Blu Peter: Widescreen & Digital 1999, UK
The Velvet Underground: Andy Warhol 1967, USA, Silkscreen Print
The Designers Republic (tDR) is a graphic design studio, established in 1986, known for its “anti-establishment aesthetics.” Its album designs appear to celebrate consumerism and mimic the uniformity of corporate branding (e.g. Coca-Cola). In 1999, advances in tools of the trade like Adobe Photoshop allowed firms like tDR to produce covers with precisely manipulated images.
This 1967 album cover is notable for featuring an Andy Warhol silkscreen print. It has since become one of the most critically acclaimed rock albums in history, appearing at number thirteen on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.” The image has become iconic due to the album’s success and the lasting popularity of Andy Warhol.
This cover is a prime example of digital montage where identically sized images of calculators form a pattern of excessive repetition. The overall minimal aesthetic pays homage to web economy with a plain title centered over the digitized background.
When it was reissued as a compact disc in 1996, the silkscreen banana print remains the cover image. Given the visibility of the interior of the cases, the image of a peeled banana is incorporated beneath the CD.
Queen: The Miracle 1989, USA
Green Day: American Idiot 2004, USA
This cover utilized then cutting-edge image-manipulation technology to combine photographs of the four band members’ faces into a singular morphed image. The cover resonates with their decision to dispense with individual credits and simply present their music as the product of Queen the entity. The back cover went a step further with a seamless regiment of the bands’ eyes.
This was Green Day’s seventh studio album. The cover art and title reflects the politically tumultuous year of its 2004 release. The band’s name is displayed in white while the album title American Idiot is displayed in red. The centerpiece is a white hand holding a grenade in the shape of a heart, with blood dripping down the hand.
Courtesy of React Records
Courtesy of Capitol Records
As an omnipresent trend, musician portraits are experiencing a renewed status with the present iTunes age of tiny digital icons. This design remains very recognizable despite the downsizing, which is true of most portrait-style album covers.
Web Economy
The idea that the Internet promotes the excessive distribution of duplicate images. These images lose inherent value as the products of millions of pixels in this abstract, intangible realm.
Courtesy of Verve Records
Courtesy of Reprise Records
Throughout the last half-century, many bands have promoted peace and protested war, nuclear weapons, and political leaders via both their music and album art. However, barely legible on a 1-inch digital icon, message-filled imagery is nearly extinct.
Evolution
This design translates from large 12-inch record album scale to 1-inch digital icon scale and remains recognizable despite the downsizing.