so after months of waiting and anticipating, the goddess has finally emerged from the depths. so let's cast our minds back to early may... "warner music australia" announced up coming special releases to celebrate kylie's latest album 'aphrodite' and the smash hit tour 'aphrodite : les folies tour'. one of the releases was announced as being a hand made, specially packaged pop-up book, which would showcase behind the scenes photographs and interviews with the key players in kylie's team, who helped put the 'les folies' tour together... and it would be named 'the goddess edition'.
"alleluia!"
due to multiple production problems, put down to the fact that a piece of this kind and quality has not been created on this scale before, it had pushed the eventual release date back several times. regular followers of simonsez-CD will know that i have been sat patiently, twiddling my graphic-design addicted thumbs, waiting until the day that my hands lay upon my very own copy. that day arrived...and now i will open it up and show you all the wonder that is 'the goddess edition'. enjoy :)
as a way of sweetening up the more impatient kylie fans (who felt slightly cheated that it took so long for the piece to be released), the designers decided to include a few extra items. the first: a book carry bag, to keep the deluxe edition safe and sound. it has a john zhu (the designer who provided the amazing illustrations inside the book) illustration printed onto it, so it adds a really lovely element to the edition.
the second: specially printed "K" logo wrapping paper surrounding the book...
and the third (one last layer...): a slipcase to house the book in even more luxury!
following on from the wrapping paper, the "K" logo has been embossed onto the front...
...and the side. delicious!
nearly there...
and here it is! covered in a fine hessian cloth, you can really feel the hand-made quality to the piece.
a close up of the simple, but absolutely delightful, embossed cover.
back.
side.
:D
a personally written message from kylie herself...
and now, what you've all been waiting for...THE MOTHER FUDGING POP UPS!! starting with: the dress.
click "Read More" to see more images and my scoring of the limited edition piece :)
the chariot:
the lotus:
with the album's disc nestled amongst the petals...
absolutely love the extra touches to each page, it makes it all feel so unique and amazing!
pegasus:
the head and wings of pegasus have been designed to nod and move when the book is opened and closed :)
and, finally, the stage:
this logo has been placed and designed specifically for a phone app to be used on it, so that kylie will appear on your screen, dancing on the stage! *extra touches equal everything!!*
my favourite part of any pop up (possibly aside from the most mazing CD holder everrrr) is the clouds and moon of "the stage", they just look so effortless and yet add another amazing element to the scene.
all the individual pieces have been designed so intricately well that it takes a few times before you appreciate every part of the book!
phew! catch your breath, as it's not over yet!!
as i said before, the deluxe edition contains some amazing photography, all based around the theme of aphrodite.
another of john zhu's illustration #amazing
the piece contains a section devoted to the costume design and in depth interview with designers dolce and gabbana.
this page shows a a stitching that designers "maricor and maricar" exclusively made for the edition.
another zhu illustration accompanies the album's track listing :)
the album's credits.
this page shows the amazingly talented designers and creative minds that collaborated on the project.
and the final page :( which shows which number your edition is...can you see mine?
a truly awesome piece, that really stands as an example of how special and unique a limited edition release can be. some may say it is a tactic of record companies to get money from the more collector-driven fans, but in my eyes i see it as a creative project that has had an awful lot of time and love poured into it (especially after following the behind the scenes blog, which showed the process step by step). i hope you've enjoyed it as much as me!
originality : 10/10
materials : 10/10
design : 10/10
the music : 10/10
overall : 10/10
(first one to sweep the board!)
rarity : only 1000 copies made. all sold out.
click on the "my editions" tag below to see more of my limited edition posts.
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