"KRAFTY" - Artwork revealed!

Personally, I loved the multicolored bar motif of the Get Ready-era releases. It had a very clean, contemporary look that fit very well with the music. I also love sheer pretentiousness, so I guess that kind of explains it... :)

I think that the reason why the Krafty cover is so controversial is simply because, unlike previous New Order releases, many have heard the song before seeing the cover; as a result, Saville's artwork hasn't been given the chance to influence one's visualization/impression of Krafty. Nobody has had the chance to connect the cover to the music.

to all these people bitching about the cover:

what would be better???

+++++++++++++++

I love it.

As a designer myself, and fan of Saville (and his book), I totally see the historical thread here, and totally love this design.

And I think the post directly above states it well: Many of us are having trouble objectively rating the art, since we heard the music first.

In time you will get it...

Be patient and see the whole picture. See the whole album. Let Saville make his statement. Hearing the tune online all crappy and then seeing a small jpg of half the art is not fair....

Saville is genius. I love it. I personally can't imagine a better cover.... if you can, please share it with us...

sorry to double reply (but my low post oount and being here since 2001 allows it, cough....)

BUT

"saville is lazy" etc etc etc???????????

huh?

you have NO idea how design works.

what do you want, Saville to cut his wrists and paint the cover with his blood? would that satisfy you? as if art can be measured in your childish terms....

would songs on Closer be better if Curtis had spent more time on them? should he have taken 100 takes instead of 10 or so? apparently, to you, inspiration is not enough....

this cover perfectly captures the essence of the song... THAT IS WHAT COVER ART IS FOR.

if you knew anything about Saville, you MIGHT grasp that he makes statements about modern culture, and that Republic, GetReady, and the latest are OF COURSE sarcastic about mass media today... i.e. the easy images of Republic....

just cause YOU don't get it, don't call him a slacker...

I think this latest cover is brilliant, and all we've seen is the small online jpg frontside of ONE single....

chill out folks....

You need to relax and accept that people have opinions and just because you have studied design does not mean you are necessarily right.

Originally posted by pumped full of drugs c'mon... the Kraftwork angle is pretty much people just guessing wildly on the title.

from a German article about an interview with NO: (my translation) Krafty was a working title, resulting from a similarity to Kraftwerk. It's always like that Hook and Morris tell, even the first title of the album "Who's Joe" was supposed to be called "Lordsy" because it sounded like Joy Division's "Day of The Lords". Working titles like "Pop 1", "Minidisk 2" und "Fast Synth" didn't make it to the final version of the album.

http://www.laut.de/vorlaut/news/2005/01/27/11320/index.htm

Originally posted by Spotnick I don't know, but the guy on the second-to-last picture is in deep trouble... he's going in the wrong lane! And don't tell me it's in England, damn it, the stop sign is on the opposite way!

Not the UK at a guess (lines at the side of the road are white here in the UK, not sure about over the pond) . This is an un-openned stretch of road (central barriers still under construction, clear mud on road where construction lorries enter / leave - stop sign probably aimed at those crossing central reservation). Car driver either motorway maintenance guy or thieving scouse git about to torch car. Love the sleeve of Krafty by the way, I too thought 'Autobahn!'.

It's a great image, and a great choice of sleeve.

"Appropriation", or borrowing of images, has always been a major part of Saville's approach - right back to Fac1 and the Factory Sampler. His recent Neworder work has been very photo based (Republic, Get Ready) and a lot of other recent pieces (Suede covers and the Waste Paintings series) have involved Photoshop manipulation. This brings those three strands together in a very impressive way. His own admiration for Kraftwerk's Autobahn sleeve (he nominated it as his "favourite record sleeve" in a Wire magazine feature) makes the use of it here even more appropriate.

Even if the song isn't pure Kraftwerk influence by any means, the title is clearly a nod in that direction (as KW-1 was, twenty-something years back).

I am really looking forward to the album and other single sleeves. Saville said at a recent ICA talk that he really couldn't be bothered doing record sleeves any more - I'm glad that he did get around to doing this one. Neworder records wouldn't be the same without him.

whens the album out ?

Originally posted by Iain Smedley "Appropriation", or borrowing of images, has always been a major part of Saville's approach - right back to Fac1 and the Factory Sampler.

*Yeah, my mother bought back in the 70s a country compilation and the cover image is EXACTLY the same on Regret... he just added the "drops" effect on the right side and text... too bad I don't have a scanner...