Swimming

The cover of Swimming shows Mac Miller sitting on the floor of a small box-like room set in an empty white space, legs stretched out, feet bare and eyes closed. A window is cut into the wall behind him. The photograph was taken by Christian Weber, a photographer born in Cincinnati and raised in Florida, whose agency lists the image as one of his best-known works.

The album dealt with heartbreak, depression and the effort to keep going, and the cover gives that a physical shape. Mac looks tired and still, boxed in, with an opening to the world just behind him. Fans have pored over the picture for references to his earlier records. Around the release, the designer Todd Hippensteel created a small scuba diver character for the album's campaign, an image of going under and coming back up that matched the title.

Mac Miller died a few weeks after the album came out, and the cover took on a weight no one had planned. The diver remained his social media avatar and became one of the most recognisable symbols of his work. The posthumous companion album Circles followed in 2020, and both records were later collected in the Swimming in Circles vinyl box set with photographs from the sessions. Swimming was released on 3 August 2018.