Tue 31 Mar
2009
Horsey
This cover for the second record from Swedish chanteuse Frida Hyvönen really shouldn’t work. The comically wild typesetting for the word “wild,” the bland inset layout, the histrionic equine imagery, the leopard print… nearly everything about it offends my sensibilities. And yet I think it’s really something amazing, a piece of design that transcends pretension and slips into ‘art’ without fuss. I want it blown up big and framed on my wall. And the music is good, too.
Remarks 6 total remarks were added before the post was closed.
01 Apr 2009, 06:23 pm
Ok, I wouldn’t inherently find this offensive to my sensibilities, per se, but I think your enthusiasm for the design is more about content and emotion than about typesetting or layout.
Connecting with what something actively *is* in a natural way allows you to understand or appreciate differently what it passively expresses.
Or something like that ;)
The cover of her first album is similarly striking and “off;” I’ve found it intensely beautiful and haunting since first seeing it: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31A85tE8izL._SS500_.jpg
02 Apr 2009, 12:32 pm
I like it because the cover reflects the content. They took great care to visually reflect the content and in this case, a *wild* font looks as wonderful as the tenderness of a giant beast!
05 Apr 2009, 03:50 am
I think it transcends bad because the overall layout is staid and non-offensive. It neatly balances the “wild” and gimmicky font which is also tempered or offset by a photograph with a self-contained dynamic similar to that of the typesetting/layout.
I have to disagree here.
I like the music, however the cover just doesn’t work for me. In a way it kind of wants to be a Peter Saville cover (think joy division’s closer) but just isn’t there.
This isn’t offensive - but it’s not terribly good either.
sorry
BTW - love the thinking behind this site