Record Covers – Page 6

Joseph Low – Bach / Finn Videro 2

I will be posting a series of classical records from the Haydn Society/ Boston that I’ve been collecting. My last post from these series will be a surprise (I hope). It’s a record cover that blew me away.

I could not find much information on the design part of the Haydn Society but they seem to have hired top of the line designers for their record covers.

Joseph Low was an Illustrator who made cover illustrations for The New Yorker and is mostly know from the awards of his book “Mice Twice.” He also illustrated over a dozen children books, book jackets and record covers. I will be posting a few of the record covers here.

His style is very expressive, rich in texture and playful. He used a lot of rough brush strokes and wood and linoleum cuts. The bricks on the image above were probably either linoleum or wood cuts I think which added a very cool texture.

I also love the typography and how it interacts with the background.

Design: Joseph Low | Year: 1954 | Photos: Javier García

About:
Joseph Low Article on New York Times
Joseph Low Wikipedia

Product Info:
Haydn Society Album Covers, 1954
Copyright 1954 by the Haydn Society, Inc.
Boston Massachusetts
Cover Design by Joseph Low

Alvin Lustig’s Vivaldi Album Cover

This is an awesome album cover of the Italian eighteenth-century composer Antonio Vivaldi that I was able to find from the amazing American Modern Design Pioneer, Alvin Lustig. It’s a bit dusty with a couple stains but considering its age its understandable. I was immediately drawn to it for its shapes, then I saw the printed signature and immediately payed for it at an old stack of records from an antique store.

I love the rhythm and the relationship between the backgroung and typography arrangements. The color is amazing. Not sure if this was originally printed on a white paper but the aged tone gives it a nice touch.

Design: Alvin Lustig | Year: 1952 | Photos: Javier García

Product Info:
Haydn Society Album Covers, 1952
Copyright 1953 by the Haydn Society, Inc.
Boston Massachusetts
Cover Design by Alvin Lustig

Vinyl Findings!

Stanley Kubrick has been very influential to me for his vision for film and design and so has the work of the great Factory Records Sleeve designer (including Joy Division and New Order most sold records) Peter Saville. Can’t forget to mention the controversial Blue Monday’s Single Record Sleeve (third one down). There’s even an owners club. All the shapes on the middle as well as some of the edges have been die cut to resemble the old floppy disk. It was the “New Format” and so was New Order’s music. I thought I share some of my recent vinyl findings.

Design: Various | Year: Various | Photos: Javier García