! updated ! NEW LIMITED EDITION ARTWORK : ke$ha - warrior (fan edition & fan pack)

Here is the updated artwork for Ke$ha's 'Warrior' fan versions. The 'Fan Edition' will come with the deluxe release of the album and the 'Deconstructed' Acoustic EP.

The 'Fan Pack' will also include a bonus t-shirt, as well as album and EP.

ALSO! Ke$h has been running a special event in the run up to the album's release, which has fans looking for symbols to unlock bonus content. The second symbol was found and the album's artwork photoshoot video was revealed - head over to keshasparty.com to watch it now!

SHOOTING THE ARTWORK : p!nk's 'the truth about love'

I've had a month to really get into P!nk's latest album 'The Truth About Love' - check it out, it's rurrrlll good! - and that includes it's artwork! So, I decided to post this behind-the-scenes look at the Andrew Macpherson photoshoot (who's been responsible for visuals for multiple P!nk album's, including the awesome 'Try This'), which shows the multiple vintage looks Ms. Moore tried out. Get into it below:

PROMO PIC : lady gaga second 'fame' fragrance poster

After stunning us all into silence with her nudity and tiny men in jockstraps-heavy first poster, Gargs is back with the second - this time flip reversing in and covering up(ish) in a leather catsuit. Meow. Dive in below:

p.s. Does this look remind anyone else of Mel B's video for Mel B's defining video for single 'Word Up'... anyone?

p.s. Check out this delicious image of the full range of the 'Fame' fragrance products :P YUM!

CHECK OUT : christina lu designs for azealia banks

As you know, I have been posting all the illustrated artworks from Azealia Banks' release 'Fantasea' - covers for all the awesome singles 'Jumanji', 'Aquababe', 'Nathan' and 'Neptune', as well as the housing mixtape. After a little digging I discovered that the talented illustrator/designer behind the visuals is a New York-based artist named Christina Lu. On her Behance page there is an extensive portfolio of her work (including everything she has done for Ms. Banks and more), but choosing to not simply post the final images, Lu has put together .GIFs of the process her designs have gone through from initial sketches to final artwork. Check out one for the 'Fantasea' mixtape cover:

Fudging awesome, right?! Looking deeper into her other designs, you can see what the single artworks were originally going to look like too. Such as 'Jumanji' - which ended up having a fancily-dressed Azealia dancing with an Elephant - but initially the design was more abstract. Check it out:

Also, this early drawing for the layout of the 'Neptune' cover shows that a sort of mermaid kingdom was going to be included, but was taken out in the final artwork.

Loving all the early layouts for type as well, showing the consideration that went into these pieces even though they are all for online distribution (the mixtape hasn't been physically released) and - in some people's eyes - are "just" illustrations. It definitely shows the creativity and design that is needed to create something interesting and pleasing for the eye. Make sure you go over to Christina's page (click here) to see all of the .GIFs and her other pieces, this is definitely someone to watch and simonsez will be keeping his eyes peeled for sure :)

(Source: www.behance.net/cplu)

SHOOTING THE ARTWORK : trey songz - chapter v

Trey is gearing up for the release of 'Chapter V' and so, today, unleashed the behind the scenes of the album's artwork photoshoot. It features a lot of pouting, beautiful scenes around a sprawling mansion and a half-naked female. Oh, Mr. Songz - what are you like! The art director for the shoot, Nick Bilardello says: "We're going for high fashion... Trey coming into his own, growing into a man and his music maturing at the same time".

It is funny to note as well that the eventual album cover was shots taken of Trey out in the rain (obviously, which wasn't planned), in the video you see him going outside to "make the most" of the weather - after it begins to pour down over the glamorous set in Miami. Just goes to show that anything can happen when it comes to album artwork... not always the direction or plan that the art directors and designers have in mind!

SHOOTING THE ARTWORK : misha b shoots her album artwork!

Loving me some of 'Homerun' - such an awesome debut single and the video is a great visual - but I'm ready for what else is to come! Check out the video below which shows Mish' on her artwork photoshoot in a house and around the streets of Mancester. Yum!

RANDOM : so cheryl thinks will.i.am ain't so hot at designing artwork...

So over at my fave blog Popjustice there is an interview with Chezza... she talks about many topics, from Rihanna to songwriting. Towards the end of the questioning she brings up will.i.am's involvement as her manager, including giving his opinion on her artwork:

He tried to make me a cover for my record actually... I said "I think I'm going to call it this", and he went "come here!". And he got an image off the internet and mocked up a cover of the album in front of me.
Was it any good?
(Pulls unimpressed face) He started to shade bits out and it looked like I was just a head floating in space.
That's a strong look.
Hm...

Hahaha! Oh will.i.am, you're creative musically but leave the designing to the professionals... then in future maybe we won't end up with some hot mess looking-ish...

SHOOTING THE ARTWORK : paloma faith takes us behind the scenes of her album art photoshoot!

I'm sure we can all agree that Paloma Faith's album art for new release 'Fall To Grace' is the best looking slice of heaven that we've been blessed with all year. To celebrate it's release, Ms. Faith has unveiled the behind the scenes video of her shooting the artwork and it is a real treat! Talking about the cover image, Paloma said: "it's supposed to look like I'm sort of falling towards paradise" with the help of tropical birds and a harness o' course... I think they did an amazing job with it, something that is striking, beautiful and original.



Next up is a look at how the cover for 'Picking Up The Pieces' came to be. Pal' explains: "we're trying to achieve the image of me approaching the red carpet, but it's almost like I've been caught before I get there and I'm showing my vulnerability" - inspired by the "tragic glamour" of Marilyn Monroe. (Check out the result here).

The video also gives a sneak peak at the artworks for next singles '30 Minute Love Affair' and 'Just Be'. For '30 Minute' they wanted to create "a dreamy sequence [of] the supposed passion that would have happened" if Paloma had ended up with a guy she fell in love with but never got the chance to tell him.

Paloma then goes on to say that the 'Just Be' cover will "encapsulate me being my most vulnerable" - inspired by the song's message of feeling happy within your own skin, leading to a look with little make up placed within a bare set.

The video then goes on to show other looks created for the album artwork and as ever Faithy be looking hella fabulous and divine and amazing! :) This really is a true testament to what a great artist (musically and visually) she is. How many others can you say that plans out their artwork way in advance, to truly reflect the song's meaning and message while executing it in a stunning and original way. Loving the artwork and I'm putting early bets on that the 'Fall To Grace' album cover will rank vurrry highly in my end of year list! Check out the whole video below:

RANDOM : zowie's my new fave :)

so i had originally posted about zowie's awesome artwork and how slayed i was by the perfection that is her 'love demolition' cover, so you can imagine my surprise when a few days later i get a tweet saying...

*fangirl scream!!* so awesome :D so of course i reply...and we get a lil' back and forth going:

we're basically besties now heehee! so of course, i checked out adam dal pozzo's site and he is really talented - and has worked with zow' for the art direction and illustration for all her releases. so now we know who is behind all the deliciousness being served up for us!

click here to look through his portfolio :)

DISCOVERED : zowie - love demolition & my calculator

so i absoLUTEly love it when an amazing artwork introduces me to a new artist - instead of seeing their video first or an interview or badly-written blog post. if the artwork is done reaaallly well, then not only do you get a feast for the eyes but also so much information about what they're about to give you musically. and that is what happened to me with my new pop crush: zowie - a new zealand singer songwriter who is about to make it big. the first image of her i came in contact with was the cover of single 'my calculator'. i saw wet-look leggings, i saw faboose shoes, i saw ladies legs spread a-kimbo, i saw a shade of purple that justin bieber hasn't shat all over...i felt love at first sight. check that out below:

i know right. UH-MAY-ZANG! simple, edgy, camp...you're hooked! so obviously i checked out what else she had to offer visually and discovered the video for 'my calculator':

i know right. also UH-MAY-ZANG! geometric shapes, just enough colour, everything dripping in glossy, matte black. yum! then i thought, i need an album cover. i need an album cover that is gunna seal this deal. and seal that deal it did. the album is 'love demolition' and here is that artwork:

AHHHHH!?@?!12?!? yes! getcho life, yes! i'm getting grace jones. i'm getting robyn. hell i'm even getting some kelly osbourne 'one word' and i like it! i'm hooked, i'm signed for, sealed and delivered. artwork heaven with awesome pop to match. done.

NEW EP BOOKLET ARTWORK : dawn richard - armor on

dawn has decided all her fans need to know the lyrics for her freshly released EP 'armor on', so has given rap-up.com the exclusive download of her EP's booklet artwork, featuring new images and all the words :) if you head over to their site (by clicking here) you can see a beautiful, interactive version of the booklet (see above)...make sure to download yours or just look below to see the beautiful lay-out!

SHOOTING THE ARTWORK : rita ora takes VEVO behind the scenes...

rita has given VEVO an exclusive look behind the scenes of her debut album's artwork photoshoot. ms. ora describes the shoot as having "loads of looks, basically inspired by being bossy, by being independent." she then goes onto describe the direction she wanted the visuals (for the as yet untitled project) to take: "the album cover i want to be very unusual, i love how my music comes from different places...i wanted the artwork and my album to reflect that."

acclaimed photographers steven gomillion and dennis leupold were in charge of added: "the shoot is called 'seventies, gangster boss-bitch' and is inspired by old photographs of bianca jagger, just like old, black and white photos...and it's going to be laid out as a photo book". 

and now simonsez's two cents....i've loved lots of gomillion and leupold's work before and we all know rita can pull many a fierce pose...but i'm apprehensive about getting too excited for anything groundbreaking in the visual department for her album, as her previous covers have been so bland :/ fingers crossed she comes with something "unusual", as she boldly claims she will! anywho, check out the full shoot below:

WEBSITE : nelly furtado wants you to guess who is the hoop...

nellz has set up a special website celebrating the release of her latest single 'big hoops (bigger the better)'. it shows a video playing the track and also a game of "guess who is in the hoop"...where the awesome artwork has been edited to feature the eyes of different celebs!

check it out at www.big-hoops.com!

WEBSITE : check out marina and the diamonds tumblr "the : archetypes"!

as an on going buzz-generator, marina has been uploading her latest cover artwork, images and quotes to her tumblr page "the : archetypes". on the lead up to the album's ('electra heart') release, i have been checking out the site more and more and realise that it really gives a feel for the album's artwork. you get to delve into the "electra heart" alter-ego and her multiple forms: su-barbie-a, teen idle, the primadonna and homewrecker. 

it isn't just an excuse for maz to play dress up, but also gives a feel for the overall visual she's going for (which she says is inspired by marilyn monroe, britney spears and marie-antoinette <3). CHECK IT OUT!

she has posted all the HQ versions of the single and album artwork, and also the original images too (see above)

p.s. check out the artwork for the 4 postcards you'll get when you pre-order 'electra heart' over at play.com :)

NEWS : pussycat dolls 2.0 shoot their new single's artwork!

a video of the rebooted line up of the pussycat dolls has surfaced, showing the girls shooting the artwork for their debut single 'ready 4 peace'! majahhhhly excited to see how it turns out :)