Cover art photographed by Joel Brodsky featureing model Barbara Cheeseborough.© 1971 Westbound Records. Photographed by Joel Brodsky featuring iconic 60s and 70s model Barbara Cheeseborough, it’s a menacing image that foreshadows the tone of the album. My dad has this record on vinyl (sorry, I’m mentioning vinyl yet again) and the visual of the cover art is forever etched in my mind. © 1982 RCA Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. It’s literally a piece of pop art! ‘Silk Electric’ by Diana Ross. This album is no exception with cover art by Andy Warhol. She’s worked with art titans from Victor Skrebneski to photographer Francesco Scavullo to bring her album covers to life. Ross is the “boss.” To be honest, no one is seeing Miss Ross in the album cover department. I also have this beauty on vinyl - I promise I won’t say vinyl again - and it’s a reason why Ms. © 2012 Terrible Records Diana Ross- ‘silk electric’ I like it so much because it brings to mind the minimalist work of famed Argentine-Italian painter, Lucio Fontana. After its unveiling in early 2017, Krule asked fans to submit their own version cover even starting an Instagram page for the submissions. Taken by King Krule himself, it exudes simplistic DIY energy. This album cover is incredibly minimalist showing an airplane drifting through a cloudless sky during at sunset, with thick contrails steaming along behind it. © 2010 UMG Records ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West. ‘ My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasyby Kanye West. The album acts as a gallery with a cut out designed to change out the cover image at your discretion. Condo painted various different caricatures and scenes for a full album experience. For Kanye’s fifth studio album, he and his design studio, DONDA, collaborated with contemporary surrealist artist, George Condo for a full deck of album covers. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is the stuff of album design legend honestly. When we talk about quality packaging and design, memorable cover art, iconic imagery, we needn’t look any further than this album. Kanye West- My beautiful dark twisted fantasy rhinestones, glitter, flock, acrylic and oil on wood panel, 96 x 144 inches © Mickalene Thomas. © 2012 Terrible Records Mickalene Thomas, ‘Racquel Reclining Wearing Purple Jumpsuit’, 2016. The cover is designed in the signature style of Thomas, with a mix of fabric, prints and images within images. For her 2012 EP, True, she collaborated with esteemed contemporary artist and collagist, Mickalene Thomas. © 2017 Universal Music New Zealand Ltd solange- trueĪesthetic queen of cool Solange Knowles is known for her discerning taste and eye for quality design. Drawn by Brooklyn-based artist Sam McKinniss, it’s a beautiful impressionist rendering of the singer, very much in the style of French Post-Impressionist masters Paul Gauguin and Vincent Van Gogh. The cover art reflects the music perfectly. Lorde’s sophomore album, Melodrama, was a moody, emo-pop experience that took you through all the feels. © 2016 Domino Recording Co Ltd lorde- melodrama Not only is this one of the most beautifully poetic albums I’ve ever heard but the album art itself slaps! The cover image is a piece by world renowned image maker and 2020 Hugo Boss Prize recipient, Deana Lawson titled Binky and Tony Forever, 2009. Get into some of my favorite album cover art below: blood Orange- Freetown Sound I realized a standout album cover can take an album from being great to iconic. I started collecting albums - not only for the music but the cover art. As I would search through these crates, I truly found even more of an appreciation for album packaging and design. I bought a record player and suddenly going to my local record shop on Saturdays and diving through the bins, searching for gems became self-care. This past year, I recently got into vinyl - I know, I know, I’m now that pretentious guy who talks about how everything sounds better this way, which is true. Just like you love that signature green Bottega Veneta box or that aesthetically pleasing Boy Smells candle box, we know that packaging and design matter. I know the saying goes don’t judge a book by it’s cover, but an album cover definitely speaks for itself - even before you put that record on.
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