Worst looking CD/LP artwork

[Peter Power Pop]

The cover for a new DVD from Naxos:



Yes, really.

Details about the release:

https://www.naxos.com/CatalogueDetail/?id=BSOREC1006

[71 dB]

The cover for a new DVD from Naxos:



Yes, really.

Details about the release:

https://www.naxos.com/CatalogueDetail/?id=BSOREC1006

Wow, that is something!    My quick re-design below:

[Peter Power Pop]

Wow, that is something!    My quick re-design below:

That's much better. Much obliged, 71 dB.

[Madiel]

The cover for a new DVD from Naxos:



Yes, really.

Details about the release:

https://www.naxos.com/CatalogueDetail/?id=BSOREC1006

DVD, book... you could hardly be less descriptive or evocative if you tried.

I hate to think that the design department might have actually got paid for this.

Not using any images from the actual production makes me think that the production isn't appealing to look at.

[JBS]

DVD, book... you could hardly be less descriptive or evocative if you tried.

I hate to think that the design department might have actually got paid for this.

Not using any images from the actual production makes me think that the production isn't appealing to look at.

That's their current standard format for all their DVDs (and CD releases too, I think).
Perhaps they're embarrassed by all their productions.

[Madiel]

That's their current standard format for all their DVDs (and CD releases too, I think).
Perhaps they're embarrassed by all their productions.

Do they sell direct? It suggests they have zero interest in products standing out.

I suppose it would appeal to a certain "dropping out" aesthetic. Marketing? Pfft. We're over that.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Wow, that is something!    My quick re-design below:

Wow, that is something!    My quick re-design below:

It's called "Special Military Operation and Peace" in Russia today.

[JBS]

Do they sell direct? It suggests they have zero interest in products standing out.

I suppose it would appeal to a certain "dropping out" aesthetic. Marketing? Pfft. We're over that.

Here's Presto's listing of DVDs from them. Five with that format.
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/artists/5494/browse

[71 dB]

Not using any images from the actual production makes me think that the production isn't appealing to look at.

Maybe people will see red when watching the production in which case the cover art is actually on point. 

[Peter Power Pop]

DVD, book... you could hardly be less descriptive or evocative if you tried.

I hate to think that the design department might have actually got paid for this.

[snip]

My thought was that the graphics design department couldn't have been bothered to come up with an idea for the cover. ("Well, we're gonna get paid anyway, right?")

Which reminds me of this:

[Peter Power Pop]

Here's Presto's listing of DVDs from them. Five with that format.
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/artists/5494/browse

Five? Ye gods. What an uninspiring series.

[Madiel]

Here's Presto's listing of DVDs from them. Five with that format.
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/artists/5494/browse

Oh, to be a fly on the wall during the meetings where they decide which Pantone shade to use this time.

[AnotherSpin]

The cover for a new DVD from Naxos:



Yes, really.

Details about the release:

https://www.naxos.com/CatalogueDetail/?id=BSOREC1006

I can't say I strongly object to this kind of design. It's simple, clear, and fits the style of similar editions in the series.

Complaining that there's no illustration, just a background and typography, sounds somewhat childish. After all, this isn't soundtrack music for a children's cartoon.

The potential buyer undoubtedly already knows what it is. For some people, this minimal restraint in the design might even be particularly appealing. Stimulates the imagination and sparks the fantasy.

[Peter Power Pop]

[snip]

For some people, this minimal restraint in the design might even be particularly appealing. Stimulates the imagination and sparks the fantasy.

And gets the buyer to do all the work.

[Madiel]

And gets the buyer to do all the work.

The first step in attracting a prospective buyer is making it simple to identify what it is you're looking at.

Which they haven't done. They couldn't even be bothered to make the composer name and work title different from the list of performers, so that "War and Peace" looks at first glance like another name in a list of names. Not even a line break. My grocery list has more formatting effort.

Even without adding a picture, 71 dB improved it considerably just by applying some meaningful distinctions in the formatting.

[AnotherSpin]

And gets the buyer to do all the work.

I'm almost ready to assume that sellers of serious music count on their target audience having at least a rudimentary level of intelligence.

[Madiel]

Most of them are intelligent enough to understand basic graphic design principles. And why classical music covers don't all look like this.

[AnotherSpin]

Based on these basic principles, it follows that not only the title and the composer's name, but also the conductor's name, for example, should be highlighted with a different size and/or placement.

If everything is set in the same font, then it's probably not necessary.

[Madiel]

it should be fairly obvious that we all use visual cues that assist us in readability for example punctuation isnt strictly necessary and was not used in the same way in ancient times the greek new testament generally lacks it if i remember correctly but it was introduced because it made reading a lot easier similarly the concept of upper and lower case was introduced because the visual cues were helpful to readers when people ignore that idea it does reduce readability even if the text can ultimately still be read making the reader in this case prospective buyer do extra work is not something they will thank you for

[AnotherSpin]

Clearly, after decades marked by clarity, recognisability, and genuine informational value, we have drifted into an age of visual uncertainty that borders on the nonsensical.

This fashion no longer afflicts only dubious ventures by obscure performers, for whom absurdity has always been something of a professional obligation, almost mandatory. It has now reached even the most venerable and respected institutions, with ensembles of the stature of the Berlin Philharmonic being dressed in packaging that can only be described as preposterous.

In the case of Schoenberg, such excess may be forgiven, even welcomed, since the music itself thrives on provocation. With Beethoven, however, language itself falters. In earlier times, anyone responsible for such an offence would have been escorted into the courtyard and corrected with a bundle of birch rods.