4 album covers in our archive
Behind the Covers currently documents 4 OutKast album covers from 1996 to 2003. Read together, the entries show how the artwork changed from release to release, with each story identifying the designers, photographers, source material, and design decisions behind the sleeve.
Cover evolution
OutKast's double album featured a revolutionary split cover design that literally divided the CD booklet in half, with Big Boi's gritty street aesthetic on one side and Andre 3000's colorful, eccentric fashion-forward imagery on the other, perfectly visualizing their artistic divergence.
OutKast's Stankonia cover photographs Big Boi and Andre 3000 in front of a huge black-and-white American flag with inverted stars. Michael Lavine shot the image and Mike Rush handled art direction and design. Andre 3000 later explained that the flag idea came to him on an airplane: stripping away its familiar color let OutKast themselves become the color in the image.
A phone call relayed André 3000's request to a Columbus painter, who got two or three days to turn OutKast's music into a 1970s funk fantasy. The result, with its hovering mothership and gold Egyptian medallion, reached millions and became one of the most celebrated Black album covers in hip hop.
OutKast's ATLiens sleeve turned André 3000 and Big Boi into comic-book heroes. LaFace's creative team developed the concept, Frank Gomez drew the cover, and Vince Robinson helped carry the idea through the album's illustrated package.
