JZD + Jay-Z + Kanye West

Def Jam has released the album cover artwork for "Watch The Throne," the upcoming collaboration album by Jay-Z and Kanye West. The artwork was designed by Givenchy creative director Riccardo Tisci and rendered in gleaming gold by Joe Zeff Design over the course of several weeks. The album became available for preorder yesterday and will be available August 2. Many thanks to Alex, JP, Kristen, Amy and everyone at Def Jam, along with the artists and their representatives. The artwork appears on both artists' home pages — Kanye's kanyewest.com and Jay-Z's lifeandtimes.com as well as on Def Jam's official site.

This is Joe Zeff Design's second major album cover for Def Jam. The first, Ludacris' Battle of the Sexes, shot to No. 1 on the Billboard charts. No doubt Jay-Z and Kanye's new album will do the same — Jay has 11 No. 1 albums; Kanye's last five albums have debuted atop the charts.

They say good things happen in threes. Anybody have a number for Snoop? :-)

***

A limited number of tickets are still available for "These Guys Kick APPS" at the Helen Mills Theater, New York City, on Tuesday, July 26. The event is part of the Society of Publication Designers' Speakeasy series, and is sponsored by WoodWing.

Speakers include Mike Burgess of Seven, publishers of Project; Jochem Wijnands and Michel Elings of TRVL; and Joe Zeff of Joe Zeff Design, publisher of "Above & Beyond: George Steinmetz" and designer and developer of "The Final Hours of Portal 2."

Tickets here.