Sampler: Contemporary Music Graphics

by Adrian Shaughnessy (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  1999

  $4.62

  Sampler documents the best graphic design from the contemporary music scene, one of the principal arenas of experimental graphic design. Designers working in music packaging have a freedom rarely found elsewhere: they are the shock troops of modern graphic design. Presenting work produced by the most innovatory of designers, this volume shows how the record industry frequently acts as a conduit for radical visual experimentation. In addition to recent CD covers from leading record labels, the book shows packaging that rarely travels beyond the confines of the record industry: the deluxe promo formats intended only for radio stations, journalists and the music industry elite; the limited edition hyper-fan-only formats; and the Japanese versions. It argues that the 12-inch vinyl record is far from dead. In contrast to the diminished space of the five-inch CD cover, the large canvas of the 12-inch record sleeve remains an outlet for visual experimentation. Alternatives to the ubiquitous perspex CD case are shown, including work of cult labels who produce mini-LP sleeves stuffed with posters and lavishly designed inserts.