by Md Golam Vladislav


Recently brutalism became one of the most emerging trends in design. Opposed to the beautiful and spotless user-friendly design of big brands, brutalist design is not trying to be nice. Here are some examples of this approach in music. By 2019 it’s already adopted by mainstream culture, but the internet has its memory.

What is brutalism?

The Unité d’Habitation in Marseilles, a building that many consider the birth of Brutalism

The Unité d’Habitation in Marseilles, a building that many consider the birth of Brutalism

The term “brutalist” was at first applied to architecture, coming from Le Corbusier's love for “béton brut” — literally raw concrete. Brutalist buildings descended from the modernist architecture, characterized by simple, functional forms and bare structure.

Brutalist design

https://brutalistwebsites.com

https://brutalistwebsites.com

Recently brutalism became a huge trend in graphic, and web design. Brutalist design framework authors describe the trend as “harsh, stripped-down designs that have no frills, as a reaction to the cleanliness and polish of design systems”.

Why are they “dead” (on the picture)? It’s because popular culture already recognized it and therefore it is not “true” now.

Covers are presented in chronological order.


Kanye West • Yeezus

Designed by Virgil Abloh and Kanye West

Released June 18, 2013

https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/444db485-a5e2-4d93-8337-dc31321ae6b5/Untitled.png

https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/85a821c9-2976-47f3-be1f-a6b7a3e0e324/Untitled.png

This minimalist cover displays a CD with red tape on the side, appearing as many bargain bin disks would. On a lecture at Columbia University Virgil said that for them (Kanye and Virgil) this cover represents the death of a CD.

It can be considered brutalist not only in terms of graphic design but also from an architectural perspective: this album doesn't have a cover in a traditional sense. Its cover is its bare materials: cd, box and tape. So it’s the most brutalist cover of the list.