Album cover: Flower Boy by Tyler, the Creator
I chose this album cover of Flower Boy by Tyler, the Creator as it is very unique and thought provoking. The main element of the design is a man, assumed to be Tyler, standing in a sunflower patch on green hills with bee’s flying around him. When you look into more detail in the middle of hills is a road with a car on it. The image also have a warm red and orange sky with clouds.
The overall composition of this design is extremely detailed and in depth. The designer that worked with Tyler to create this album has really thought about the story telling element. The lack of text and fonts which usually there to be informative and create a statement is also a message in itself to show how powerful this image is in explaining his album through a single piece of design.
The Design is very striking. It is created in such a way to allow fans to think about what each element means, whether it has a connection with his life and music or not. Fans of Tyler will recognise that the sunflower patch, in bloom, is to represent his personal growth throughout the years with controversy, lyrics and rumours that allude to his sexuality. I also believe that the concept of the sunflowers in bloom and the bee’s flying away from the flowers relate to the topic surrounding the speculation of his sexuality. Bee’s are attracted to flowers, and in this image they are all facing away from Tyler and the sunflowers even though they are in bloom. But it can also be seen as the opposite with Tyler being one of the bee’s, as one is directly on his face, and facing away from the blooming sunflowers. This is a thought provoking representation of the rumours and is used to tease his fans to whether these are true by sending mixed messages through his album design.
Other elements that go into more detail would be the road going through the hills with a car on it, specifically the car is Tylers very own McLaren 650S if you look closely. This part of the image is used as a metaphor for Tyler journey through life and the love for his car, which he often mentions in song lyrics about driving away from his problems, fears and touches on what his McLaren means to him aside from driving.
The depth that this design goes in too really solidifies it as one of my favourite album designs. The strategic way of incorporating messages to the art makes it unique to most modern and recent albums of the 21st century.
