The woman who shaped the look of Aja
Patti Mitsui on the iconic cover design of Steely Dan's 1977 album
Without Patti Mitsui, the Aja we know and love would not exist.
Oz Studios, the company she ran with Geoff Westen (former guitarist for California garage-psych outfit the Other Half), was tapped to art direct the cover of Steely Dan’s 1977 jazz-rock tour de force. Next to photographer Hideki Fujii’s enigmatic shot of Japanese supermodel Sayoko Yamaguchi in a kimono, Mitsui added a literal masterstroke: the striking red calligraphic letters of the album’s title.
Despite shaping the look of one of the most iconic covers in rock history, Mitsui remains unfamiliar to even the most fervent Danfans. For some three decades, she’s worked largely in public relations and has stayed close to a group of publicists, marketers, artists, and photographers who came up together in the vibrant 1970s West Coast music industry.
Over email she agreed to answer questions about the making of Aja’s cover. The following interview is lightly edited for clarity and condensed from two correspondences.