Mark Farrow is a graphic designer, notable for his designs for the Pet Shop Boys, Liza Minnelli, and others. He has worked closely with Chris Lowe of the Pet Shop Boys (who had been an architectural design student). Farrow’s minimalist treatments were echoing the contemporaneously evolving house music sound, which was defined by its deconstruction of disco music.
The artwork for the new Pet Shop Boys’ album, Yes, has been designed by long-standing PSB collaborators, Farrow. Eleven squares of colour – one square for each track – form an affirmative tick on the front cover. The album is released on March 23rd.
Pet Shop Boys say Yes to Farrow
(Posted by Patrick)
Farrow resumes its longstanding relationship with the Pet Shop Boys with the sleeve for the duo’s latest album, Yes.
“When we had our first meeting about this album, Neil and Chris said that this was their most ‘pop’ album in a long time and the idea of creating something very bright and colourful – as we had for their ‘Introspective’ album – really appealed to them,” says Mark Farrow. “They had also been inspired by the Gerhard Richter 4900 exhibition at the Serpentine gallery which featured panels of brightly coloured squares.”
Gerhard Richter 4900 Colours: Version II, 2007, Enamel paint on Aludibond, 49 Panels, each 97 × 97 cm, La Collection de la Fondation Louis Vuitton pour la création, © 2008 Gerhard Richter
“Although the Richter paintings look stunning on a gallery wall, as an idea for a CD cover it felt a little tired and we felt we had ‘been there’,” Farrow says. “The tick was obviously inspired by the album’s title ‘Yes’. Reducing the title to a symbol that encompassed the other elements the band had requested just seemed to work; it’s instant and memorable and pop. The tick is made up of eleven coloured squares, one for each track on the album. It’s made up of eleven coloured squares, one for each track on the album.”
While the standard version of the album has a white background (shown top) a limited edition double disc version comes in black.
The coloured blocks continue on the inside of the package where the tick deconstructs and both merges and clashes with photographs of the band.
In addition, there will be a highly limited edition vinyl version of the album which will consist of the album tracks split over eleven separate vinyl records, each in a coloured sleeve, all housed in a smoked Perspex case.
When correctly arranged the eleven album sleeves will allow you to make up your own tick, measuring some eight feet in length.
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