Is this a “T2:Tourism2” cover?

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Our reader Barry Mieny has removed the dark area in the bottom of the cover published by online Swedish shop CDON.com. If you look closer you may see that the album’s name includes colone instead of dash [T2:Tourism2[ and that there’ll probably be no spaces in between. This looks like a very tricky name!

We have no confirmation if this cover is real or not.

Update: The cover appeared in better quality at Ginza.se:

Thanks Honky Tonk!

Update 2 by J: Sven H has done some research and found the original plane picture and some information. The picture with the airplane was taken by Fredrik Olastuen who posted the following on his blog:

Speaking of photography, before the weekend I had a very pleasant surprise. Somebody had discovered one of my photos on Flickr and wanted to buy it, to use it album cover of a famous band in Sweden. I, of course, agreed to it, nice that my work is noticed and is appreciated. The picture otherwise also received many good comments earlier, quite funny actually, since the picture was taken almost by chance.

And I myself found this comment on Fredrik Olastuen page, left by Pär Wickholm at Minus on January 11. He basically writes that he works as a graphic designer and would like to buy a picture for an album cover for a “successful artist in Sweden”.

So it looks like the cover will at least have this plane on the cover. The idea is nice, also playing with the T2 = terminal 2, plane, travel, that the whole band is on the cover.. but let’s hope the bus and the band pictures get better!

Thanks Sven!

35 thoughts on “Is this a “T2:Tourism2” cover?”

  1. I like it! I’m curios what the text below says, obviously starting with “Songs… ” and ending with “… places”. Will it be the same as Tourism? It would make sense!

  2. Me as well. Good job, Barry! I like it because it’s not just another randomn photo collection but a visual take on the album name and concept. A nice mix of creativity and fun!

    Those typographic specialities are due to typical airport terminal styling. In normal text it can still be written “T2: Tourism 2”.

    I wonder if that red reflection/tint is part of the design or an effort to mark it “not final”. And if this is a preview of the real thing at all. 🙂

  3. I still think this cover artwork is from an earlier stage of the design, something what was sent out only to show what the concept is. It has some nice ideas, but I think it will change a lot.
    For example this bus-thing I can’t really imagine to stay like this.

  4. If this will be the final cover, I am going to buy the album via iTunes only …

    I always had a very good opinion on the Scandinavian graphic design scene (esp. when it comes to typography). This cover would change my mind rapidly — and I even liked the HaveANiceDay design, people. 😉

    The idea is ok, but lets face it, nothing very special or tricky. Even my 20-min.-layout was smarter http://twitpic.com/7fi6i7

    Maybe they could improve it by changing this bus into a “T2-Volkswagen”, don’t show the name “Roxette” two times, make “T2” and “TOURISM 2” the same size (in this airport/terminal-font, that’s OK) and change the direction of the plane from back to forward. And, and, and …

    However, the times of outstanding Roxette album covers seem to be over but I am open to being convinced otherwise in a couple of weeks. 🙂

  5. And by the way: Why does it always have to be a Photoshop-collage nowadays?

    A professional shooting (Akerlund, Corbijn, …) in their private jet could have been pretty cool as well! For example M&P in sitting in the cockpit and pressing a “volume button” or a scene together with the band or maybe Marie as pilot and Per as steward selling earphones … something crazy but cool attitude 🙂

    Cheers

  6. Of course a dedicated photo shoot would be cool, but I never expected it for a Tourism album. Also in 1992 only existing photos were used. Most boring solution for me would be a 1:1 copy of the 1992 cover.

    Your idea of combining a cassette with a suitcase is nice, but the overall design looks too “plastic” for this tour/live/studio/acoustic album IMHO. And who under 30 remembers cassettes? 😛

    PS. I don’t see the plane as important. Roxette already landed, are sitting in the bus. It’s just an airport symbol. 😉

  7. You are right, I does look ‘plastic’ – this artwork was done in a couple of minutes and I just wanted to present the idea.

    Anyway, I did want to design something very different from Tourism and CharmSchool – and so I went for a clean, iconic image which would also look outstanding on iPhones, iPods … you know, digital small sizes.

    Maybe I should have made a combination with this layout http://twitpic.com/86j83k to get a rougher look.

    PS: For me, Roxette = Cassette … not Vinyl, CD or MP3. And I love the shape of cassettes, btw 😉

  9. I realy like the plane idea. If they stick with the one that we have currently, maybe the bus can be suubstitute by a picture from a concert with the band and some crowd… I don’t think a specific photoshoot is very probable, although an Anton Corbijn-cover would be great!

    In any case, it should be related to album’s idea & spirit, unlike CS-cover which is related to nothing:)

  10. +1 🙂

    joy-rider, the CDON cover is a demo as well. I never bought Rox on cassette and I guess CD is the medium for 95% of the fanbase (maybe excl. US and Asia). About your countries cover: That would generate monstrous moaning about forgotten or too small/big country names. Wah! 😛

  11. Is it me or can you see blurry people in the windows of the tour bus? (To the very right looks a bit like Marie and Per, I think, ha ha)

  12. Of course the CDON cover is a ‘demo’ as well. Do you think I am that stupid, that someone has to tell me that this is not the real deal? 🙂

    Well, you are right, there is always something to moan about (… that’s what we do right now …) cause every fan has his/her own image of Roxette and it is hard to please a couple of thousand people. And face it, the average Roxette fan is not a ‘trendy person with an outstanding sense of style’ at all (just take a quick look to your right and to your left at a Roxette concert …).

    The bad thing is – in times of the internet – the magic of something new is sooner gone than the official stuff is released. Everybody has to have an opinion and want to share it; and above all, it’s always easier to criticise.

    I, for my case, look forward to the new music – no matter how ugly the final cover will be. The sound/music won’t get better or worse with the booklet and Roxette won’t sell more or less with eighter a decent or horrible design and there is no such thing like “generating a cooler image” these days anymore. Roxette already has got an image; and we all know, it was never a cool one … But in the end I do have an opinion on design since I am a art director for graphic design and I don’t want Roxette to look like ‘German Schlager’ …

  14. Sorry, you’re not stupid. I wrote it because you mention “demo” as an excuse. 😉

    About “encore” I disagree, as I see that as an unexpected final extra after the official end of a performance. Doesn’t match here IMHO. A totally new title would habe been fine though.

    For me the cover art DOES matter. If I think of a specific album, or listen to it with closed eyes, I tend to see the artwork in my head. At least with Rox albums which I looked at many times.

    On a side-note, I’m a professional graphic designer as well, since 12 years. No clue if I can call myself “art director” since we’re a 9-person ad agency without big hierarchy. Not that this detail puts more weight to one’s taste. 😛

  15. Do you think there will be a new album after Tourism2? I doubt it. Probably another updated Greatest Hits with an EP with some 5 extra tracks maybe; so I thought, ENCORE would fit the whole situation. It’s not the ‘final curtain’, it’s an extra to CharmSchool and since there are live tracks on the record, the name would fit pretty good.

    I aready thought, you would be in the same scene from in inbetween the lines … and it does matter somehow; it’s always nicer to discuss with cooks about a special dinner than with a carpenter for instance. 😉

    • Thank you! If it’s the real thing they should use other portraits without a doubt. Shoot the band in the same angle/lighting!

  17. I don’t have a clue, but certainly Roxette don’t announce it as their farewell album. I also don’t see it as an extra to CS, it’s a separate work – like Joyride and Tourism. I think the centerpiece of Roxette’s current activity is the tour. To a good part they made CS to be relevant again, not a nostalgia-only act. After the long break they couldn’t be sure of a commercial success but made it. So now there’s more natural drive for another record.

    Above Solsken wrote that they could use “a picture from a concert with the band and some crowd” and I agreed at first. Now I think it could be too misleading in live-album direction, when they have 10 brand new and only 3 live “hits”. What combines all the songs is the recording during the tour – an that’s visible in the cover proposal.

    It’s interesting to talk to another designer but in the end it’s thousands of “normal” eyes who will judge. They are not publishing for a committee! 😀

  18. i’m oersonally very skeptical that this will be the cover. It would make sense for the Charm School logo to be carried over to this release, also considering the recently revealed program design…all of which would tie into the tour posters…etc.

    And I have to agree with Sascha that cover art is important…I’m sue Per would agree also (as he is a record collector) ‘;-)

  19. Hahahaha… I was just gonna say.. it looks to me that the band members are looking out of the bus windows… and now.. thanks for updating the second pic. Hmmmm this, however, lets me tend towards the notion that this is in fact (quite) close to the final art work. I like it though!!! And T2 is most definitely far from being the last Roxette album ever.

  20. Now, as we see the faces on this better-Q image, the bus thing looks nicers, with the bands faces! It’s not “cool” of course, but it captures also the idea that now they are band more than ever, not just Per + Marie, but all other members seem more important (it seems to me, in any case). Maybe having Roxette written twice is really too much and I would erase from the bus. I certainly like the fact that “Tourism2” is written with smaller letters, so that it doesn’t look so redundant. That’s what my “normal” eyes say, haha!
    Love discussing such stuff, and I don’t think it’s moaning:)

    And yes, Sascha, probably they should avoid making T2 look like a live album when it is not.

  23. after seeing the higher quality picture I am inclined also to agree with Birgir. oh well! 🙂

  24. Looks cool!! And this “T2” thing instead of “2rism” suddenly makes sense! Now I really like the album title.
    Maybe the band member photos on the bus look a bit cheap, but on the other hand I think it’s kinda funny.

  25. I think fans have a quite certain image of Roxette and their music: we know who they are and who they have been all these years. A bad cover won’t affect our own image of Rox. In my opinion, fans are more worried about the image the outsiders have of Roxette. We want the new CD to be exposed in the racks and cause a nice impression in the casual music-buyer. The last thing we expect is them being dissed or ridiculized thanks to an album cover made in a rush.

    In terms of trendiness, I couldn’t care less. What’s supposed to be trendy these days? Lady Gaga and her artwork with a motorcycle with a female head (her own) – horrible. Or Kylie and her flamboyant dresses? It’s hard to judge the image of the average Roxette fan for what they wear at a concert. When you’re going to a gig, you want to feel comfortable, jump and sing as much as possible. You’re not supposed to look trendy in a situation like that.

    To round it up, Roxette (cool or not) has produced some great artworks. Look Sharp! will always be my favourite, with that newspaper treatment (no other album included funny liner notes like that). Even Room Service – weak in terms of music – produced an elegant artwork, with all the singles fitting the concept of the parental album. Their last graphic masterpiece was the TBP/TPH combo: pure, minimalistic, timeless.

  26. I like it. I don’t like the bus “collage” though. It looks a bit too amateurish. Perhaps they could do a mini photo shoot of Per and Marie and the band with their suitcases and instruments or other paraphernalia walking onto the bus with its door open.

  27. @bradhdyd: that would be a nice idea. It’s just a matter of creativity, no need to spend thousands in a complicated photo shoot. Maybe only 2 or 3 takes would be necessary to get a decent picture.

  28. I don’t like it, it looks cheesy. And the bus oh my god. looks like it was made for children. On Roxette’s facebook site they showed a different version (Vinyl) yesterday and it’s lookin much better (without the bus and nicer colours but the same plane).

    @Raelian: Was it the first time for a while you postet some positive words in a Roxette forum? But I am afraid every photoshooting is a lot of work and time and the more people the more difficult to get a good picture. But true -a photo from a shooting would be the best cover without all the computer effect.

    • is it on the Roxette Official page? I can’t find it anywhere…
      could you post a link? 🙂

      • @RealSugar: Sorry? I doubt you know me so well to come up with that ridiculous opinion. But let me take it as a (bad) joke, because this is not the right place to argue about this matter.

        @Dominick: the picture posted in Roxette Official is not the real vinyl sleeve (it was not uploaded by Per, after all). It was made by a fan, who also posted here as joy-rider. Even the song titles are made-up, he just wanted to show us his vision of a prefect cover for the forthcoming album.

  29. I like the colours and an idea with plane and bus, but can’t help, these Rox-puppets makes it silly. I still love Crash! Boom! Bang! sleeve, it’s timeless photo. I think that one photo is the best choice for studio album sleeve. One picture that you can immediately connect with the album title. This is best way how you can remember the album. Probably everbody who saw CBB sleeve will remember this album till they die.

  30. Roxette Official on facebook has now announced that “T2: Tourism 2” is no longer the title of the new album and to stay tuned…

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