RANDOM : simonsez wants your help!

So I've been running the blog for two years now and want to thank everyone who supports it. I see the statistics pile up as more and more people check it out, but I'd love to hear YOUR thoughts on what direction I should take it in.

• Want me to revive the "My Editions" section - where I post photographs of deluxe editions I own?
• Want to see more new artists' artwork being posted about?
• Want me to post about the actual designers of some famous artworks and covers?

Let me know your thoughts, everything you tell me I will definitely look into doing! So write in the comments or tweet me @simonsezCD.

LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING YOUR THOUGHTS AND IDEAS!

simonsez X

NEWS : rihanna is set to officially announce 'unapologetic's boxsets!

Have you checked out rihanna7.com, yet? No? WELL GET OVER THERE THEN! Shoot...calling yourself part of the Navy...

Anywho! While over there you'll see that Rih is embarking on a new social media voyage (a la the unveiling of the 'Talk That Talk' era on Facebook) - this time it has it's own website, where it states that from following certain tasks fans can win "exclusive content and prizes!". Completing the first step unveiled the chance to upload an image to a fan-mosaic poster (like in Gaga's 'Born This Way (Collector's Edition)') - in the box used to upload your image, it also included this:

"Diamonds Executive Platinum or Diamonds box sets"!!

That's right - 'Unapologetic' is set to be unleashed in two limited edition box sets :D After you'd uploaded your image, you were then told to go to rihannanow.com, to pre-order your "fan-only" box set...though they haven't been added to the 'Shop' section of her website yet - so she will surely be officially announcing these awesome sounding limited edition releases soon!

Stay tuned on simonsez-CD to hear the details first...

RANDOM : azealia banks reveals original '1991' EP artwork..

Azealia Banks has had an epic year. With the release of the 'Fantasea' mixtape and '1991' EP - she has been feeding a constant taster of what's to come from debut album 'Broke With Expensive Taste'. From the start one common strong point for Azzy has been her visual work, not only some sumptuous music videos and live shows, but also her artwork. The 'Fantasea' mixtape's associated single covers all held an illustrated theme - helmed by illustrator Christina Lu - which Ms. Banks diverted away from for her EP visual, which showed her in more of a Grace Jones, fashionista light (see above).

But today on her Facebook page, the '212' beauty revealed the original (illustrated) artwork for '1991'. For me this proves she doesn't simply jump into a look, it is a considered process and luckily she made the right choice... Get into it below:

RANDOM : has lady gaga revealed the visual direction for 'ARTPOP'?

So this all starts with more Terry Richardson photos being unveiled (the photographer who helped Ms. Germanotta with her photo book 'Gaga' last year and who has been photographing the behind the scenes of the 'Born This Way Ball Tour') and one of the images shows this scene:

Nothing too special here, you think? Sure Gargs is looking faboose, all made up to perform at the best night of many Lil Monsters' lives - but it's nothing new. Right? RIGHT?...

Wrong! Look in the top left of the mirror:

So, eagle eyed fans pestered Gargs to fill us in on what this image was - a new artwork maybe?? She then released this image on littlemonsters.com:

Accompanied by this statement:

"i found this image. i want to study and re-interpet this pose. it feels like the music. dancing, clean, full of energy, balanced and mysterious. but most of all its elegance is so art pop. am i a rich russian princess turned popstar?"

But some Monsters began to express their worry that the next albums visuals would be black and white, much like 'Born This Way', when 'ARTPOP' feels like a more colourful era. She replied:

"yes will be color, album is color full"

WOW! So much to think about and get excited for with this era!! The image (a photograph from a "Vanity Fair" issue in 1953, by Mark Shaw FYI) will be an inspiration for Gaga and gives us an idea of what sort of music videos/artworks will be unveiled in the future - hopefully something with the essence of this photograph. Also - is that type she's used going to be seen again?

Get excited Monsters :P

RANDOM : help cici unlock her new single artwork!

UPDATE : See the fully unveiled artwork here!

Head over to Ciara's Facebook page (click here) as she is asking for fan's help in unlocking her new single artwork for 'Sorry' - by liking and sharing a pixelated image of it. So far, the C-Squad has managed to clear it up to this:

Yum :)

simonsez IS BACK!

I hope you missed me as much as I missed my intake of new music and artwork! Expect a lot of posts in the next day as I catch us all up :)

simonsez

X

RANDOM : so 2chainz has some pretty delicious artwork...

Kanye West's "G.O.O.D. Music" signee 2chainz is everywhere, if you don't know who he is - I bet you'll have heard him lay a few bars on your fave's latest smash (or at least the remix version...). I had kind of put him into the category of 'yes, a talented rapper, but I'm not going to go out of my way to listen to him/buy his music' etc. etc. But , I had to rethink that when I saw his album artwork. Check it out below (titled 'Based On A T.R.U. Story'):

Now, I hope you can see why I find this piece enjoyable: it feels considered (inverting the parental advisory sticker so it fits with the palette), well executed (the photography is invitingly clear where you don't want to look away) and - most importantly - it is simple (which in the rap genre is rare, with artwork often very garish and o.t.t.). Look at it alongside the 'Deluxe Edition' cover of the album as well and the cover feels like even more of a solid piece:

BOOM - Yes and yes! This artwork actually makes me want to know more about the artist, giving the impression that with a well orchestrated visual comes a bit more of a considered approach to the music as well. This artwork is no accident, it is a creation from Yeezy's DONDA design company (a collection of creatives, who Kanye employs to help him create graphic design, visuals and "galvanise amazing thinking" - read more about it  here). For me, I completely see the considered approach given to this visual and I applaud it. Also check out single artwork for 2chainz's latest 'Birthday Song (Ft. Kanye)':

Yum.

RANDOM : katy perry wants the fans to decide her next movie poster...

UPDATE : So the winning poster is....

So Ms. Perry tweeted:

...and then posted two film posters, asking her fans to decide which one they prefer and the most popular one will become the next movie advertisement for her movie 'Part Of Me 3D'! I've included the hashtags along with them (below), basically tweet that and let Katy know which you prefer...

#KP3D1

#KP3D2

p.s. Check out the other movie posters here and here!

NEW PROMO PIC : cheryl - a million lights (the soldiers edition)

So since it was announced that Chezza's latest album would be released in a Super Deluxe Edition (see above), all I've been craving for is a HQ image of the bonus disc's artwork - that will be included in the set, titled 'A Million Lights (The Soldiers Edition)'. Today we're one step closer (until the alum release...), as the promo shot used as the cover image has been unveiled. Dive in below:

p.s. Did anyone watch her interview with Graham Norton? She revealed the reason behind changing her stage name to simply "Cheryl" was because the "Cole" didn't fit on her new album artwork haha! Check out the video below for her explanation...

RANDOM : check out professor green's remedy website!

so y'all know i was crushing on pro. green's campaign for latest single 'remedy' - which included creating his very own beer (named after the song) and would be "sold by the bottle, shipped by the crate"! well now the beverage has a website and you should check it out. still in it's early stages, but it keeps to the visual design of the bottle and campaign very closely...simonsez approved!

NEW SINGLE ARTWORK : professor green - remedy (HQ)

don't know why it's taken so long for the HQ to surface, after i posted the low quality version a while back...here it is:

also in well-chosen marketing news - the prof has decided to release a beer called 'remedy', to align with the release of the single. he says "p .diddy has his ciroc vodka - because i'm british i've got my beer". i love love love when acts do this, something a little different, a little novelty :) and of course the bottle needs a label! take a look below for the victorian-esque look it's been given...

p.s. anyone else hoping for a deluxe edition of the album that includes a bottle :D

fancy trying the tipple - just click here!

RANDOM : simonsez has a facebook page...

simonsez-CD wanted to know if the readers out there would "like" a facebook page, featuring up-to-date posts of all the new CD album and single artwork and potentially some competitions. the feedback showed a unanimous "yes" and so i have set up a page! also to celebrate the page, i have designed a new logo for the blog and a new colour scheme for the site as well....i'd love for you to go and check it out :

CLICK HERE AND "LIKE" simonsez-CD ON FACEBOOK!!

p.s. any feedback would be greatly appreciated! :)

RANDOM : "LIKE" simonsez-CD ON FACEBOOK!

did you know simonsez-CD has a facebook page? like the page and get up-to-date notifications of the latest posts about official single, album and limited edition CD artwork....come on, you know you want to :)

CLICK HERE TO "LIKE" simonsez-CD ON FACEBOOK!

RANDOM : ameriie tweets some insight into artwork design process...

am' recently tweeted a little insight into her cover artwork-creation process. along with an image of her 'in love & war' single 'heard 'em all', she stated that "we spent [so] much time tweaking every single aspect of it. Lots & lots of mock-ups!". it's great to see how involved in this side of the creative process she is and ups my anticipation for her next release's cover! #excited

! updated ! NEW LIMITED EDITION ARTWORK : rihanna - talk that talk (the rihanna navy box & navy officer's chest) (collectible charms pin)

so the other day i posted my cover-to-cover review of riri's 'talk that talk (navy officer's chest)' set and one beady eyed reader noticed that the charms pin (see above) i had in my version of the edition, differed to their own (see below). it appears that the "R" logo charm is on all the pins, but the ones either side differ (a bleeding heart, a skull and crossbones, a navy anchor and a revolver). which led me to think, how many other charms are there? (the collector in me is raging haha!) has anyone else out there got a copy of the package, do they have any other kind of charms? get in touch, simonsez would LOVE to know :)

(thanks to Emmily!)

another reader has sent in a picture of their navy chest's charms, showing that you could receive a lock or a rose charm!

(thanks to @ssRIHmix)

RANDOM : simonsez wants you to decide what to review next...

UPDATE : well, you've chosen your winner...check out the post here to see who came out on top!

you get to decide which limited edition piece appears next on simonsez-CD! just look to the right and see the poll where you can select from the following choices:

1. rihanna - 'talk that talk (navy officer's chest)'

2. alicia keys - 'songs in a minor (10th anniversary collector's edition)'

3. lady gaga - 'born this way : the collection (featuring the 'mosterball tour' DVD)'

4. girls aloud - 'you can't mistake our anthology (singles collection box set)'

so get voting and look out for the full, cover-to-cover review of the winning piece next week!

RANDOM : get a feel for soso's album artwork...

sophia somajo...or soso, as she now wants to be known...has been keeping my alt-pop cravings sat-iss-fyed for some time now and i've been keeping track of her creative process through her tumblr blog. the images she posts or reblogs have always intrigued me, seemingly random in content, but always having some sort of visual or contextual link between them. so i decided to ask her a lil' question:

and soph was kind enough to reply:

she so kooky and i love it! the album is set to be called 'the time i dug so deep i ended up in china' and i want you all to check out her tumblr page, to see all the awesome imagery she's getting inspired by:

http://youcancallmesoso.tumblr.com/

(WARNING: my contain some explicit content, that simonsez is not in control of)

NEWS : tinchy wants help with a logo...

not long ago tinchy tweeted that he needed a new logo for his up coming EP with the grime rap unit ruff sqwad. think you could be the designer to help him out?

! updated ! NEWS : vote for the winner in shontelle's cover art contest!

so a few weeks back i posted about shontelle's cover art contest, for new buzz single 'ten to one (glasses up)'. she has chosen her top 5 entries and now fans can vote for which one will be used as it's official artwork. take a look at the five finalists and head through to her fansite, to vote for which one you think should win. personally i think they're all good efforts...but for me '002' is the strongest by far...what do you think?

001:

 002:

 003:

 004:

 005:

NEWS : madonna's twelfth studio album artwork will be released next week!

madge is under way with setting up the promo for her as-yet-untitled twelfth studio release, the first single ('give me all your love' featuring m.i.a. and nicki minaj) has just had it's video shot and now news has arisen that the album's artwork will be unveiled as soon as next week! said to have been art directed and photographed by mert & marcus, a majorly talented duo who shot madonna for "interview" magazine in 2010. going by those images it is going to be fierceeeeeely ay-may-zang!...CAN'T WAIT! can you?

(seen over at : muumuse.com)