things and many of his album artworks reflect that.

[Edited 5/17/19 5:25am]

I really loved the artwork that went with Exodus. I thought/think it is very appropriate to the project.

SimonCharles said:

fen said:

It reminds me of some of the dodgy candlesticks that he sold in his Camden store. I would visit regularly hoping for new music but invariably came away with a bloody candlestick.

I was so good...music or bust, whenever I visited.

I just don't recall it ever having much music wise, beyond what was already widely available - I bought the Goldnigga CD and The Undertaker VHS from there if I recall, but that was about it.

I'd always buy something and spend some cash in the cafe, just to assuage my guilt for all of the new music that I intended to buy from the bootleggers down the road. It was pretty odd really.

Totally. My first thought also.

Genesia said:

I think it was just another way to fuck with people trying to take pictures from the audience.

fen said:

SimonCharles said:

I was so good...music or bust, whenever I visited.

I just don't recall it ever having much music wise, beyond what was already widely available - I bought the Goldnigga CD and The Undertaker VHS from there if I recall, but that was about it.

I'd always buy something and spend some cash in the cafe, just to assuage my guilt for all of the new music that I intended to buy from the bootleggers down the road. It was pretty odd really.

That's a very pertinent point...I think I bought 1-800-New-Funk from the shop and that's about it...I seem to remember walking in as they were unboxing/open a new box behind the counter, and walking out with it moments later. I may have bought a t-shirt or two...and then headed for the market, yes.

Kares said:

ian said:

Personally I found that late-career Prince often got things a bit wrong in terms of the branding and visual design, ended up looking a bit overdone, cheap or tacky. Examples I'd give would be the 3rd eye girl logo and fonts, the symbol mic stand, the ugly vinyl wrap on his Vox semi hollowbody guitar, all the album cover art for his later work, and the printed graphics on his clothing etc. It's all part of the same problem I think - all a bit inconsistent and amateurish. Not sure if it was because he was trying to make all the calls himself rather than trusting design professionals, or if he was just working with so many different contractors that there was no unifying style across any of it.

[Edited 5/17/19 0:23am]

.

Prince's album covers stopped being great and professional with Graffiti Bridge. That was horrendous (but I did like the lettering). After that, only a handful turned out to be really nice (D&P, 3121 comes to mind, but I'd struggle to mention a lot more), and more and more were a total mess, inconsistent, amateurish and/or kitsch – simply because he preferred to employ people he liked and gave them chances even when they lacked any sort of professional training or experience.

.

And the thing is, Prince never studied aesthetics, never had a refined taste in arts or design, even though he did develop a sense of style in clothing during his more mature years. He had a childish attraction to kitsch, the sometimes tacky things and many of his album artworks reflect that.

[Edited 5/17/19 5:25am]

.

I agree that the 3121 cover was ok.

.

I thought the cover for the Rainbow Children was ok, too. It definitely fit the music. Same with the cover for Lotusflow3r.

.

Also, I realize I'm in the minority, but I loved the colors and font of the AoA cover.

.

Other than those, I hated all of his late career album covers.

.

lurker316 said:

Kares said:

.

Prince's album covers stopped being great and professional with Graffiti Bridge. That was horrendous (but I did like the lettering). After that, only a handful turned out to be really nice (D&P, 3121 comes to mind, but I'd struggle to mention a lot more), and more and more were a total mess, inconsistent, amateurish and/or kitsch – simply because he preferred to employ people he liked and gave them chances even when they lacked any sort of professional training or experience.

.

And the thing is, Prince never studied aesthetics, never had a refined taste in arts or design, even though he did develop a sense of style in clothing during his more mature years. He had a childish attraction to kitsch, the sometimes tacky things and many of his album artworks reflect that.

[Edited 5/17/19 5:25am]

.

I agree that the 3121 cover was ok.

.

I thought the cover for the Rainbow Children was ok, too. It definitely fit the music. Same with the cover for Lotusflow3r.

.

Also, I realize I'm in the minority, but I loved the colors and font of the AoA cover.

.

Other than those, I hated all of his late career album covers.

.

.

Yes, TRC is one of the better ones, but that's mainly due to the cool painting on the front. The booklet and the rest of the design is nothing special.
.
I find the Lotusflower artwork tacky, tbh. Not a fan of the AOA front image either, but I do like the lettering and the back cover.

.

Kares said:

Someone should make a MINI version of that, I have a great spot I could put it in my collection of PRINCE stuff.

Doozer said:

Kares said:

.

Yes, TRC is one of the better ones, but that's mainly due to the cool painting on the front. The booklet and the rest of the design is nothing special.
.
I find the Lotusflower artwork tacky, tbh. Not a fan of the AOA front image either, but I do like the lettering and the back cover.

.

Ugh - I thought the AOA cover was garbage. The photo of him in the booklet on the 2nd story lobby at PP would have made a better cover. His photo on the cover is airbrushed to Mars and back. Maybe that’s a play on the album name, but I don’t think so. And once you notice how crooked his glasses are on his face, you can’t unsee it.

Ha! - I LOVE the AOA cover because it's totally insane. The crazy glasses, that ridiculously studied pout the, air-brushing, the random silver discs... just everything...

.

Although I hadn't noticed the crooked glasses before so thanks for that - that's amazing. How they could he miss that?Although, in the context of everything else that's going on on that cover, it's kind of brilliant.

heymistermusic said:

Someone should make a MINI version of that, I have a great spot I could put it in my collection of PRINCE stuff.

It would look better in my bedroom....

ChocolateBox3121 said:

heymistermusic said:

Someone should make a MINI version of that, I have a great spot I could put it in my collection of PRINCE stuff.

It would look better in my bedroom....

I doubt it