Hotcards, Full Color Printing In The Nation

…and not just an image, an entire mythology.

Call me a trend geek, but I rarely leave the house in the morning without checking out Pitchfork.com, just to make sure I'm not missing anything crucial to my indie pop identity. And, of course, to check out the latest in album cover designs...

Today, Pitchfork posted a note about "Lil Wayne's Latest Amazing Mixtape Cover." The central image is of Wayne in a Hannibal Lecter-style mask. "I am music," is written, in some dark red goo, on the mask.

Pitchfork calls the design an "obvious win." I have to disagree. You'd think with all the talented people making Wayne-themed mixtape covers out there right now, the Empire could have come up with something a bit less…gruesome.

That being said, this is far from the first scary Lil Wayne mixtape cover we've seen. Ever since The Carter III came out with a cute tattooed baby on the front, and Wayne went bowling with Katie Couric, there has been a wave of mixtape cover art depicting the best rapper alive as the scariest monster alive. And considering that every fourth mixtape being produced right now seems to feature Wayne, that's a lot of scary print design.

So what's up with the clash between how Wayne seems to want to portray himself, and how his fans and producers using his music want him to be seen? In today's mixtape scene, where new music is coming out as fast as the daily news, is it still possible for an artist like Wayne to have any control over his own image, or is it being created for him by imaginative print designers?

On the covers of mixtapes, an entire mythology is being written, of Lil Wayne the zombie, Lil Wayne the cyborg terminator, Lil Wayne the remorseless fiend. In the past, artists have had more control over reproductions of their image, but the liberty with which Wayne's recordings are passed out seems to have transferred to his image, and even his identity.

Does Wayne care? And even if he did, could he stop it? Probably not. The creation of his monster image is happening at computers and in graphic design studios all over the world as print designers pick up on the concept and run with it in new, creative ways.

And here we have a perfect example, in print, of how a myth is created. One storyteller – in this case, an artist – creates a story that compels and entices audiences, by being scary, dangerous, and otherworldly. It may not be a true story; it may not even be the story told by its own main character, but a good enough story always sticks. Which is why bowling, Katie Couric-hugging Lil Wayne is not on the covers of all the mixtapes, and a monster with glowing eyes and dreads that seem to writhe like Medusa's snakes, is.

Just a reminder that print is a powerful tool when it comes to selling an image, whether we like it or not. Use it wisely, folks!