Album cover art is often considered to be one of the "extincted" fields in modern graphics design. In times when digital copies are cheaper and quicker to get, album covers have somehow lost their importance as less and less customers actually buy CDs and LPs in the stores. That's a pity because album covers can be extremely expressive and convey the message of the album in a number of creative ways. This post attempts to prove exactly that.
Music and art go hand in hand. And the best way to get a potential buyers' attention is with an eye catching album cover. We all know you can't just judge a book by it's cover but it doesn't hurt to give a CD a spin based off a sexy piece of art.
Below we present 35 excellent examples of beautiful, creative and impressive album covers that will certainly inspire you to head down to the local record shop and start browsing through records and labels. We have tried to address various cover designs and present both CD covers and LP covers from 60s to 2000s, however some excellent album covers are definitely missing. Please let us know about them in the comments to the post!
By Ashley Ringrose and Smashing Editorial Team
Album cover art is often considered to be one of the “extincted” fields in modern graphics design. In times when digital copies are cheaper and quicker to get, album covers have somehow lost their importance as less and less customers actually buy CDs and LPs in the stores. That’s a pity because album covers can be extremely expressive and convey the message of the album in a number of creative ways. This post attempts to prove exactly that.
Music and art go hand in hand. And the best way to get a potential buyers’ attention is with an eye catching album cover. We all know you can’t just judge a book by it’s cover but it doesn’t hurt to give a CD a spin based off a sexy piece of art.
Below we present 35 excellent examples of beautiful, creative and impressive album covers that will certainly inspire you to head down to the local record shop and start browsing through records and labels. We have tried to address various cover designs and present both CD covers and LP covers from 60s to 2000s, however some excellent album covers are definitely missing. Please let us know about them in the comments to the post!
Album Covers
Michael Jackson: Dangerous by Mark Ryden
Devil’s Gun - Raising The Beast
Smashing Pumpkins: Zeitgeist by Shepard Fairey
Keane: Under The Iron Sea by Sanna Annukka
Kisschasy: United Paper People by Debaser
Editors: The End Has a Start by Idris Khan
Ground Components: An Eye for a Brow, A Tooth for a Pick by Jonathan Zawada
“Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt” - Three Wise Monkeys
A Tops For Tots 78 record. “See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil.”
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon 1973
Gallows: In The Belly of a Shark by Dan Mumford
The Last Goodnight - Poison Kiss
Pink Floyd - The Division Bell
Rafale: Rock It, Don’t Stop It by Akroe
Guns N’ Roses - Appetite for Destruction
The Rolling Stones - Flashpoint
Genji Siraisi: Censorsh!t by Razauno
VHS Orbeta - Bring On The Comets
The Cribs - Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever
Queens Of The Stone Age: Era Vulgaris by Morning Breath Inc
Last Click
The World’s First Album Cover
Alex Steinwess, a then 23 years old designer, convinced Columbia’s suits to create the first true album cover. Until then, 78s were sold in generic sleeves. Please notice that there is the word “smash” on the cover.
About the author
Ashley Ringrose is better known as Mr Truffle and editor of Sleevage a music design blog. He occasionally plays with Mr Potatoheads and dresses up in costumes. He is also a founding member of Soap Creative an Australian based digital agency.
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