Dissertation

CHAPTER 1
IMPORTANT RECORD COVERS
FROM 1960 TO THE PRESENT DAY
This chapter will discuss graphic styles between
1960 to the present. This, however, is not the
sole focus of the chapter as the social, political
and economic climate of the period, culture
and context are prevalent in understanding the
meaning of the covers. Other critical factors in
understanding the creation of the covers are why
the designers created them and understanding
the message of the musicians. In the book,
Looking Closer, authors Tibor Kalman, J. Abbott
Miller, and Karrie Jacobs (1994, 26) discuss in
the essay entitled Good History/Bad Design, that,
‘Visual literacy is important, but it isn’t everything.’
If the context of the artwork is not taken into
consideration then the visuals are merely an
exercise in style. Stefan Sagmeister (2012, 380)
stated this idea, simply as, ‘Style=fart’.
The visual aesthetic of an album cover can
represent the mood and movements of society
in a specific era. Album covers represent a lens in
which to see the society of the time. To evaluate
and understand graphic design and art direction
from 1960 to the present we must understand
the time period the artwork was created. Kalman,
Miller and Jacobs (1994, 27) stated, ‘...Each
[designed] artifact marks more than a place in
the progression of artistic sensibility. Each also
speaks eloquently of it’s social history... Our
aesthetic standards are different from these
of the past. What looks cool to us today may
have been embarrassing, regressive, offensive or
just run-of-the-mill in it’s own day. To look at an
artifact without knowing what they were in their
own time is to look into a vacuum.’ This quote
argues the importance of the artifact or in other
words, a record cover’s history. Graphic design
and art direction is directly affected by the
world around us, as it is a medium of expression.
The record covers that will be discussed
are record covers that are deemed important.
Important, meaning that they were significantly
popular in their society of their era and therefore
influential records of their time. These influential
records were recorded with musicians whom
are still significant today and have become iconic.
Many of the designers and musicians discussed
from past decades can still be seen in our visual
pop culture world today due to their importance.
These graphic designers and art director’s
visual landscape from previous eras are not
only reflected in their record covers but other
industries outside of the mainstream music
industry such as fashion, technological goods,
automobiles and many more. An example of
this is Peter Saville’s work for Joy Division and
New Order’s record artwork manifesting from
a music cover onto catwalks and car adverts.
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