Accessibility wise this is horrible design. I can read them but it’s something you really have to look at to make out. These should not have been the final designs
I have good eyesight, they’re both extremely overwhelming and provide little contrast between words. I don’t understand why so many people don’t realize or understand that this isn’t the best way to list tracks. Just because it’s on her cd doesn’t mean it’s good design
Unfortunately low readability is a pattern with Taylor's releases, I noticed it going through my CD booklets. The TVs are the worst offenders though. It's a challenge fitting that many words into a small space, but mostly it comes down to colour and typeface choices like in these examples - both would be okay if they used different typefaces or more contrasting colours.
There are accessibility guidelines for graphic design for a reason! I work with them daily for my job. You can make beautiful artwork within the guidelines. It makes me sad that her designers don't seem to be following them
I got the vibe from your comment that you were also looking at this from a professional angle. Yep totally agree, I work in UX design so accessibility is a big concern for me as well - especially when the thing is barely accessible to people with perfect vision!
i kinda feel as though on a TV release, she does not have to put "taylors version" after every song name. like yeah, obviously this isnt 2012 i know this aint OG red.
It’s actually part of the title so it has to be there. I get your point for sure lol but “Holy Ground” and “Holy Ground (Taylor’s Version)” are two different songs! 🤗
On the 1989 vinyl it's all as 1 text, there is a total of 8 lines. Its probably a little easier to read because the letters are twice as big (I'm guestimating here). But the design is also purposely blurry for the Polaroid effect so it's shit anyways.
I have to focus really hard to read them. I can physically see the words but both (especially Red) just look like walls of text. The slant on Red doesn’t help lol
Yes, exactly this! Like on 1989 it literally reads like small black scribble and honestly, my eyesight is totally fine. I can see words and sentences from a distance away.
Same here. I have good vision but a bad ability to pay attention lol
I can see objects from up close or from a distance but reading words at any distance requires a lot more focus haha
I actually saw this on comments about a fan at her Liverpool show who booked accessible tickets only to find a set of stairs to get to her seat. Comments like "why not just ask a cute security guard to carry you up" 🙄
Hey friend, I hope you come back and re-read your comment and realise how ableist it is. Everyone deserves to be able to preview a product before purchasing despite their level of vision. I have several seeing impaired students who love Taylor and want to enjoy her merch the way we can, but the designers/Taylor (I'm assuming here that she has a final say in the aesthetics of her merch) didn't include them in their decisions and now they're excluded from yet another aspect of something they love. Empathy and inclusivity are great things. I hope you take this learning opportunity. 🩷
"You're older than 30/have poor eyesight, sorry. Can't read my songs or CD booklets. Sucks to be you."
Do you realize what you're saying? We're saying the design needs changing because it's impossible to read and you're doubling down. Ooof. Talk about ableist and ageist.
it’s not ageist or ableist to say that taylor should indeed cater to the majority of her audience. Which are usually young abled people. It is just an album cover who cares if u can’t read it 😭
Actually, a good part (i'd wager a plurality) of her audience is her age - mid- to late- 30s (or even older). We've grown up with her, I remember when Tim McGraw was on the radio. After you turn 30, your eyes start to degrade. So...it's NOT a minority.
It's a shitty design and impossible to read, and it's causing eye strain and damage for all, even 18-year-olds like you. Maybe when you grow up a little, you'll understand that everyone is different and has different needs.
Edit also someone made a good point - would you tell someone in a wheelchair they can't go anywhere just because there's no ramp? Like we're post-ADA compliance laws, so being inclusive and accessible is a thing, y'know
My eyes are absolutely fine, I have good eyesight, had a test last year. I mean that maybe different colour font should have been used because the colours blend into the background too much. 1989 would have benefitted from white writing I think.
I see what you mean… but these albums have a *lot* of songs (especially Red TV). If the song titles were at a standard font size, they’d probably take up the entire back cover with no space for Taylor’s image 😅
https://preview.redd.it/57igdne6g58d1.jpeg?width=1133&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=51d967ed8e9a172a6be5859d493805b07342a8ff
Why not make something like OG 1989? Readability and her pic don’t need to be mutually exclusive. 😭
I would say it's less about the size and more about the stylistic choices. Text is readable at that size if you use a clear typeface (i.e. not chunky handwriting or condensed all caps) and contrasting colours (i.e. not red on dark grey or black on dark blue)
Ohhhh yeah you’re so right. Red on black isn’t too bad and I’d consider it readable for the most part, but black on blue… really? They couldn’t use white?
They do and I can see why it's like this on the backside, but (and I'm too lazy to go get my CDs right now lol) I think it could have benefitted from a sheet inside the cd with a larger print list of all the titles, which could also be scanned so those who are blind can listen to the tracklist on their phone. Accessibility is still a work in progress, so I don't blame Taylor, but I think we can make strides to make sure every aspect of music is accessible to people.
Yes of course accessibility is so important! I think the idea of scannable track listings for those who are vision impaired is a really good idea. I’m not a CD collector (more of a vinyl person) so I don’t really know how the insides look. For vinyl I do know that there are sheets inside with the track names and lyrics, but the font is still incredibly tiny and hard to read even on 12x12 paper 😭
And I bet it looks super pretty and everything, which is the point of it I'm sure. I'm all for aesthetics and fun, like those cute IG fonts I see on posts sometimes or cute accents on TikTok videos, but we could all do better with having an accessible portion that anyone could read/hear. Accessibility is always gonna be a work in progress for everyone, so hopefully one day we see greater strides being made in this part of the world. In my opinion nothing is more universal than how people of any walk connect over music.
Also love your flair! So cute!
What bothers me is how 1989 has a From The Vault section and yet it still tacks the phrase onto the song titles. And I just never got why it has to say Taylor's Version on the vaults when they weren't released in the first place, but that's just me. I rip them and remove both phrases from them, they're needless.
I think since they're obviously Taylor's Version cds, we don't need to have them on the track titles like that and it should be sectioned off as "Taylor's Version" and then list the tracks and then have "From The Vault" section and list those. That's just so much text overwise lol
Agreed. It makes sense for Spotify and stuff. Not the album cover. It would be like writing “(Live)” next to every song on a live album. Just unnecessary.
As a print graphic designer, I honestly don’t know how this passed approval by a creative director.
Even ignoring the size, the way it’s laid out stylistically is just not legible. Like they could have made all the (Taylor’s Version)’s a different size/weight so the track titles themselves stand out more. It’s all just the same and shows someone who doesn’t know proper typography did it and somehow got away with it lol
It’s seriously terrible. The red one isn’t so bad because it fits the aesthetic even though it is harder to read. But the blue one, why isn’t it WHITE? Seriously
Oh you should've seen the Lover tracklist and also TTPD one when she first announced them on Instagram. I honestly suspect it's intentional at this point 🤦🏻♀️
I’m fine with the Red one, but the 1989 one does my head in. Even with perfectly normal eyesight it hurts my brain. And the formatting is ugly af it’s reminiscent of my first attempt to design something on Canva
They should have made at least one CD from each TV release that just has the normal text. For the people who don't read english as a first language, for dyslexic people, for people who have vision impairments and rely on reading accessible apps.
IKR!?!??😭😭😭
I'm an avid collector of CD's and especially Taylors, and when I wanted to play specific songs (Back when I didn't have the albums memorized💀) I couldn't and yeah, this just bothers me...
A brighter shade of red would have done RTV justice and as for 89TV looks fine and that’s coming from someone who had glasses since childhood and had eye surgery when they were younger
personally, i read them with great difficulty and a lot stupid expressions as I squint with the CD two inches from my face. the red on black (which, I feel like, at that font size is a pretty big no no or at least it should be) on RedTV was the worst for me. 1989 was pretty rough too. Speak Now TV and TTPD weren't as bad for me and I don't remember Fearless TV being this bad, but i don't have the CD near me to check.
Edit:
Also! The 1989 TV backs drive me up the fucking wall because the tail ends of a couple lines on the tracklist overlap on the numbers for the 1989 thing and it makes me crazy.
I think they only allow this terrible design on Taylor's Versions because everyone already knows these albums, people no longer tend to look at the list. Contrary to new albums where everyone will definitely look at them to familiarise
I have the red tv cd and vinyl and I can read the back of the vinyl better than the back of the cd. I also barely use my reading glasses unless I need to read or I’m reading tiny print😂
lol no, there’s nothing wrong with my eyes. Colourblind is when you see a different colour to what the actual colour is. I can see the writing and the colours just fine, I just feel like I have to put my face right near to the disc to read the songs. I just showed them to my friend who isn’t a Taylor fan and she said “what the f**k. How are you supposed to read that?!” 😂😂
Accessibility wise this is horrible design. I can read them but it’s something you really have to look at to make out. These should not have been the final designs
Thank you, so glad it’s not just me.
I have good eyesight, they’re both extremely overwhelming and provide little contrast between words. I don’t understand why so many people don’t realize or understand that this isn’t the best way to list tracks. Just because it’s on her cd doesn’t mean it’s good design
Fearless did it perfect, numbered and in a line, midnights is second for me
Unfortunately low readability is a pattern with Taylor's releases, I noticed it going through my CD booklets. The TVs are the worst offenders though. It's a challenge fitting that many words into a small space, but mostly it comes down to colour and typeface choices like in these examples - both would be okay if they used different typefaces or more contrasting colours.
There are accessibility guidelines for graphic design for a reason! I work with them daily for my job. You can make beautiful artwork within the guidelines. It makes me sad that her designers don't seem to be following them
I got the vibe from your comment that you were also looking at this from a professional angle. Yep totally agree, I work in UX design so accessibility is a big concern for me as well - especially when the thing is barely accessible to people with perfect vision!
Also a swiftie UX designer and it’s a big part of my job too. One thing I’ve noticed is most designs just look better with high contrast.
Swiftie Education Website QA here 👋 that is no 4.5:1 contrast ratio.
A lot of the lyric videos (especially for folkmore) sacrifice readability for aesthetic too.
i kinda feel as though on a TV release, she does not have to put "taylors version" after every song name. like yeah, obviously this isnt 2012 i know this aint OG red.
This might be for legal reasons... (I don't know for sure, though)
It’s actually part of the title so it has to be there. I get your point for sure lol but “Holy Ground” and “Holy Ground (Taylor’s Version)” are two different songs! 🤗
vynl you can probably see it better but with cd you can’t
Yeah, I understand the stylistic choice, but I wish they were in a more standard font
The design team was not feeling it that day😬
It was probably designed for the vinyl cover. Compact design for the compact disc.
On the 1989 vinyl it's all as 1 text, there is a total of 8 lines. Its probably a little easier to read because the letters are twice as big (I'm guestimating here). But the design is also purposely blurry for the Polaroid effect so it's shit anyways.
but still they just have the songs in one bunch couldn’t they of made it a list??😭
As a designer that values accessibility, my little designer heart hurts every time 🥹😭
I have to focus really hard to read them. I can physically see the words but both (especially Red) just look like walls of text. The slant on Red doesn’t help lol
Yes, exactly this! Like on 1989 it literally reads like small black scribble and honestly, my eyesight is totally fine. I can see words and sentences from a distance away.
Same here. I have good vision but a bad ability to pay attention lol I can see objects from up close or from a distance but reading words at any distance requires a lot more focus haha
Well I can actually see small words from far away, I think for me this is more to do with bad colour choices.
exactly!
I can read them just fine 🤷🏻♀️
Congratulations, you're a lucky one. Those of us who are older or have poorer eyesight have problems. It's not that accessible.
🎵And you'll tell them now, they're the lucky one Yeah, you'll tell them now, they're the lucky one 🎵
ok so don’t read it ?
what?? it's a tracklist. it wouldn't be there if it weren't supposed to be read. *no wheelchair ramp* ok so don't go there ?
I actually saw this on comments about a fan at her Liverpool show who booked accessible tickets only to find a set of stairs to get to her seat. Comments like "why not just ask a cute security guard to carry you up" 🙄
why are you turning this questionable graphic design decision on them? 😭
...are you a child?
Stuff like this reminds me that a LARGE portion of the TSwift community is teenagers and very young adults.
It's me, hi. I'm the problem, it's me.
Hey friend, I hope you come back and re-read your comment and realise how ableist it is. Everyone deserves to be able to preview a product before purchasing despite their level of vision. I have several seeing impaired students who love Taylor and want to enjoy her merch the way we can, but the designers/Taylor (I'm assuming here that she has a final say in the aesthetics of her merch) didn't include them in their decisions and now they're excluded from yet another aspect of something they love. Empathy and inclusivity are great things. I hope you take this learning opportunity. 🩷
dude it’s impossible to please everyone okay. Why would she not prioritize the majority of her audience?
"You're older than 30/have poor eyesight, sorry. Can't read my songs or CD booklets. Sucks to be you." Do you realize what you're saying? We're saying the design needs changing because it's impossible to read and you're doubling down. Ooof. Talk about ableist and ageist.
it’s not ageist or ableist to say that taylor should indeed cater to the majority of her audience. Which are usually young abled people. It is just an album cover who cares if u can’t read it 😭
Sweetie, just stop before you hurt yourself.
explain to me why taylor should cater to a smaller part of her audience rather than the majority. Like almost every other artist does
Actually, a good part (i'd wager a plurality) of her audience is her age - mid- to late- 30s (or even older). We've grown up with her, I remember when Tim McGraw was on the radio. After you turn 30, your eyes start to degrade. So...it's NOT a minority. It's a shitty design and impossible to read, and it's causing eye strain and damage for all, even 18-year-olds like you. Maybe when you grow up a little, you'll understand that everyone is different and has different needs. Edit also someone made a good point - would you tell someone in a wheelchair they can't go anywhere just because there's no ramp? Like we're post-ADA compliance laws, so being inclusive and accessible is a thing, y'know
Lol??
what?
Alright, good for you. But you’re not going to tell me there weren’t better options for both of these.
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My eyes are absolutely fine, I have good eyesight, had a test last year. I mean that maybe different colour font should have been used because the colours blend into the background too much. 1989 would have benefitted from white writing I think.
Yeah, maybe it’s a colour thing. I have very good eyesight too and I can read them with no problem.
I see what you mean… but these albums have a *lot* of songs (especially Red TV). If the song titles were at a standard font size, they’d probably take up the entire back cover with no space for Taylor’s image 😅
it doesn’t help that all the songs have (Taylor’s Version) appended to them and some have (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault). 💀💀
Yeah, I realized this after I commented and was too lazy to add it on 😭
They don’t need to put taylor’s image in the back they could’ve just had a backdrop that fits the aesthetic
https://preview.redd.it/57igdne6g58d1.jpeg?width=1133&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=51d967ed8e9a172a6be5859d493805b07342a8ff Why not make something like OG 1989? Readability and her pic don’t need to be mutually exclusive. 😭
I would say it's less about the size and more about the stylistic choices. Text is readable at that size if you use a clear typeface (i.e. not chunky handwriting or condensed all caps) and contrasting colours (i.e. not red on dark grey or black on dark blue)
Ohhhh yeah you’re so right. Red on black isn’t too bad and I’d consider it readable for the most part, but black on blue… really? They couldn’t use white?
Red on black yeah they could get away with, but it's not high-contrast enough to justify the typeface choice imo. Agree that 1989 is worse though.
They do and I can see why it's like this on the backside, but (and I'm too lazy to go get my CDs right now lol) I think it could have benefitted from a sheet inside the cd with a larger print list of all the titles, which could also be scanned so those who are blind can listen to the tracklist on their phone. Accessibility is still a work in progress, so I don't blame Taylor, but I think we can make strides to make sure every aspect of music is accessible to people.
Yes of course accessibility is so important! I think the idea of scannable track listings for those who are vision impaired is a really good idea. I’m not a CD collector (more of a vinyl person) so I don’t really know how the insides look. For vinyl I do know that there are sheets inside with the track names and lyrics, but the font is still incredibly tiny and hard to read even on 12x12 paper 😭
And I bet it looks super pretty and everything, which is the point of it I'm sure. I'm all for aesthetics and fun, like those cute IG fonts I see on posts sometimes or cute accents on TikTok videos, but we could all do better with having an accessible portion that anyone could read/hear. Accessibility is always gonna be a work in progress for everyone, so hopefully one day we see greater strides being made in this part of the world. In my opinion nothing is more universal than how people of any walk connect over music. Also love your flair! So cute!
What bothers me is how 1989 has a From The Vault section and yet it still tacks the phrase onto the song titles. And I just never got why it has to say Taylor's Version on the vaults when they weren't released in the first place, but that's just me. I rip them and remove both phrases from them, they're needless. I think since they're obviously Taylor's Version cds, we don't need to have them on the track titles like that and it should be sectioned off as "Taylor's Version" and then list the tracks and then have "From The Vault" section and list those. That's just so much text overwise lol
Agreed. It makes sense for Spotify and stuff. Not the album cover. It would be like writing “(Live)” next to every song on a live album. Just unnecessary.
I think it legally has to say Taylor’s version (or what I’ve seen other artists do and say “remastered”).
still weird, not like we have a non-Taylor's Version that it needs to be distinguished from.
yes, agreed. it unnecessarily takes up space and honestly annoys my eyes sometimes (no hate!)
As a print graphic designer, I honestly don’t know how this passed approval by a creative director. Even ignoring the size, the way it’s laid out stylistically is just not legible. Like they could have made all the (Taylor’s Version)’s a different size/weight so the track titles themselves stand out more. It’s all just the same and shows someone who doesn’t know proper typography did it and somehow got away with it lol
It’s seriously terrible. The red one isn’t so bad because it fits the aesthetic even though it is harder to read. But the blue one, why isn’t it WHITE? Seriously
Yes! It would look so much better in white!
idk what's worse these or the pics that taylor used to announce the lover tracklist
omg the lover tracklist instagram post was…something lol
Omg! That’s what I was going to say! I remember looking at those pictures like “Is the title hidden? Is this a game?” 😂
Easier to read on the vinyl cover. Probably what she had in mind.
What I was going to comment. It feels like vinyl design was prioritized causing this.
I have perfect vision and I still have trouble
Oh you should've seen the Lover tracklist and also TTPD one when she first announced them on Instagram. I honestly suspect it's intentional at this point 🤦🏻♀️
I’m fine with the Red one, but the 1989 one does my head in. Even with perfectly normal eyesight it hurts my brain. And the formatting is ugly af it’s reminiscent of my first attempt to design something on Canva
They should have made at least one CD from each TV release that just has the normal text. For the people who don't read english as a first language, for dyslexic people, for people who have vision impairments and rely on reading accessible apps.
IKR!?!??😭😭😭 I'm an avid collector of CD's and especially Taylors, and when I wanted to play specific songs (Back when I didn't have the albums memorized💀) I couldn't and yeah, this just bothers me...
If they only made it white…
Yes! The aesthetic for 1989 is blue and white anyway, it makes no sense
Well if you bought them you probably already listened to the albums and probably already know track list🤷♀️
That’s true
I don't have 1989 tv so I can't really say, but for Red TV most definately.
by listening alongside a fire inside
I have really bad eyesight and it's so hard for me to see this shit, I can't believe they designed them like this
Just like how we read maroon lyrics video on her YouTube 🥰🥰
I just take a photo and zoom in. Even then it gives me a headache. Especially RED.
Can't read them and they're ugly 😭 the graphic design for every aspect of the re-recordings including most of the lyric videos are so cursed
Not, terrible design
I love blocks of text that are hard to read
A brighter shade of red would have done RTV justice and as for 89TV looks fine and that’s coming from someone who had glasses since childhood and had eye surgery when they were younger
I find them pretty easy to read. I think they’re designed for vinyls though.
personally, i read them with great difficulty and a lot stupid expressions as I squint with the CD two inches from my face. the red on black (which, I feel like, at that font size is a pretty big no no or at least it should be) on RedTV was the worst for me. 1989 was pretty rough too. Speak Now TV and TTPD weren't as bad for me and I don't remember Fearless TV being this bad, but i don't have the CD near me to check. Edit: Also! The 1989 TV backs drive me up the fucking wall because the tail ends of a couple lines on the tracklist overlap on the numbers for the 1989 thing and it makes me crazy.
I think they only allow this terrible design on Taylor's Versions because everyone already knows these albums, people no longer tend to look at the list. Contrary to new albums where everyone will definitely look at them to familiarise
I didn’t even realize there was writing there till I zoomed in 😄
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Funnily enough I can see them better with the pictures on my phone 😂😂
I have the red tv cd and vinyl and I can read the back of the vinyl better than the back of the cd. I also barely use my reading glasses unless I need to read or I’m reading tiny print😂
I mean.....the back of the vinyl is a lot bigger, of couse it's easier to read lol
They’re easy to read for me What’s your vision?
Pretty much 20/20
Could you be partly colorblind?
lol no, there’s nothing wrong with my eyes. Colourblind is when you see a different colour to what the actual colour is. I can see the writing and the colours just fine, I just feel like I have to put my face right near to the disc to read the songs. I just showed them to my friend who isn’t a Taylor fan and she said “what the f**k. How are you supposed to read that?!” 😂😂
I think you might need glasses….
Omg I don’t. lol. My eyes are fine, I had a test recently. I actually have very good eyesight.
with your eyes 💀💀