Filed under: Inspiration, Lifestyle, Music, Uncategorized | Tags: album art, albums, Music, vinyl
It’s that time again. Wow, what a crazy week. Deadlines have been catching up with me, with deadlines along the way to even larger deadlines. So, that called for lots of work time which translates to a lot of different music. Here’s some of the most popular picks for this week. Some of the albums are for pure nostaliga since I’m fastly approaching a pretty big milestone in my life. Others are there for their raw energy that helps keep me up and going through the long hours. I’ve also been visiting my neighbor more often these days and borrowing his player to listen to some of my vinyl. Oh, and there seems to be a monster theme this week. Here we go, top to bottom:
The Cure – Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me.
Dr. Hook – Pleasure and Pain. Awesome album art.
Garbage – Version 2.0.
Heart – Dreamboat Annie
Guns N’ Roses – Chinese Democracy
Social Distortion – Mommy’s Little Monster
Iggy and the Stooges – Raw Power (how appropriate)
Holland – Little Monsters
Filed under: Design, Inspiration, Music, Patterns | Tags: Color, Patterns, record sleeves, records, retro, sleeve design, vintage, vinyl
Image courtesy Jeff Hamada
More vinyl design stuff from yours truly. These vintage sleeves feature brightly colored, retro patterns. I loved them as soon as I saw them. I also love the blog that I found them on. It’s called Boooooom (that’s right, exactly 7 Os) featuring the design work of one Jeff Hamada. His header is charming; the art of Betsy Walton. as are the multi-colored links all leading out to quirky, fun artwork, design, and other oddities.
Filed under: Art, Collage, Design, Music, Photos | Tags: album, album art, Collage, concpetual, Dead Kennedys, Plastic Surgery Disasters, records, vinyl
Sleeve concept - Jello Biafra. Photo by me.
My neighbor has a huge collection of vinyl and one of my favorite things to do over at his place is to sift through all the great album designs. There’s such a timeless quality to vinyl it ceases to become obsolete – ever wonder why no one collects cassette tapes? Records crack and break very easily, yet some people still snatch them up. I think the album art has a lot to do with this. Vinyl cases, measuring approximately twelve and one quarter inches all the way around, feature large scale artwork on the front and back, and often include an insert with pages and pages of continuous art. I don’t use my dad’s record player anymore since I moved out but I still took all my vinyl with me and display them on my wall like a collection of prints.
The Dead Kennedys’ Plastic Surgery Disasters is one of those instances. I pulled the record out and what came along with it was a book full of collage design. I was mesmerized for a good thirty minutes just flipping through and reading all of the random Dada-esque words, phrases, and photos. Vinyl is what inspired me to look into CD design years ago, which ultimately led me to the pursuit of Graphic Design. I love the concept of creating an image or a theme representative of a group of artists and their vision and carrying that theme throughout an album, using pictures and type as emotional and mental cues as to the message behind their music.
Do you collect vinyl? Is there any particular reason why?
Photos: Mike Wells and Charles Gatewood
DK and Alternative Tentacles logos: Winston Smith
Michelle Clark Graphic Design 