Designer Peter Saville: 'The Album Cover Is Dead'

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by Jason Gregory
Sunday, August 17, 2008

Designer Peter Saville: 'The Album Cover Is Dead'

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Peter Saville, who was responsible for the cover art on albums by New Order and Roxy Music, has declared the artistic medium dead.

Saville blamed technological advances, such as iPods, for the decline in popularity of cover art.

And he also singled out Britain’s changing youth culture, saying that the country faces a “social disaster”.

"The things that pop music was there to do for us have all been done... there's nothing to rail against now,” he told the Independent on Sunday.

"When I was 15, in the North-west of England.... the record cover to me was like a picture window to another world.

“Seeing an Andy Warhol illustration on a Velvet Underground album was a revelation.... It was the art of your generation... true pop art."

Sir Peter Blake, who designed the pioneering cover for the Beatles’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’, also expressed his concern about decline in popularity of the CD.

"It [album art] survived from the LP to the CD, but... if that becomes obsolete then I guess album art won't exist. I think it would be a big loss,” he said.

What do you think about their comments? Do you think the cover is dead? Are you sad?

Post your comments in the Gigwise Blog, HERE.

If you need some inspiration, why not check out our Best, Worst, Most Controversial, Weird and Sexy album covers. Simply click the following links.

Best Album Covers Ever!
Worst Album Covers Ever!
Most Controversial Album Covers Ever!
Weirdest Album Covers Ever!
Sexiest Album Covers Ever!

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iTunes do actually manage to keep the spirit of the album cover alive, with the iPod and iTunes software there is a ’coverflow’’ option that lets you flick through each album cover.
~ by David Moss 9/9/2008
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I think it's a shame, but he's right. What's the point in making album covers if they're only going to be represented as tiny squares on an iPod screen? Without CD's, there's no point in making them. How depressing.
~ by Andrew Tinker 11/16/2008

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