Research - Album Sleeves: Research into minimalistic album covers

Storm Thorgerson

Storm Thorgerson was an English graphic designer born in Middlesex, known for his work on rock album sleeves. Perhaps most well-known for his close work with prog-rock band Pink Floyd and their album sleeves. Thorgerson founded the art design group 'Hipgnosis' and continued to work with Pink Floyd under this label; though the group dissolved in 1983, Thorgerson continued to work on album sleevs and music videos until his death in 2013.

• Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

This iconic cover was designed by art design group Hipgnosis, with Storm Thorgerson as creative director. Record label, EMI, were initially skeptical with Storm's previous album sleeve designs (Atom Heart Mother and Obscured by Clouds) because of Storm's decision to go against the traditional design conventions of the album name, band name and a picture of the band being at the forefront of the sleeve. However, since Thorgerson was directly employed by the band, he was able to disregard such criticisms. Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright instructed Thorgerson to design a sleeve that was 'neat and clean'. The contemporary sleeve design was said to be inspired by three primary factors: the band's vivid stage lighting and effects, the album's lyrics and Wright's request for a clean design. This album sleeve is heavily regarded as one of the greatest and recognizable of all time, due to its striking and memorable nature. I think this album cover is effective because of the simplistic, conceptual design. I believe the juxtaposition of the bright colors against the black background would appeal to the audience as it becomes a very striking, memorable. I envision my digipak cover to have a similar simplicity, whilst still remaining an abstract piece of graphic design. The contemporary nature of the album cover is appealing and inspiring to me because I would like the audience to see the cover as a separate expression of art to the music itself.

• Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures

Another iconic cover, Unknown Pleasures was designed by artist Peter Saville. The design of the cover itself is based on the first radio pulsar discovered; the exact same picture can be seen in a Cambridge encyclopedia, with the colors reversed. Again, I feel like I take inspiration from this album sleeve because of its minimalistic tone. Furthermore, the direct contrast of the colors is very striking to the audience. I particularly like the solid black coloring to add to the minimalistic tone of the cover. I plan to take inspiration from this cover through the use of few colors and a striking symbol, dead center in the cover.

• The Beatles - The White Album

Perhaps the most minimalistic album cover ever, The White Album, designed by Richard Hamilton and Paul McCartney, is a white sleeve with the band name embossed upon the cover with the serial number below. In stark contrast to how vivid Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was, The White Album's plain white sleeve is still recognized as one of the greatest album sleeve ever. Similar to Unknown Pleasures, I plan to draw inspiration from this cover through the use of minimalistic covers, thus creating a simple conceptual design.

• The xx - Coexist

Though not critically acclaimed for its design like the previous covers, The xx's Coexist has a very minimalistic, conceptual design that includes the big X that is symbolic of the band. For inspiration, I plan to take ideas from the large symbol in the middle of the cover that is iconic for the band. No band name, but an icon that lets the consumer know who the band is.