Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. Graphic Designer Explains Cover Art
Earlier this week, Kendrick Lamar shared the cover art for his highly anticipated new album, DAMN., which is out this Friday via Aftermath/Interscope/Top Dawg. Following the intricate, symbolic artwork adorning Lamar’s previous full-length, 2015’s To Pimp a Butterfly, many fans were baffled by DAMN.’s design, featuring a simple portrait of Kendrick, a prominent “parental advisory” sticker, and the album title in massive red letters. Vlad Sepetov, a graphic designer who worked on the covers for both DAMN. and To Pimp a Butterfly, as well as other Kendrick projects, took to Twitter to discuss the artwork, as Pigeons and Planes points out. “It’s interesting to see people talk about ‘bad’ design,” he says, adding that he wanted something “loud and abrasive” and that he “bucked a lot of what my teachers taught me.” Read all of his tweets below, and revisit the album cover in question.
Read “What Kendrick Lamar’s Been Up to Since To Pimp a Butterfly” on the Pitch.
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.
— Vlad Sepetov (@VSepetov) April 11, 2017
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.
— Vlad Sepetov (@VSepetov) April 11, 2017
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.
— Vlad Sepetov (@VSepetov) April 11, 2017
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
— Vlad Sepetov (@VSepetov) April 11, 2017
@NickyChulo we wanted to make the pa logo part of the design not an afterthought. why make it small? let’s make it huge and embrace it. DAMN.
— Vlad Sepetov (@VSepetov) April 11, 2017
A post shared by Kendrick Lamar (@kendricklamar) on Apr 11, 2017 at 3:15am PDT
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