Album Covers

The fact that the digital revolution has vastly expanded the field and offered a wealth of new media opportunities for practitioners is a staple of contemporary graphic design history. Too often, however, the accompanying loss of old media platforms is glossed over in a relentless celebration of the present. Album covers serve as a great example of this phenomenon. Once the hippest, hottest design space that anyone could wish for, their storied history barely registers with many contemporary designers and student-designers. In a classroom context, album covers can offer the instructor a chance to let students handle something tangible and get a real sense of its materiality amidst the steady steam of digital images. Check out garage sales, flea markets, or even ebay and find examples of iconic covers such as Peter Blake's Sgt. Peppers cover, Andy Warhol's Rolling Stones cover, or even the infamous Boston album art directed by Paula Scher. Then, pass them around the class and let students get better acquainted with a medium that once made designer's pulses quicken!