Kendrick Lamar Cover Designer Explains ‘DAMN’ Approach
Kendrick Lamar’s new album Damn. is coming out this Friday, and the rollout has been impressive. After returning with “The Heart Pt. 4” and the “Humble” video, we got an official release date and discovered some of the producers on the album on April 7.
Then, earlier this week, the album’s stark front and back cover (as well as the tracklist) was revealed. Internet reaction was swift, at times merciless, and of course filled with memes, many using the cover’s large text. Some criticisms of the cover compared it to the brilliantly striking To Pimp A Butterfly cover, and now the graphic designer behind both covers, Vlad Sepetov, has tweeted some more context about Damn.
Read a transcript of Sepetov’s full thread below and see all his tweets here.
“Already seeing a lot of discussion about the cover. and I’m really excited about it. It’s interesting to see people talk about “bad” design. But I’m incredibly proud of this cover. I sort of bucked a lot of what my teachers taught me. I wanted to make something loud and abrasive. And maybe some won’t see that, but I’m glad that Dave and Dot saw the value in making something that didn’t fit the mold. Just given the bare bones we fleshed something out that has a lot of people talking. It’s not uber political like TPAB but it has energy IMO.”
Sepetov also answered a question about the placement of the Parental Advisory sticker, explaining;
Kendrick Lamar’s new album Damn. is out this Friday, April 14. It features Rihanna and U2, as well as production by James Blake, DJ Dahi, and BADBADNOTGOOD.
