cds

Sole has spent the last two years living in a cabin in the midst of the Coconino National Forest in Arizona with no mayor, no phone lines, broken cell phone reception, just books and environmental canyon sprawl. I’ve spent a good portion of the last two years “figuring shit out.” Having sole’s rhymes handy certainly helped. Must be the plutonium in me.

Cabaret Voltaire - I always liked this cover.

Hard Format is a wonderful site dedicated to “reaching for the sublime in music design,” as curated by a couple of guys named Justin and Colin. The site is clearly a reflection of their personal tastes rather than a compendium of the standard “greatest album covers of all time,” which is what makes it so compelling. They also do a great job of photographing the pieces so you get a real sense of the packaging as a whole rather than just cover designs. I’ve personally never seen a lot of these sleeves and covers, nor have I heard of many of these musicians, so its a real treat to see such an array of great design. Click through the fold to see more images that stuck with me.

Hard Format

As a designer of cover art for films I often think about the differences between designing for films, as opposed to books and music. With a film there is a visual style, tone and story that is set by the director. With books there is a story that needs to be hinted at without giving away the ending.

With music (in general) there seems to be more of an opportunity for artistic interpretation and the artwork can work on its own or as an addendum to the music. As I look at a lot of the album art on Non Format I find myself looking at albums that I haven’t heard and trying to imagine what it sounds like. What the visuals tell me about the music. If there was one thing that I’d love for the fellas to add to the site it would be the ability to listen a track from each of the albums they profile, to see how the the music works with the visuals.

But mostly I just like this site because they include cassette tapes. And The Match Factory loves tapes.

Sum of R, The Vulture Club

Seaworthy – 1897, Map In Hand

Miles Davis - Tutu

Various – Until Human Voices Wake Us And We Drown

Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words