5/8/2023 0 Comments Album cover desk and ficusTypically the album cover component of these packages is approximately 4.75 in (12.1 cm) square. Packaging formats vary, including the jewel case (which since 1982 has been the most popular form of CD packaging), and the cardboard and plastic combination commonly known as a Digipak (which has been a popular alternative form of packaging in recent years, but remains supplanted by the jewel case due to higher manufacturing costs and lower durability). Starting in the mid-1990s, the compact disc (CD) was the most common form of physically distributed music products. The size of the typical cardboard LP sleeve cover is 12.375 in (31.43 cm) square. The LP format remains in use for occasional new releases, though other formats have largely supplanted it. When the 10- and 12-inch long-playing records (LPs) came along in 1948, and box sets of 45-rpm records soon followed (see gramophone record), the name "album" was used for the new format of collections, and the creation of artistic original album covers continued.įrom the 1950s through to the 1980s, the 12" LP record and the 45 rpm record became the major formats for the distribution of popular music. Some featured reproductions of classic art while others utilized original designs. By the late 1940s, record albums for all the major companies featured their own colorful paper covers in both 10- and 12-inch sizes. After his initial efforts at Columbia, other record companies followed his lead. He is credited with inventing the concept of album covers and cover art, replacing the plain covers used before. In 1938, Columbia Records hired Alex Steinweiss as its first art director. These albums of several 78-rpm records could include a collection of popular songs related by either performer or style, or extended-length classical music, including complete symphonies. Starting in the 1930s, record companies began issuing collections of 78-rpm records by one performer or of one type of music in specially assembled collections. The covers of these bound books were wider and taller than the records inside, allowing the record album to be placed on a shelf upright, like a book, and suspending the fragile records above the shelf, protecting them. (The name "record album" was printed on some covers.) These empty albums were sold in both 10- and 12-inch sizes. (It is not indicated what the specially designed package was.) The practice of issuing albums does not seem to have been taken up by other record companies for many years.īeginning in the 1920s, bound collections of empty sleeves with a plain paperboard or leather cover were sold as "record albums" (similar to a photograph album) that customers could use to store their records. German record company Odeon pioneered the "album" in 1909 when it released the Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky on four double-sided discs in a specially designed package. Records could be laid on a shelf horizontally or stood upright on an edge, but because of their fragility, many broke in storage. Generally the sleeves had a circular cutout allowing the record label to be seen. These were invariably made out of acid paper, limiting conservability. The 78-rpm records were issued in both 10- and 12-inch diameter sizes and were usually sold separately, in brown paper or cardboard sleeves that were sometimes plain and sometimes printed to show the producer or the retailer's name. Although Kurt never gave me a rationale for the design, I must assume that the naked baby symbolized his own innocence, the water an alien environment, and the hook and dollar bill his creative life entering into the corporate world of rock music."Īs for Elden, he says, "Most bands around today can't even get near to what Nirvana did on that album, and I'll always be happy to be a part of it." 2.Cover for Bing Crosby's 1941 compilation album Crosbyana issued on six 78 recordsĪround 1910, 78-rpm records replaced the phonograph cylinder as the medium for recorded sound. We spent the day thinking of all the things you could put on a fish hook. We threw all kinds of ideas around and Kurt jokingly suggested a fish hook. "I showed Kurt the baby picture," designer Robert Fisher said, "and he liked it but felt it needed something more. Spencer Elden's first time swimming was a memorable one.Īt four months old, Elden was one of several babies on hand at a Pasadena public pool to audition for Nirvana's album cover.
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