The art of the album cover
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Why Vinyl Looks Better
You walk into a record store, and before you lies a sea of colors, images, typography. No small thumbnails, no anonymous lists – but real works of art made of cardboard and ink. Some records evoke memories, others make you curious. One thing is for sure: vinyl looks better . But why?
In this blog we dive into the world of album covers – the visual soul of a record – and why the format of vinyl is still unsurpassed. And on this blog page: The series Iconic album covers we also dive into the stories behind the most iconic album covers of all time!
From record cover to artwork
In the heyday of vinyl – roughly the 50s to the 80s – album covers were a fully-fledged art form . Artists, labels and designers knew: this is your first impression, your business card in the store. The cover had to stand out, intrigue, tell a story.
Iconic design studios like Hipgnosis (think: The Dark Side of the Moon ), Reid Miles ( Blue Note covers ), and artists like Andy Warhol ( The Velvet Underground & Nico ) brought image and music together into something you wanted to own – sometimes just for the cover. The record sleeve wasn’t packaging. It was an experience.
Why size matters
A vinyl cover is about 12 x 12 inches. That’s big enough to really make an impression. It feels like a fine art print – something you want to hold, look at, hang on your wall. Compare that to a streaming icon that’s about 240 pixels wide on streaming services. How much detail do you see in that illustration? How much attention do you give it?
With vinyl, the format invites attention. You see the details of a photo, the brushstroke of an illustration, the fine details in typography or collage. Some covers tell stories that you only discover when you really take the time and look at the details. And that fits perfectly with the character of vinyl: listening with attention .
Iconic covers you'll want to hang on your wall
There are thousands of brilliant album covers out there, but here are five classics that pop up again and again in art books and living rooms:
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Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon
Minimalistic, mysterious, recognizable. A prism, a beam of light – and a whole world of sound. -
The Velvet Underground & Nico – The Velvet Underground & Nico
Designed by Andy Warhol. Simple: a banana on a white background. But who knows, knows. (And yes, the original cover had a banana you could peel .) -
Miles Davis – Bitches Brew
A psychedelic painting by Mati Klarwein, full of symbolism, energy and chaos – just like the music. -
Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures
Black, sleek and dark. Those white pulse waves have become an icon in their own right. -
David Bowie – Aladdin Sane
The lightning, the look – one image that defined an entire generation.
On this blog page we will take you into the stories behind these and many more iconic album covers. We will post a new cover with its story every week.
The revival of cover design
Even now, in the new wave of vinyl, we see artists once again paying attention to their cover design . Labels are investing again in illustrators, photographers and designers who understand the importance of visual identity. Sometimes albums are even released with multiple cover versions, or as a gatefold, including posters, booklets or art prints. And rightly so: when you buy a record, you buy more than music. You buy atmosphere. Style. Imagination.
The experience of leaves
Finally, a cover should be something you can hold . You want to leaf through bins, search with your eyes, be surprised by an image you didn’t know. And then suddenly – a cover that grabs you. You may not know the band, but you have to know what it sounds like.
That magic – of discovery, of wonder – is lost when you scroll. But with vinyl it is still alive, in every record store and in every shelf of LPs.
What's your favorite album cover of all time? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check out our Iconic Album Covers series where we feature a different iconic album cover every week!
