HERMOSA BEACH, Calif. — Black Flag founder Greg Ginn revealed that the band’s next album will feature artwork by his nephew Ben, sources in the boy’s Fortnite Discord confirm.
“I wanted to inject fresh energy into the newest incarnation of Black Flag. That’s why I brought in some talented young collaborators,” said Ginn while waiting to pick up his new bassist from soccer practice. “We’ve nearly got enough material for an album now, so I figured we better get going on the artwork. I was thinking of who I could ask to take on the job, when it struck me: Who better to do it than my little nephew Ben? He’s a whiz at computers and art. You should see the Skibidi Toilets that he draws on his tablet.”
This isn’t the first time Ginn has tapped a very young person to create artwork for the band.
“Greg approached me to do the cover for ‘What The…’ back in 2013 after he saw some doodles of ‘South Park’ characters on my notebook. I was only 11 at the time and had never even heard of Black Flag,” said Charlie Finn, now 24. “He basically told me to draw Eric Cartman with a mohawk. I presented him with a rough sketch and he went ahead and used it for the actual artwork. He paid me with a few packs of Pokémon cards, which I thought was cool at the time but now seems pretty exploitative. I opted not to work with him again when he got in touch recently.”
Graphic designer Sue McIntyre says Ginn’s behavior represents a threat to her industry.
“Everyone is talking about how AI is taking designers’ jobs,” said McIntyre. “But that’s only the latest assault on the profession. Greg Ginn is engaging in a much older method of devaluing our work: nepotism. A real designer would be able to create something timeless and classy for a fair price—but Ginn is cheaping out. He used to depend on his brother, Raymond Pettibon, who created Black Flag’s most iconic imagery, but at some point Pettibon must’ve realized he was being taken advantage of. So now Ginn relies on what amounts to child labor.”
At press time, Ginn had reportedly approved his nephew’s first draft of the new cover art which featured a crude rendering of a skanking Sonic the Hedgehog.