album cover design

[low_delta]

The following is what appears on the cover of XTC's album, Go 2.

"This is a [place album format here in all capitals] COVER. This writing is the DESIGN upon the [place album format here] cover. The DESIGN is to help SELL the [place album format here]. We hope to draw your attention to it and encourage you to pick it up. When you have done that maybe you'll be persuaded to listen to the music - in this case XTC's Go 2 album. Then we want you to BUY it. The idea being that the more of you that buy this [place album format here] the more money [place record company here], the manager Ian Reid and XTC themselves will make. To the aforementioned this is known as PLEASURE. A good cover DESIGN is one that attracts morebuyers and gives more pleasure. This writing is trying to pull you in much like an eye-catching picture. It is designed to get you to READ IT. This is called luring the VICTIM, and you are the VICTIM. But if you have a free mind you should STOP READING NOW! because all we are attempting to do is to get you to read on. Yet this is a DOUBLE BIND because if you indeed stop you'll be doing what we tell you, and if you read on you'll be doing what we've wanted all along. And the more you read on the more you're falling for this simple device of telling you exactly how a good commercial design works. They're TRICKS and this is the worst TRICK of all since it's describing the TRICK whilst trying to TRICK you, and if you've read this far then you're TRICKED but you wouldn't have known this unless you'd read this far. At least we're telling you directly instead of seducing you with a beautiful or haunting visual that may never tell you. We're letting you know that you ought to buy this [place album format here] because in essence it's a PRODUCT and PRODUCTS are to be consumed and you are a consumer and this is a good PRODUCT. We could have written the band's name in special lettering so that it stood out and you'd see it before you'd read any of this writing and possibly have bought it anyway. What we are really suggesting is that you are FOOLISH to buy or not buy an album merely as a consequence of the design on its cover. This is a con because if you agree then you'll probably like this writing - which is the cover design - and hence the album inside. But we've just warned you against that. The con is a con. A good cover design could be considered as one that gets you to buy the [place album format here], but that never actually happens to YOU because YOU know it's just a design for the cover. And this is the [place album format here in all capitals] COVER."

The actual format of the release was in place of the words "[place album format here...]"

Comments

[zaecus.livejournal.com]

Have you heard that vinyl is making a comeback? I have, and I ask because I have some friends who haven't stopped lamenting the loss of vinyl, particularly singles as they got harder to find, and I was wondering if this was likely to be just a fad or something with some staying power that might actually bring vinyl back until a better replacement actually comes along.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

It's been making a comeback ever since about 1992. :-D It's still around. They still make LPs. You have to look for them, and sometimes they're only available as imports. And since people continue to get rid of their old LPs, you can always find decent used records (if you look).

I don't think it's going to gain much momentum, though, because digital sound quality keeps getting better. The average CD of today sounds ten times better than the CD of 1988 did. And they're still developing and improving alternate digital formatst, like SACD and DVD Audio. I don't forsee any big change in digital formats, though, beyond portable music players, like ipods. Increases in storage capacity are all that can really have much of an effect on sound quality.

[cynnerth.livejournal.com]

*L* I like that.

[the-99th-aisle.livejournal.com]

That's brilliant! It reminds me of the "deconstructionist music video" for the song Stitches by Orgy (Click here to watch the video!) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHSwaEPIHs4). Only the record cover idea is more clever. Cleverer. More clever. Must be 'cause they're British.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Cool.

Must be. The cover was designed by Hipgnosis (the ones who did all those Floyd and Led Zep covers).

[rdsc.livejournal.com]

I remember reading this when I was wee! Strange to think how odd it looked against "Animals" or "2112" or whatever. I lost track of them after "Big Express" which (gulp) was more than 20 years ago. "This world over" is on that and it's a lovely track - probably in my top 20.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

I didn't become familiar with XTC until the late 80s. And not very familiar even then. I had no idea they had been around for that long already.

Hipgnosis did the cover. The same group who did Animals.