to Baber Makayla

“A critique of David Bowie’s Black Star Cover speaks on minimalist artwork” by Kevin Mark Rabida. January 23rd 2016.

The article by Kevin M. Rabida on the black star design of Bowie’s penultimate album that was released on the eighth day of January 2016 exemplifies the thoughts of the designer on the life of the David Bowie. In a candid interview with the designer he describes the black star design as an instrument of utmost met aphorism as an artistic way of passing or conveying a message to the numerous fans and critiques alike about the direction in which he was headed as an artiste.

The article on the choice of the album cover seeks to describe the use of a black star that has several other mini stars that fade into oblivion after showing a huge and conspicuous star. The writer has achieved symbolism and a metaphorical representation of the life and times of the artiste as a renowned artiste whose life was already facing its dusk and (Greco William R et al). The choice of a black star instead of a white one qualifies the argument that the album was an effort to shed light on the musician own mortality. This theory is further supported by the fact that the album is released on 8th January just before his death being his 25th and ultimate album of his career. In a candid exposé with the architecture and design magazine.

The art on the album cover included a black star on a white background with his name Bowie graphically styled using fragments or black pieces of a star. The vinyl side had a similar design with the record being physically observable and could be susceptible to damage immediately it was released, talked much of a somber mood that engulfed the sunset of a career. The design chosen for this album is described by the designer as a representation of the mortality of the artiste. The simplistic approach to designing the cover further dampened mood of the record cover and the black color that is a representation of darkness which is a show of mortality.

In my analysis the design artwork for the cover does shed some light on the ending of a career which is shown by the choice of color and design of the star which is a star with other fragmented parts of the in the background designed to form patterns of the artistes name. The symbolism of the graphical design chosen by David Bowie, an artiste who had a close working relationship with the designer himself rather than his management team, means that the decision regarding the black star on the album cover was a conscious decision and show of the thoughts of the artiste himself and not a close person or rather any representation by any of his proxies. Bowie, a person who is touted as one who valued art or graphic design on album covers wanted simplicity of his music to flow through the album holistically and always tried to do interesting things hence the design of the cover.

References

Ucreative Magazine, “Designer of David Bowie’s Black Star cover Speaks on Minimalist Artwork” by Kevin Mark Rabida. January 23rd 2016

Greco, William R., Gregory Bravo, and John C. Parsons. "The search for synergy: a critical review from a response surface perspective."Pharmacological reviews 47.2 (1995): 331-385.