There’s a lot of chitchat about Utada’s new American album “This Is The One”. And not just about the music, but the album art too. Few people thought the album art for the “Come Back To Me” single would also remain the album art for “This Is The One”.

Ningin asked a few graphic designers what they thought about “This Is The One” from a design standpoint. Their musical tastes were not a factor.

Gene Lu, Senior Web Designer at Penton, Inc:
“This Is The One” font that I would never use for an American album debut. The generic, blocky font does not represent Utada’s singing style, unless whoever created the cover thought otherwise; a monotone humming robot from the 80s?

The only good thing that can be said is the overly generic font set in black doesn’t visually contend with Utada’s headshot. Perhaps this ‘new’ face in today’s music industry is what she needs to compete at your local music store.

Adam Fulrath, Design Director at Time Out New York:
It’s a puffy typeface which works well with the image of her in a soft hoodie. But I’m not a fan of it. The lowercase H and I are higher than the uppercase T and U. The white rule isn’t there for legibility (it would read just fine on grey) so it’s a design decision that reminds me of 90s club fliers.

The letter spacing is also off. The a and d are closer than the other letters. Either way would work, but as it is now it’s off. If that’s her logo as well as album type, then it really needs to be fixed.

And in the end it’s a displayface that’s generic enough that it should be something a bit simpler/more classic. I’d have also tried colors. Something as bold as Magenta could have made the entire cover more vibrant.

Ivy Lee, Senior Designer at People Magazine
I’m not sure what the idea was behind this design; it seems like there wasn’t one at all. I think too many of Utada’s albums feature just her face and the CD title… Sure, she’s a pretty girl, but I wonder if her art team could offer us something fresh! For example, I think the most memorable CD cover in recent history is Kanye’s “Graduation” (which features an illustration by Japanese artist, Takeshi Murakami), it’s fun and has a lot of energy. The design instantly makes the CD a collectible.

On the other hand, Utada’s CD cover for “This Is The One” — design-wise, reads more like “Ignore This One”. I don’t really understand the font choice. The rounded corners, blocky lettering, and white outlines look outdated and too simple. Its titles are just placed across the photo on the top and the bottom, there is really no design concept to speak of.

Looks like a unanimous thumbs down for “This Is The One” design-wise. (T_T) Hopefully the American public will judge “This Is The One” by its music, not by its cover, when it hits stores everywhere May 12.