Album packaging design is fast becoming a dying art now that acquiring music is just a mouse-click away. And as someone who used to design cd sleeves for a living, this saddens me because back in the day, eye-catching covers played a huge role in making sure that records are noticed and eventually purchased. I believe that having a tangible work of art in front of you can increase the enjoyment of the overall listening experience and I ‘m sure you’ll agree that there’s nothing quite as pleasurable as poring through the pages of a fresh-off-the-press, beautifully-designed album sleeve while the corresponding music plays in the background.

So now I present to you five creative album covers that have inspired designers like me to think out-of-the-box when creating album art. I hope that we get to see more efforts in producing gems like these despite the progression of the digital age.

1.

Pearl Jam’s Vitalogy – The package itself is a card stock-bound booklet made to look like a vintage medical volume from the 1920s. This theme continues throughout inside via layouts containing chicken-scratch scribbles and page scans of the said book. Despite the fact that the cover is an almost-exact duplicate of the original medical book’s cover (see comparison below), we have to remember that his album was released in 1994 and so I consider it “groundbreaking” in that it was the first of its kind to break out of the usual plastic jewel case + accordion sleeve/booklet formula. (Art director: Joel Zimmerman)

2.

Ryuichi Sakamoto’s Sweet Revenge – I love the striking canary yellow-on-blue image and the unapologetic simplicity of the cover layout. When you open the case, you will see more of the same vibrant photography on loose-leaf cards that contain playfully-arranged lyrics on the underside. (Art director: Robert Bergman)

3.

Smashing Pumpkins’ Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness – This is an excellent example of music and sleeve art working together to create symbiosis. However brilliant Billy Corgan’s music in this album is, the overall listening experience will never be complete without Frank Olinsky’s stunning Victorian-style illustrations in the sprawling double album’s booklet. Together they form an audio-visual masterpiece. (Art director: Frank Olinsky)

4.

Lou Reed’s Set The Twilight Reeling – Design genius Stefan Sagmeister had the fantastic idea of inserting the yellow-tinted liner in an midnight-colored jewel case so that at first glance, the cover looks simply like a dark blue photo of Lou Reed. Once the sleeve is pulled out however, Reed literally emerges from the twilight and sunny rays in the background are revealed, creating an unexpectedly interactive visual experience. (Art director: Stefan Sagmeister)

5.

The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band – I don’t think any “best album cover” list will ever be complete without this classic. Originally designed for an LP, the packaging shows a colourful collage of life-sized cardboard models of famous people which came with a page of cut-outs and a special inner sleeve that featured a multi-coloured psychedelic pattern. To think that this was done and conceptualized when Photoshop had not even been invented yet — you’ve got to love the Fab Four for thinking way ahead of their time. The Grammy Award-winning album packaging was created by art director Robert Fraser, mostly in collaboration with McCartney, designed by Peter Blake, his wife Jann Haworth, and photographed by Michael Cooper.

What are your all-time favorite album covers? Post a comment below.

- Cynthia Bauzon-Arre