Kanye West’s sixth studio-album, entitled Yeezus, officially debuted on June 18th after being leaked on the internet for about a week. The album’s minimalist casing and cover-art, or lack thereof, has sparked many conversations and interest since images of the packaging appeared online. Although Kanye West acted as his own art director for Yeezus, he is not the first artist to release a project with a minimalist, almost-bootleg feel to the final packaging. Here are a few examples of where the “less is more” philosophy has been fully embraced, starting with Yeezus for reference:

Yeezus, Kanye West (2013)

Despite being widely-known for his ego and ostentation, Kanye West chose to go with a humble design for his latest album’s packaging. Yeezus is pressed on a silver disc with no labels except for some small, inconspicuous text that wraps around the edges and provides the album’s credits. The disc is enclosed within a clear jewel case that is devoid of any art or labels except for a “Parental Advisory” warning and a red sticker that seals it closed. Kanye West was not the first artist to have his work released in this type of modest packaging, but he is credited with the design for Yeezus and could possibly earn himself a “Best Recording Package” Grammy later next year.

The Beatles, The Beatles (1968)

The famous packaging of this self-titled work by The Beatles has led it to be commonly referred to as “The White Album” since its release on November 22, 1968. The record came enclosed in a pure white sleeve that lacked any title or credits, only having a serial number stamped into a corner on one side (and later, the album title embossed into the paper). Although this is not necessarily an example of an official release trying to appear like a bootleg, it is similar to the packaging of Yeezus in its minimalism and the great amount of intrigue that its design created.

Steal This Album!, System of a Down (2002)

During a time when file-sharing and digital content piracy was becoming widespread and extremely common (Apple introduced the first-generation iPod in 2001), System of a Down released Steal This Album! on November 26, 2002. The album’s title refers to a book written by Abbie Hoffman in 1971 entitled “Steal This Book” and is supposedly a response to the band’s disappointment in fans listening to leaked copies of their new music before it was released in stores. The album was pressed on a white disc that had the band’s name and album title in a font that looks like it was hand-written in permanent marker and is enclosed by a blank jewel case without inserts or any more information. The packaging was intentionally designed to mimic the appearance of a CD-R that a person would use to copy and listen to pirated music with.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, David Fincher (2011)

Although this is an example of a film, the 2012 DVD-release of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo utilized a similar aesthetic of the previously-described albums. The film comes on a silver Sony DVD-R disc that has the title strewn across it in a hand-written, permanent marker typeface that is not unlike that of Steal This Album! The design of the disc is a reference to the hacker protagonist in the film and managed to cause so much confusion for customers that retail outlets like Amazon had to release reassuring statements that it was the official art.

Borat, a 2006 mockumentary from Sascha Baron Cohen also used a similar packaging style for comedic effect and to maintain a low-definition quality that is present throughout the film.

What would Yeezus do?

Yeezus, and the other projects discussed here are just a few releases that have used a bootleg-like aesthetic, but I’m sure there must be plenty more cases of it in music, films, and other areas of art and design. If you’re aware of any other notable examples, please let me know!

Previous Articles:

Handmade music and why it’s crucial in the digital age

How the biggest electronic acts play their music live

Despite the fact that mp3 players have become the go-to choice for music consumption, handmade CDs and other products can really make your music stand-out from the crowd. The availability of music today has unfortunately caused it to become somewhat disposable and listeners’ attention-spans are shorter than ever; creating your own CDs by hand can help make your music memorable and turn it into a piece of art that people can treasure. Pass these out at shows, give them out in limited runs, or just keep them yourself as a memento for the hard work that went into making the album. Just a note – creating your own album designs by hand will take a lot more time and and resources than simply burning a disk, but in the end I believe it’s worth it to treat your music like the art that it is. Here’s some ideas on how to make your own CDs and merchandise:

Paint your CDs

Blank CD-Rs can be bought by the 100-pack for around $20, and most modern computers have disk-burning capabilities, so it’s really not unreasonable to make your own releases if you want to. You can even get blank CD-Rs that have a white label on top that is perfect for painting and drawing.

This album Mikey’s Imaginary Friends was made with some light passes with a couple different colors of spray paint and a silver Sharpie.

Once you have some blank disks, get some paint markers or a couple spray cans and go nuts – but here are a few important rules that I’ve learned to follow:

• Do all your painting before you burn your music on to the disk – this way, you can be sure that your CD will still function with the designs you put on it. If you accidentally painted on the bottom of the CD, then you’ll find out now and not after you spend the time burning your music to it.
• Be conservative with whatever you put on the CD – disk-readers are fine-tuned and will not play a CD if it’s too thick or heavy. It could also be possible that your disk might stick inside of a player if you’ve applied too much paint (this has happened to me before!). Sometimes just writing you/your band’s name and the name of the album on the disk is the best bet and will still look awesome.
• Make a decision on whether you want to burn your music as an Audio CD or an MP3 CD – I normally choose to burn mine as MP3 so that people can easily put my music on their laptops and iPods, but they frequently have problems playing in older car stereos that don’t support anything but audio tracks (and a lot of people LOVE listening to music in their cars).

Make custom CD Sleeves

CD Sleeves can provide you with a space to make some really cool designs for your music. You can get thick cardboard sleeves for around the same price as a spindle of blank CD-Rs (about 100 for $20) and they will be able to take on paint while looking sturdy and professional. If you want to draw something, think of a simple logo or picture that represents what your music is about and put it on each of your CD sleeves. In some cases, a minimalistic cover with the album’s name on it is a good look; it’s really up to what kind of aesthetic that you’re trying to create and how you want your music to be framed.

The album art for Jred Smyth’s Somewhere Between consists of a creature made entirely of black marker – a great example of simple design that portrays a cool and custom feel.

I prefer to use spray paint for almost every kind of painting I do, but there’s really no limit to the types of tools that you can use on your album covers. Make a stencil, use a paintbrush, go crazy – treat your album covers like a canvas and use them as a way to represent yourself and your music.

These versions of the deejersEP were painted with a touch of spray paint and a custom stencil.

If you have some artistic friends (and even if you don’t), give them a stack of blank sleeves and ask them to get creative. Sometimes random and crazy drawings make the best album art and your friends might love taking up the challenge in their free time.

I’m very fortunate to have some talented friends who are willing to share their skills. This copy of the deejersEP was painted by hand and outlined with permanent marker.

Creating your own stickers

If you can find some stickers that you don’t really want or have a use for, then you can turn them into your own stickers relatively easily. You can use packing slips, blank labels and name tags, or anything else that has adhesive on one side – a lot of these are thrown away as trash every day, so keep your eyes open at post offices and other establishments that might have them.

Here is what I do to make my own stickers out of existing ones, although you may be able to find your own method and style:

1. Take a can of spray paint of a color that you like (with a large cap if you have one) and paint over all the stickers until you can’t read the text or see the images that were previously on them. Let the paint dry for an afternoon or two – the longer you let the stickers sit, the easier they will be to work with.
2. Make a small stencil or take a paint marker, paint brush, or anything else you want and start creating. Now that you have some blank stickers that are a color of your choice, you can start having some fun and making whatever type of sticker you’d like.
3. After everything dries sufficiently, you might have some excess paint that is on the paper that the sticker is on, but not on the actual sticker itself. You can choose to leave this, but it is usually messy and a hassle when you want to actually peel the sticker. This is because most stickers come on some type of wax-like paper and the paint can chip and smear on this part – this is actually a good thing, because you can easily remove the extraneous paint with one of your nails or a scalpel and have a very clean-looking finished product.

Posting Flyers

Flyers can be a great way to publicize your music or shows in a creative way – posting them on bulletin boards and being that annoying guy handing out advertisements on the sidewalk can help spread the word about your work to your immediate community. Make something interesting, use bright colors, and make sure you post your flyers in places with heavy foot-traffic. Getting a massive amount of flyers can be costly, especially if you want multiple colors or glossy paper, but never underestimate the power of the lone pamphleteer.

Print Business Cards

You can have your own business cards printed for relatively cheap and they’re a great way to share your contact information and where to hear your music.

Making your own business cards will allow you to give someone a quick reference guide of how to reach you or hear the music you’ve made. I wouldn’t recommend making your own cards just because they are surprisingly affordable to have made by a printing company and you can still create your own custom design to be printed. Treat them like miniature flyers and give them out to anyone who asks about your work – they can be a valuable resource to have in your pocket.

or Have Them Professionally Made

There are businesses that exist that can create any one of these things that I’ve discussed in this article; to use them might even be cheaper and it will almost definitely save you time. Depending on your skill sets and how much effort you put in, your products might even look better if they’re professionally made. Weigh out your options and decide what’s realistic for you, but remember this: the point of creating your own CDs is to present yourself and your music in a way that won’t just get lost in the rest of the noise. Treating your album releases and merchandise as extensions of your art will allow you to create your own aesthetic that is unique and memorable.

Previous Articles

How the biggest electronic acts play their music live – a look into how some big names play their sounds in a live setting.

Get Mobile! – Mobile apps and how they can be used in your studio.

Take Control! – Controllers and why they are important to a digital musician.

Give Your Studio Some Life – The components of a basic home studio.

Choose Your Music’s Workplace – What a DAW does and how you can use one to make music on a computer.