Pen & Pixel

Pen & Pixel Graphics, Inc.
TypePrivate
IndustryGraphic design
Founded1992; 34 years ago (1992) in Houston, Texas, United States
Founders
  • Aaron Brauch
  • Shawn Brauch
Defunct2003 (2003)
FateDissolved
HeadquartersHouston, Texas, United States
ServicesComputer graphics and design
Websitepenandpixel.com

Pen & Pixel Graphics, Inc. was an American graphic design firm based in Houston, Texas that specialized in musical album covers, especially for gangsta rap artists in the Southern United States. For a long time, it was the house design firm for No Limit Records, Cash Money Records, and Suave House Records.

History

The company was started in 1992 by brothers Aaron and Shawn Brauch. The Brauch brothers and their staff worked with over 8,000 clients and completed 19,180 album covers before the company closed its doors in 2003. The brothers cited peer-to-peer file sharing website Napster and the September 11 attacks as reasons for the close; artists were reluctant to fly to Houston to view artwork that listeners would be unlikely to see.

The album covers Pen & Pixel produced have been described as "gaudy", "more-is-more", and "outrageous". Common themes included bullets, cars, drugs, fire, gems, money, women, and other examples of wealth and riches. Pen & Pixel would fulfill client requests for custom album covers, with sketches of the album cover being drawn based on the concepts requested. These sketches would then be scanned by a computer, which would generate a list of items needed for the cover, such as cars and diamonds. Photos would then be taken of these items from different angles, so the same item could be reused in the future. Pen & Pixel apparently refused to produce political covers (with two exceptions being Da Good da Bad & da Ugly by Geto Boys and I'm Goin' Out Lika Soldier by Willie D), and they once rejected a concept by Insane Clown Posse involving a pregnant woman being shot.

In 2020, Pen & Pixel came out of retirement to design the cover art for 21 Savage and Metro Boomin's Savage Mode II. The artwork is in their signature design, heavily inspired by those of Cash Money and No Limit and is a nod to the bling-rap album covers of the 1990s.

Timeline of notable covers

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2020

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ According to Pen & Pixel, this is the first cover they made to feature the bling-bling style of text that they would become famous for. The album's lead single, "Bling Bling", also served to popularize the term bling-bling.

Citations

  1. 1 2 Noisey. "Defining the Visual Style of Southern Hip Hop - Noisey Design (Episode 1)". Vice Media. Archived from the original on October 7, 2014. Retrieved February 18, 2020 – via YouTube.
  2. ↑ Julie, Grob. "Special Collections- Librarian". www.uh.edu/. University of Houston. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 Mebane, William. "Letter of Recommendation: Pen & Pixel". The New York Times. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Kakaire, Christine. "Strictly abiding by a "more-is-more" philosophy, the Brauch brothers shaped the visual aesthetic of Southern hip-hop's flashiest era". Red Bull Music Academy. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Howard, Jacinta. "THE BEST PEN & PIXEL RAP COVERS". The Boombox. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 Friedman, Skinny. "An Ode to Pen & Pixel Album Covers". Vice. Vice Media. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  7. ↑ Jenkins, Sacha; Wilson, Elliot; Mao, Jeff; Alvarez, Gabe; Rollins, Brent (March 25, 2014). Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists. St. Martin's Publishing Group. p. 169. ISBN 978-1466866973. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  8. 1 2 Metro Boomin (confirmed account) [@MetroBoomin] (September 30, 2020). "Shoutout Pen & Pixel for coming out of retirement to do 1 more cover #legendary" (Tweet). Retrieved October 1, 2020 – via Twitter.
  9. 1 2 Findlay, Mitch (September 29, 2020). "Metro Boomin & 21 Savage Unveil "Savage Mode 2" Cover". HotNewHipHop. Archived from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved October 1, 2020. Although Pen & Pixel were commissioned to do the Savage Mode II cover, the cover that was released for the album is not an official Pen & Pixel cover; but instead inspired by a cover Pen & Pixel did for 21 Savage that was scrapped due to deadline issues.
  10. 1 2 Ivey, Justin (September 29, 2020). "21 Savage & Metro Boomin's 'Savage Mode 2' Cover Art Channels Classic Cash Money & No Limit Albums". HipHopDX. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  11. 1 2 Harper, Rosario (September 29, 2020). "21 Savage + Metro Boomin Reveal Cash Money Records-Inspired Savage Mode II Album Cover". SOHH. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 "Pen & Pixel: The design company that established the Southern hip-hop scene". Vice Japan. Archived from the original on September 19, 2025.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Walker, Angus (March 19, 2015). "The 10 Greatest Pen & Pixel Album Covers". HotNewHipHop. Archived from the original on October 30, 2025.