This Designer Beautifully Recreated Music Albums Using Urdu Book Covers As Inspiration And People LOVE It

By Syed Saad Ahmed | 23 Jan, 2019

Literature has always been a source of fascination for the lovers of art. There is a long list of poets, writers, and artists who have appreciated and contributed to it. Recently, one specific artist has taken it upon herself to contribute to it in her own unique, unprecedented way.

Photographer and designer, Senna Ahmad, has been using vintage Urdu book covers to recreate her favorite English music albums.

Senna has been trying to recreate different pop music album covers in her own unique way. She’s taken inspiration from different Urdu book covers published in the 50’s and the 60’s. Her art provides a vivid insight into the themes that the albums revolve around.

Let’s compare Senna’s artwork with the original album art to see the changes she’s made. Here’s the original cover for St. Vincent’s “Strange Mercy”

Source: 4AD

The original cover of the album “Strange Mercy” had a depiction of St. Vincent’s lips on the verge of wrapping around a musical instrument.

Now here’s Senna’s recreation of the cover.

Source: @sennaahmad / Instagram

In Senna’s recreation of the cover, she has used conflicting color overtones to depict “ajeeb rehmat” in a South Asian fashion. Her art also has an Urdu translation of the text at the bottom.

 

Now let’s look at the album cover of “The Bends” by Radiohead

Source: Capitol Records

The cover of “The Bends” by Radiohead featured a mannequin that can be seen in videos of different tracks in the album. To be frank – and this solely my opinion – the cover is as random as it gets and a bit creepy to look at. But I’m sure there’s great meaning behind it.

Here is Senna’s take on the cover

Source: @sennaahmad / Instagram

Senna’s art cover of the album seems to be based on a single track that is widely regarded as the best track in the album, “Fake Plastic Trees.” The soft outlines on the trees and the gentle curves contribute to creating a design that has an exquisite South Asian heritage.

Next up, we have the cover of the album “Kaputt” by Destroyer

Source: Merge Records

The photo shows the band’s frontman, Dan Bejar, sitting on a railing, alone, away from the rest of them. According to an interview, this was supposed to show his detachment from the world.

Here is Senna’s version of the album cover

Source: @sennaahmad / Instagram

Instead of focusing on Dan Bejar’s detachment from the world, Senna seems to have focused on the top track of the album, “Blue Eyes.” She has quite literally drawn a blue eye on the cover and the alphabets are blue as well.

It’s a beautiful South Asian interpretation of these international album covers, thereby proving that art really has no boundaries or borders. And truly, her work has spoken to people, who are taking to Twitter to appreciate Senna’s talent.

Some people absolutely love it (as do their moms)

Others find it “refreshingly beautiful”

Some of them have already chosen their favorite artwork from all the pieces Senna uploaded.

Some asked for a transliteration of the text

Senna’s art has been gaining traction all over Twitter and has attracted a whole lot of art and music lovers. Not all of these people can understand the Urdu alphabet, of course, and people reached out for the transliteration of the Urdu text.

Senna took these requests seriously and soon tweeted the transliterations of the covers.

Soon enough, personalized requests followed 

Senna even had a reply for those asking for her work in print and from the looks of it, we could expect it in the near future

Oof! I, for one, cannot wait for the merch.

The Twitterati has showered Senna with love and support, making it abundantly clear that talent is always appreciated. At this rate, it’s just a matter of time before we see her become an international phenomenon with her merchandise available all over the internet!

We at MangoBaaz wish Senna all the best for her future endeavors. You go, girl!

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Cover image via @sennaahmed/Twitter

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