Wu-Note Cover

BoingBoing recently posted this link to The Wu-Note Project.  Logan Walters redesigned the album covers to a number of Wu-Tang Clan and affiliate records to look as they might if they’d been designed by Reid Miles, an album sleeve designer for Blue Note Records.

Original Cover

I share this to add to our debate about album cover art. Offline we’ve been talking about old Soul records, and how those records either only featured the musician, or didn’t feature them because of racism in the music industry. I agree that you can have someone’s face on the album cover, but if you’re trying to make an iconic image for your record, it takes more than just the face.

The Wu-Note Project is, in my mind, just a demonstration about how iconic-esque covers can be easily created, and there really is no excuse for just slapping a bland band photo on the front. Graphic design can implement the faces to the music, while still creating a striking and memorable image. If the photo of the band/musician has become iconic, I ask someone to point out a record that was not known for great music, making the image iconic. To me, if the music is great, enough people will come in contact with the record, making the cover memorable and classic. However, clearly a few hours in photoshop and you can create an image that will stand on its own merits, and attract people to the record despite the music.

Note: I love Wu-Tang Clan, so when I say “despite the music” I mean that you can even make beautiful, iconic covers out of bad ass rap.