A while back I had Grammy Award Winner, Sir Mix-A-lot on chasejarvisLIVE. The guy is smart – dropped some pretty serious knowledge on the show [here’s the re-watch if you missed it].
At the end of the show, I shot the cover for his upcoming album, live, online. Here are the results.
The lead one that shows his face is my fav, but there’s plenty of debate, because the other shot is tough and mysterious. I’ll resist the temptation to make any real case for one or the other, and I’ll let this is a straight up survey – which photo do you like better A (top) or B (bottom)? (please answer in the post, not via other social channels so we don’t have to chase your feedback – thx!)
Here is photo A:
Here is photo B:
Thanks for your input.
||And if you missed it: Here’s the chasejarvisLIVE episode with Mix||
A… both cool though!
neither.
From a designers point of view:
I assume the title for the album will go into the bottom space. As such the empty black space on the left doesn’t work from a design point of view. It makes the photos unbalanced. In Photo B this more accentuated by the symmetry created by the glass.
Image A should have the glass sitting to the left near where the phone is.
If someone drop this on my desk and say design an album cover I’d ask if there are more photos. If not I’d choose A and drop some sort of decal into that black white space to create some level of balance. Also, would add the album title in massive font below the desk would create balance. It would put focus on the open hand gesture which seems welcoming. kind a like “let me seduce you”. VS image B which just says I am hiding behind a glass.
I would put transparent bold type over the ‘accessories’.
A for sure. I couldn’t tell he was holding a glass at first and it looked like he was putting his fingers up his nose.
My first reaction was to wonder what the name of the album was and match the title with the photo.
Then I wondered what choice C and/or D was.
But if I had to choose A or B, I’d have to choose A based on that it “feels” more like the Mix-a-Lot that I know and remember.
Honestly? Both are technically great photos, but A looks like it has been done before. Rapper in mafia-like “so whassit gonna be” pose with huge booty next to him? Predictable. B is a bit more interesting, but the huge sexy butt also makes the image cliche. His face (or lack thereof) is mysterious and interesting, the burning eyes, the wine glass….very cool. Draws me in. But the bikini bottom just reinforces every stereotype there is about rap music. If you cut off the girl (who is styled as an accessory rather than a human being), I think it’s a better image.
I don’t know his music well, maybe it completely fits in with his persona, but I was disappointed with both images. Not in their execution – which I like – but in content.
Thanks for posting this, Chase, and allowing honest feedback. I’m just keeping it real. Cheers.
*hip hop, not rap, forgive the mistype.