Further Research: Takashi Murakami

Before futher work, I have looked at Murakami's works, who's cover illustrations uses bright, 'pop' colours and cartoon styles, which Murakami used to advance his 'Superflat theory of art, which highlights the “flatness” of Japanese visual culture from traditional painting to contemporary subcultures in the context of World War II and its aftermath' (Gagosian, 2018). I felt his work better suited the current niche of the youth, to be simple, colourful, and impactful, which is an element I need for viewers to be attracted to an cover design of old novels. While some works of Saul Bass and Paul Rand can be relevant, there are works that the target audience, Gen Z, may find more attractive and relatable. 

Takashi Murakami (2007) Cover Art for Graduation

Found in: Dezeen

Murakami, also known as the Warhol of Japan, states that 'Kanye’s music scrapes sentimentality and aggressiveness together like sandpaper, and he uses his grooves to unleash this tornado that spins with the zeitgeist of the times. I too wanted to be swept up and spun around in that tornado' (American Songwriter, 2022), which is a feeling that I can immediately see in his work and not with previous researches. He emphasises these elements of the product using whimsical, almost childlike styles shown through the layout and colouration of his work. The movement and colour schemes feel highly reflective of Gen Z behaviour and attention: they are commonly attracted to simple yet impactful, eye-catching, and relevant. I feel as if there are raw visuals to this work: psychedelic, explosive, the pure emotions that a student can feel from a school and graduating from it— a cover art works best if it is reflective of the work and the self, of the influence that it can give the viewers.

Moby Dick, a novel I am using for my project, has contrasting elements of a whale, seemingly peaceful animal, ironically attacking a person which results in a revenge story. As with this work it is also ironic that the character, the cartoon bear named the Dropout Bear, is a core element of the album cover despite the topic of the music being graduation. This contrast, although it may not be clear without some background knowledge, is still shown on the art by breaking through the core of the school— 'The Dropout Bear was a mascot of sorts for the rapper. He appeared on West’s first two albums and came to represent West’s rejection of societal norms in favor of his own path' (American Songwriter, 2022). Not only can contrast be shown with colours, but also the general composition of elements. 

Takashi Murakami (2018) Cover Art for Kids See Ghost

Found in: Dezeen

Murakami also uses his historical background, which are Japanese traditional works, and integrates their elements to his covers. While in the previous works, it almost seems like he flattened 3D characters to look like 2D, this work adds onto an existing traditional artwork such as the works of Hokusai, using his ‘Superflat Theory’ and mixing the old and the modern together. Additionally instead of using print fonts, he utilised an ink brush style typography,  although it composes a minor part of the work. Mixing the traditional to modern is another style of Murakami, which works similar to old novels turning into new products.

Reference List:

Cascone, S. (2018) Album Art of Kanye West's 'Graduation', Artnet. [Online Image] Available at: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/takashi-murakami-kanye-wests-kid-cudi-album-art-1298195 (Accessed: November 16, 2022).

Hitti, N. (2018) Kanye West unveils Takashi Murakami-designed album art for kids see ghosts, Dezeen. Available at: https://www.dezeen.com/2018/06/06/kanye-west-takashi-murakami-kids-see-ghosts/# (Accessed: November 16, 2022).

Takashi Murakami (2018) Gagosian. Available at: https://gagosian.com/artists/takashi-murakami/ (Accessed: November 16, 2022).

Walthall, C. (2022) The story behind Kanye West's Fantastical 'graduation' album cover, American Songwriter. Available at: https://americansongwriter.com/graduation-kanye-west-album-cover-story/ (Accessed: November 16, 2022).