#1930857 - 09/25/24 03:16 AM
What's your favorite Album Cover? The art, the photo, the design
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Deeper
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Registered: 08/28/01
Posts: 259
Loc: Too close to Nashville
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A Trick of the Tail by Genesis. Here's why.
I worked as a graphic designer for 20-odd years, and this gatefold album cover art still knocks me dead. Unlike most album covers, it is a two-tone cover printed inside and out -- all four "faces" of the gatefold! -- with only 2 inks, not the typical CMYK 4-color printing that 99.9% of covers make use of. The choice of the colors shows impeccable taste and restraint. The album cover has a beautiful unity and harmony because of the restrained used of color.
The artwork, the title, and the logo are in a sepiatone ink (that was popular in 19th century printings) over top of a cream-yellow background. Black ink would have been too jarring, but the sepia is just dark enough to stand out while still blending with the cream-colored background. The creamy background color acts as a substitute for white. It's warm and inviting, where white would have been harsh and cold.
The cover art is (are?) drawings of the characters in all the songs! Drawn in a humorous but antiquated style like you would find in an old book like Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland (which was written in the 19th century)! The character drawings give the cover a storybook quality that perfectly matches the music inside -- and that's what good album design is all about, right?
The characters are lined up along both front and back covers in a row like they are standing on the same ground. But there's no ground! Only a lot of what designer's call "white space" even though, in this case, it's not white, it's cream color. "White space" always imparts a "classy" quality, and it sure succeeds here. And what a classy version of the Genesis logo! And on the back cover, the song titles are listed in a perfectly chosen storybook kind of font.
Inside, with all the wonderful lyrics printed in the same delicious storybook font, the credits for the album cover name Hipgnosis / Colin Elgie. Unlike most album covers, there is no space spent on fan-photos of egotistical rock stars.
Album covers just don't get any classier than this.
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#1930860 - 09/25/24 03:45 AM
Re: What's your favorite Album Cover? The art, the photo, the design
[Re: C Jo Go]
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Webster
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Registered: 02/15/07
Posts: 18069
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DSOTM is kinda iconic.
Zeppelin IV and Houses of the Holy are both very cool.
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#1930861 - 09/25/24 03:54 AM
Re: What's your favorite Album Cover? The art, the photo, the design
[Re: Webster]
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Deeper
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Registered: 08/28/01
Posts: 259
Loc: Too close to Nashville
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Yeah, Dark Side of the Moon was designed by Hipgnosis, too! But not Colin Elgie. Hipgnosis were a team of designers who did most of the coolest album covers of the late sixties and seventies. You have to look 'em up on Wikipedia to be amazed by all they did!
Another stunning designer and painter of album covers was Roger Dean. He did all of the iconic covers of the Yes albums. But even better, he did the cover of Osibisa and he did the covers of a couple Uriah Heep albums, Demons & Wizards and The Magician's Birthday, which surpassed even his Yes covers! His forte wasn't the graphic design and choice of fonts, but rather the layout and design of his paintings, executed in bold, flat colors ... which makes them great for huge posters to hang on your wall!
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#1930863 - 09/25/24 04:06 AM
Re: What's your favorite Album Cover? The art, the photo, the design
[Re: Webster]
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Deeper
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Registered: 08/28/01
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Loc: Too close to Nashville
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Zeppelin IV and Houses of the Holy are both very cool.
Oh yeah! Led Zeppelin's first four albums and Physical Graffiti all had superbly designed covers.
You gotta love the phallic symbolism of Led Zep I, which makes an awesome "rock band" statement.
Young me used to like twirling the wheel on Led Zep III. But my favorite Led Zep cover was Physical Graffiti. I had the original version, with real windows, and when you slid the inner sleeve around, you got different faces in the windows.
That original album sleeve has sold on ebay for $500-$600 in mint condition. Later releases of Physical Graffiti did not have real windows.
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#1930864 - 09/25/24 04:10 AM
Re: What's your favorite Album Cover? The art, the photo, the design
[Re: Deeper]
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Deeper
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Registered: 08/28/01
Posts: 259
Loc: Too close to Nashville
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One album cover I hated was The Rolling Stones'"Sticky Fingers." Yes, it was too macho for my tastes. But what irked me was the real zipper(!) that scratched up every other album cover it came in contact with!
A real zipper!
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#1931245 - 09/26/24 02:13 PM
Re: What's your favorite Album Cover? The art, the photo, the design
[Re: Deeper]
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Deeper
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Registered: 08/28/01
Posts: 259
Loc: Too close to Nashville
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What? Nobody else wants to share their favorite album cover?
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#1931257 - 09/26/24 02:39 PM
Re: What's your favorite Album Cover? The art, the photo, the design
[Re: Deeper]
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calypso
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#1931259 - 09/26/24 02:45 PM
Re: What's your favorite Album Cover? The art, the photo, the design
[Re: calypso]
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TAPKAE
The Artist Presently Known As Ed
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Spinal Tap Smell the Glove.
_________________________
The Artist Presently Known As Ed _ Need a second opinion or input on your recording? Troubleshooting a mix? Get in touch for a 1:1 Discord chat! https://discord.gg/DCDjZUfb2E
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#1931260 - 09/26/24 02:47 PM
Re: What's your favorite Album Cover? The art, the photo, the design
[Re: TAPKAE]
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fabulousthunderbird
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Registered: 07/17/11
Posts: 27606
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Disraeli Gears...
_________________________
Fighting political fires with fire for 23 years...
I am fonts
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#1931263 - 09/26/24 02:52 PM
Re: What's your favorite Album Cover? The art, the photo, the design
[Re: calypso]
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Deeper
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Registered: 08/28/01
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Loc: Too close to Nashville
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Oh yes, Calypso! That one is gorgeous! Do you know that woman was way pregnant at the time of the photo? And they were able to hide it behind the white blanket and shaving cream.
The varied shading of the background color has the perfect amount of variation to keep from being boring (like a flat color would be) but it doesn't vary so much that it distracts from the girl.
The background is most likely a huge sheet of canvas in the photographer's studio that he used for many photos of many different people. Most pro photographers back then (and maybe still?) would have various sheets of loosely-painted backgrounds that they would roll down like curtains, finding the right one for different sessions.
The graphic designer chose fonts that were exciting (but still readable) for the title of the album and logo. This album came out during the era when record companies felt the need to list the songs on the front of the dang album cover, or else I'm sure the designer wouldn't have put them there.
The designer also chose the perfect flat green color for those fonts, to complement the background color. That was not so easy to do in those days. Nowadays designers just use the "eyedropper tool" in Photoshop to scoop up a couple pixels of background color and assign it to the fonts.
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#1931265 - 09/26/24 03:01 PM
Re: What's your favorite Album Cover? The art, the photo, the design
[Re: Deeper]
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MadGuitrst
Offender Of Senses
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Registered: 06/10/99
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I like a lot of Yes' album covers by Roger Dean.
I like Led Zeppelin III and Cheap Thrills by Big Brother and the Holding Company (basically, things to peruse in the old days while getting buzzed).
_________________________
“When your 'education' limits your imagination, it is called indoctrination.” -Feynman
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#1931283 - 09/26/24 03:57 PM
Re: What's your favorite Album Cover? The art, the photo, the design
[Re: MadGuitrst]
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Timster
Artist #'s - 130, 298, 412
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I love the album cover for "houses of the holy" Have been fascinated with it from the very beginning.
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#1931286 - 09/26/24 04:03 PM
Re: What's your favorite Album Cover? The art, the photo, the design
[Re: Timster]
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moontan
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Registered: 04/16/99
Posts: 32341
Loc: Sol III
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I love the album cover for "houses of the holy" Have been fascinated with it from the very beginning.
it's based on one of Arthur C. Clarke story, where the children become a new specie with advanced psychic powers.
i think it was "Childhood's End", if i recall.
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#1931294 - 09/26/24 04:33 PM
Re: What's your favorite Album Cover? The art, the photo, the design
[Re: moontan]
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Mooseboy
That's "MR. Asshole" to you, buddy!
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Registered: 04/24/99
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#1931301 - 09/26/24 04:52 PM
Re: What's your favorite Album Cover? The art, the photo, the design
[Re: Mooseboy]
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Deeper
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Registered: 08/28/01
Posts: 259
Loc: Too close to Nashville
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Yes, Disraeli Gears is a true classic album cover! A pen and ink drawing, with a B&W photo snipped out and glued in.
Then all were colored in with Dr. Martin's Transparent Dyes (they have more "pop" -- intensity -- than any inks, oils, gouache, watercolor, acrylic, or oils).
The title is hand-lettered in a rather crappy way, but it fits the rest of the album.
This album came out a few months after Sgt. Pepper, and every rock band for a year after Sgt. Pepper were trying to match or beat the psychedelic Sgt. Pepper cover. Like the Stones', Their Satanic Majesties Request.
Bold color was extremely important during that era, after leaving behind the era of drab album covers with boring photos and lists of songs on the front. The Dr. Martin's Dyes make this Cream album more vibrant than all the others.
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#1931302 - 09/26/24 04:53 PM
Re: What's your favorite Album Cover? The art, the photo, the design
[Re: Deeper]
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Deeper
Planeteer
Registered: 08/28/01
Posts: 259
Loc: Too close to Nashville
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Where are you guys finding these album cover images to post online?
Please teach me how to do it.
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#1931322 - 09/26/24 06:19 PM
Re: What's your favorite Album Cover? The art, the photo, the design
[Re: Deeper]
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Alan
Member of the DNA (National Dyslexic Association)
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Registered: 01/30/00
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Loc: Sauchie, Scotland, UK
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I liked pink floyd relics. Use to spend hours looking at the detail.
The album cover that most and always drew my interest was the album from Blind Faith. The young naked lassie holding a silver model airliner. I seen that in shops all the way from childhood to adulthood and only listened to it for the first time about 10 years ago.
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#1931691 - 09/28/24 12:47 PM
Re: What's your favorite Album Cover? The art, the photo, the design
[Re: C Jo Go]
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Deeper
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Registered: 08/28/01
Posts: 259
Loc: Too close to Nashville
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The one that stood out the most in the racks at the record store -- remember you had no idea what LP's sounded like til ya got it home
When I was 14, In The Court Of The Crimson King was the scariest album cover I'd ever seen. It scared me away from buying the record because I thought it might sound like the album cover looked.
Years later, when I became a big fan of progressive rock, I finally dared to buy this album. Found out I was right -- it [was] scary music. By then I was old enough to appreciate it.
I have to say, I don't think it's a well-executed cover. I think it's poorly colored, with mostly midtones and not enough darks, and the layout of the art isn't balanced.
To me eyes, it looks a lot like it was painted by a teenager in high school art class, possibly a friend of the band. I'm not saying that as an insult. Just noting that my peers in my high school art class did paintings a lot like that. Teenagers have so much angst, and angst is quite apparent in that King Crimson cover.
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#1931740 - 09/28/24 03:32 PM
Re: What's your favorite Album Cover? The art, the photo, the design
[Re: Deeper]
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HARDDRlVER
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Registered: 02/26/10
Posts: 1854
Loc: Austin TX.
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As a kid, possibly Rubber Soul.
In later years Brain Salad Surgery.
The artistry matched the music perfectly.
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#1931810 - 09/28/24 09:42 PM
Re: What's your favorite Album Cover? The art, the photo, the design
[Re: HARDDRlVER]
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Deeper
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Registered: 08/28/01
Posts: 259
Loc: Too close to Nashville
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Rubber Soul is one of my favorites, too, despite the goofy psychedelic hand-lettering of the title, and the weird choice to color it orange. That could have been handled better. However, can you see how the designer fit it into the empty corner of the photo to balance out the composition?
Supposedly the photographer was showing the Beatles a bunch of photos he'd taken, and this one accidentally slipped and tilted back in the projector, distorting the projection. Lennon jumped on the effect -- "That's it!!!"
I love this cover because of the "warmth." I don't know if the photographer used a brown filter over their lens, or if its just the brown in their leather jackets.
But it was the warmest cover of its time. Have you seen Badfinger's "Straight Up" cover, Harddriver? Same warm cover, similar brown leather jackets, and looks even more like they used a brown or dark red acetate filter on the lens, to augment their red hair. I think the photographer who did this Badfinger album was clearly imitating Rubber Soul.
Something else I notice in the Rubber Soul cover is the green highlights in the Beatles' hair. This may just be the sunlight reflecting the trees around them.
I like how the only Beatle looking at the camera (looking at us!) is Lennon. The photo was taken with the camera lower than their faces, which makes it look like Lennon is looking down at us, like he knows something that we don't!
Lennon also looks stoned. Rubber Soul? They were probably all high on wacky weed. But honestly, this is the way Lennon's eyes looked whenever he took off his glasses.
If you want to see Lennon tripping his nuts off on LSD, look at the footage shot for Magical Mystery Tour of all four Beatles dressed in white, dancing down the white staircase to "Your Mother Should Know." If you've never done LSD, you won't recognize Lennon's smile. But if you're an experienced cosmic traveler, you will know that smile anywhere!
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#1931814 - 09/28/24 09:50 PM
Re: What's your favorite Album Cover? The art, the photo, the design
[Re: Deeper]
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RGR
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Registered: 03/12/04
Posts: 24401
Loc: UK
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Deep Purples Stormbringer
When I first saw it I got a sheet of paper and a pencil and copied it really accurately in black and white, I was dunno how young ..14 maybe...
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#1932232 - 09/30/24 02:12 PM
Re: What's your favorite Album Cover? The art, the photo, the design
[Re: RGR]
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Deeper
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Registered: 08/28/01
Posts: 259
Loc: Too close to Nashville
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Other than the stunning graphic design of Led Zeppelin III, and Physical Graffiti, I've never liked gimmicky album covers.
I mentioned before my hatred for that real zipper on Sticky Fingers that mars every album cover it rubs against. (Did the Stones wish to call the album STINKY Fingers, and get blocked by the Record label? Cos the record label blocked them on a couple other things I could mention...)
Other gimmicky album covers that don't impress me:
Alice Cooper's Muscle of Love, which came with a pair of girl's panties on the outside, beneath the cellophane wrap.
Raspberries' second album, Fresh Raspberries, which came with a scratch-and-sniff that smelled like raspberries. (More like strawberries).
Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake, by the Small Faces, came in a COMPLETELY ROUND album cover, which the idiot-designer must have thought was clever. But being round, it kept rolling off your shelf, and failed to protect the vinyl, which kept rolling out of it. Big FAIL here...
Which gimmick covers have I missed?
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