Recently, SHINee‘s Key revealed the logo design for his upcoming solo release, Killer, which is set to come out on February 13. It’s a repackaged version of his last album, Gasoline, which was released last August.
KEY The 2nd Album Repackage 〖Killer〗
➫ 2023.02.13 (KST)#KEY #키 #SHINee #샤이니 #Killer pic.twitter.com/hxFRlJ6rFQ
— SHINee (@SHINee) January 24, 2023
Of course, there are many fans who are incredibly excited for more music from the creative genius that Key is!
LET’S GO, TAKE ALL MY MONEY pic.twitter.com/TpPFbIzPFt
— p⩜⃝tty •
(@Cia_6v6) January 24, 2023
Yes a new era is coming! Let’s go my king !!! pic.twitter.com/gwnXOSYmNs
— ℐ♡ (@_Fraizy) January 24, 2023
KEY IS BACK. THE KING IS BACK. HELP.
— JA DIAZ (@jadiaz_official) January 24, 2023
Yesss pic.twitter.com/VzaFkHTqAd
— 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐞
(@taemahshinee) January 24, 2023
— Suzanne (@SHAWOL4EVERR) January 24, 2023
Some netizens, however, questioned the logo design and whether or not it’s too similar to past designs by other SM Entertainment artists.
A post was made on an online Korean forum that brings up the topic of if the K-Pop label is “recycling” old designs and concepts too much. The author brings up both the album designs for the NCT 127 album NCT #127 Neo Zone: The Final Round…
As well as the logo for aespa‘s Girls album.
They think that the album design for Key’s upcoming Killer album looks pretty similar to each of them in font and color to a certain degree. The author even went so far as to claim that Key’s album artwork looks like a “copy” of the other two mentioned. Of course, this isn’t a criticism of Key himself, since he likely wasn’t involved in the design process of this part of his comeback.
Based on several comments on the post by others, it seems like a lot of people agree with the author in that SM Entertainment’s designers are recycling past ideas.
There were also several comments that showcased some of the most bland and unexciting designs created by SM Entertainment’s team as further evidence that something is going on behind-the-scenes.
According to some posts, too, it seems that there is some shifting of employees going on in SM Entertainment right now, which may be having a negative impact on the company’s creative process.
SM Entertainment has announced that they have a plan to reorganize the production system next month. They will announce the management plan through the SMTOWN Youtube Channel on Feb 3rd at 12PM KST. SM plans to allow other people to participate in their artists album production! pic.twitter.com/nrhKFR3ZKE
— ً (@wntrult) January 25, 2023
It’s more a matter of opinion than anything else whether SM Entertainment is recycling old ideas, but we do hope to see more creative and innovative designs and artwork from them in the future!
,
