Steve Sachs 1967 poster

Fireflies, ocean phosphorescence, those glow-in-the-dark stars that stick to the ceiling: most of us learn as children that  glow in the dark things are always cool. And the blacklight art of the 1960s borrowed a page (if not consciously) from the childhood spirit of exploration.

Psychedelic Art

It’s no secret that the music and art of the late ‘60s were enhanced by and/or created to enhance the experience of drugs. Especially hallucinogens. The word “psychedelic” was coined by Humphry Osmond, a British psychologist, who researched the effects of drugs like LSD, Mescaline and psilocybin. His use of word referenced “mind manifesting” — the internal world of the psyche. But the idea of psychedelic art, or visual artwork inspired by psychedelic drug experiences, is most closely linked to ‘60s counterculture.

Acid Test poster from 1965

Known as “the big five,” Wes Wilson, Rick Griffin,  Stanley Mouse, Alton Kelley and Victor Moscoso, led the psychedelic art movement in the ‘60s and founded psychedelic poster company Berkeley Bonaparte. Some of the artists, like Griffin, took part in Ken Kesey’s Acid Tests (parties made famous by Tom Wolf’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test). Those parties,  included Grateful Dead performances, blacklights and fluorescent paints, along with LSD.

Mad Hatter, 1967, by Cathy Hill

It was Robert Switzer who started experimenting with fluorescent minerals while he was confined to a dark room while recovering from an injury. He and his brother Joe eventually made a fluorescent paint and founded what would become the Day-Glo Color Corporation.

Blacklight Evolution

The term “black light” actually dates back to the end of the 19th century, when French sociologist Gustave Le Bon discovered “invisible light.” Turns out, black light is in the ultraviolet range, which the human eye can’t perceive. It was in 1935 that William H. Byler, who worked in the General Electric Company’s labs, developed the ultraviolet lightbulb; the first blacklight.

John Van Hamersveld’s artwork for “The Endless Summer”

Blacklight art found its way into movie theaters in the ‘40s as a means of lighting that wouldn’t interfere with film watching. Some theaters began to paint florescent murals on their walls that would glow under blacklights. Like Switzer, John Thompson Shannon (who went on to found Shannon Luminous Materials) developed a line of luminous paints and inks that were used, first, in many movie theater murals and later in Halloween decorations and psychedelic blacklight posters.
A number of psychedelic poster artists, like “the big five,” produced their work in fluorescent paints. And a number of production companies popped up to produce psychedelic blacklight work by artists such as Cathy Hill, Art Bevacqua and John Van Hamersveld (whose poster for the film The Endless Summer was sold in a blacklight version).

1967 Jimi Hendrix blacklight poster from Pandora Productions

Pandora Productions was founded by David Nordahl and Bart de Malignon in ’64. The company’s selection of artwork was limited, but renowned for its high quality. Nordahl, as well as the design team of Myers and Johansen lll, created posters for the likes of Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and the Beatles.

Peter Max “Prana” poster

Illustrator and graphic designer Peter Max was another producer. But, where Max’s contemporaries in the psychedelic movement created art — at least initially — in an experimental vein, Max found commercial success early on, working on an advertising campaign for 7-UP while shilling his own art posters and merchandise. His blacklight art includes images of Marilyn Monroe, WC Fields and the Buddha.

Contemporary Blacklight Artists

Though there are some schools of thought that say blacklight art belongs to ‘70s nostalgia, plenty of contemporary artists are working in fluorescent paints and inks today.

“New Horizons” by Symeon Nostrakis

One is Greek-born visionary artist Symeon Nostrakis (aka Blacklight Wizard), who developed his skills in photography, music, graphics and animation around the same time that the ‘90s-era electronic dance movement and Goa Trance scene were taking off. Nostrakis started using blacklight paints on large-scale banners and backdrops in the late ‘90s and went on to patent UV-blacklight and Glow-in-the-dark reproductions of his paintings for posters, postcards and t-shirts as well as backdrops and banners.

Illustrator Chris Parks (aka Pale Horse) works with mythological motifs and bold colors, creating both commercial and fine art. His vast client list includes Mini Cooper, PBR and DC Comics; his personal work is a brightly-detailed array of pop culture and sacred art mashups (a taco-eating holy man in a wrestling mask, for example). For the Blue Lucy Gallery, he created a five-color screen print in Day-Glo ink.

Mastadon poster by Casey Howard

Artist and graphic designer Casey Howard works on album packaging, apparel, backdrops and posters for bands like Avenged Sevenfold and Thread. Some of Howard’s work for metal outfit Mastodon, like the UniclopsFalls and BlackMass posters, were both created to be used with black lights.

But blacklight art isn’t just an underground thing — even Justin Bieber is selling a glowing version of his “Got the Fever?” poster.

Join the ranks of these designers by creating your own blacklight design for the official poster for Camp Bisco 2013. Inspired by the themes of ‘Night vs. Day’ and ‘Neon Native’ and classic psychedelic art, capture the exclusive qualities of what Camp Bisco is all about –  the harmonious integration of technology, music, and the pristine event setting that is the Indian Lookout.

So, it is not surprising that designers who work with bands often reference art from the past when creating a new album cover. As vast and subjective as music is, references are a necessity.  They help people make connections between the known and the unknown, offering a glimpse of what a new album or band might sound like. 

Albums released so far this year are ripe with examples of how you can apply this technique in designing album covers. Let’s take a closer look at a trio of newer bands making a splash today, all of which owe a bit of their aesthetic to their musical predecessors.

Iceage—”You’re Nothing”

Iceage is a Danish punk group who released their first album on mighty Matador Records in February (the group’s second overall).  Matador houses some big names in the harder side of music—Thurston Moore, Fucked Up, and Queens of the Stone Age  (who will release their 2013 album through the label too)—so this is no small feat for these relative newcomers.

While the name isn’t familiar, the sound will be.  Punk can have many interpretations but Iceage is more MC5 than Mest. As such, their visual aesthetic on the new album plays with a very classic punk album gestalt—a bird. Consider Babes in Arms from MC5 or the famous Ramones logo.

While the color pallets are quite different, each employs a winged creature as the central focus. While this gains additional meanings for each act, some of the classic attributes of these animals (ability to spread their wings and fly; sharp talons or claws; predator status) translate well to the overall aesthetic of this brand of punk. It’s raw, natural music without much post-production, played at a soaring tempo with a clear aggressive component (whether it’s occasional screaming in the lyrics, physical live shows, etc.).

Iceage modernizes the same basic principles with a falcon smack dab in the middle of You’re Nothing. To personalize it, their bird is about to be released (a young band on the verge of a larger breakthrough perhaps) and the cover uses a more complex color scheme than these vintage albums relying heavily on primary shades (if using color at all). The geometric, almost alphabetic imagery in the background also helps tie this LP specifically to Iceage. The band’s debut, New Brigade, also utilizes the shape as it acts as a defacto logo for the group.

Palma Violets—”180″

SXSW’s buzziest act this year may very well be Palma Violets, an English post-modern rock quartet that certainly owned The Modern Lovers LP during their formative years. The group writes driving, triumphant rock songs with classic rock-influenced guitar solos and shout-along choruses (listen to “Best of Friends” once and tell me you aren’t singing the chorus for the rest of the afternoon).  If their music alone doesn’t convey that they are young lads from the streets (in that Springsteen way), their upcoming US tour even includes select house shows with the help of willing fans.

Similar to Iceage, there’s a clear aural influence here, whether it’s Jonathan Richman’s old crew or anything Joe Strummer-led. In fact, Strummer (the iconic lead singer of The Clash) is the runaway
basis for 180’s visual choices too.

Again, these are local boys whose music celebrates “real” life growing up sans silver spoon.  So as The Clash did before them, Palma Violets found an appropriate street locale for a photo shoot, with the brick façade perhaps representing the band’s industry (classic materials such as the familiar rock chords or pub-approved refrains building up each tune). They also choose to use a black and white color scheme, a nod to any vintage, tough times or good ol’ days photography. 180 looks like a new trip down rock’s memory lane because that’s what it is.

Chvrches—”Recover EP”

Based on the cover alone, take a guess at the genre Glasgow trio Chvrches might fall into. The cover, in one word, is geometric. Starkly geometric if you’ll allow two.  Chvrches are the latest in a strong, recent line of synth-pop outlets that take a little influence from electronic dance culture and dash of indie rock sensibilities to create something utterly infectious. And like many of the band’s modern forefathers, Chvrches adopts the geometric branding of synth-heavy genres in their new EP cover.

There are strong correlations between the audio and visual here. Synths are perfect instruments; hit a key and a precise note comes out never varying based on the wear of a string or the tuning of a brick and mortar body. And synth-pop (like electronica, EDM or other modern genres heavy on electronic voicings) is about precision, tightly interlocking rhythms and chords combining to create a more immersive soundscape.  So when applying this to visuals, triangles (particularly equilateral ones) are rigidly measured shapes that can interlock with each other seamlessly to form a larger pattern.  Chvrches takes that full approach here, but look at a few other current, electronic acts that utilized the shape beforehand:

Yacht has built its branding specifically on triangles, incorporating them into both the band’s wordmark  (like Chvrches has done by choosing a “v” and not “u”) and album covers. Goldfrapp may be a more direct audio comparison with Chvrches, and that band’s own biggest hit (“Ohh La La,” famously used in Grand Theft Auto) comes in a single format with a very triangular cover. “Ohh La La” utilizes equilaterals as well as several variations on triangles (the v-neck of her jacket, above her head, above and below her right shoulder) to carry on this genre gestalt.  Like the other bands highlighted on this list, Chvrches appears to be carrying on a rich visual tradition in 2013.

Have other examples of albums from this year where you see a classic parallel? Let me know what’s been missed in the comments. And if you’re looking for inspiration on that next album cover design competition, makes sure to trace the roots of where the music is coming from.

- Nathan Mattise

Self-Portrait, 1978 from The Warhol Museum.

Long before The Factory, the $100 million sale of the “Eight Elvises” painting and the expression “fifteen minutes of fame,” Andy Warhol — he of pop art infamy — was a draughtsman. Which sounds downright pedestrian, considering the films, the scandals and the attempted murder that made Warhol’s life and work in the ‘60s so salacious and unforgettable. But many of the works he’s best known for, like the Campbell’s Soup screen prints, explore the relationship of artistic expression and advertisements.

Warhol studied commercial illustration at Carnegie Institute for Technology (which has since become Carnegie Mellon University) and, after graduating, moved to New York City to begin his career as a designer. During the ‘50s, his illustrations appeared in various magazines.  He worked for Harper’s Bazaar during the time that Diana Vreeland served as that magazine’s fashion editor. In a 2007 retrospective, Harper’s  revealed that Warhol liked his mother’s handwriting so, when his commercial work called for text, he’d ask his mother to do the lettering. (Warhol also worked for Vogue, Glamour, and The New Yorker, among others.)

Among his most famous ads were those for  I. Miller shoes — those illustrations still turn up often as examples of fashion illustration. That was early in his career, but in ’86, just a year before he died due to complications following a surgery, he created the first original artwork for Absolut (Keith Herring, Julia Wachtel, Howard Finster and others would follow suit).

Warhol’s work included window displays for retail stores like Bonwit Teller, as well as illustrated books (A is an Alphabet and Love is a Pink Cake). Prior to the ‘60s, the artist was winning awards from the Art Director’s Club and the American Institute of Graphic Arts for his successful design campaigns, but he was also showing his non-commercial work, like “Fifteen Drawings Based on the Writings of Truman Capote,” in exhibitions. His first group show at the Museum of Modern Art was in 1955.

In a way, it can be argued that all of Warhol’s work was creative. He started drawing as a child and developed his skills while bedridden with Sydenham’s chorea, and his plan, after finishing high school in Pittsburgh, was to become an art teacher. He developed a blotted line technique, which combines both drawing and printmaking in order to craft a number of illustrations with similar themes — a method that was, surely, a harbinger of both his crossover into commercial work and then his crossing, again, into conceptual work.

“Lips (Stamped), 1950s” from the Warhol Museum

Which means that it can also be argued that all of Warhol’s work was commercial. He turned grocery store items — Brillo, Coka-Cola bottles, Kellog’s Cornflakes — into gallery art and elevated the humble can of soup, repeat ad infinitum, into high art. Warhol applied the same techniques of screen print repetition to cultural icons — Marilyn Monroe and Mao Zedong — depicting them as commodities just as he was presenting actual commodities as art.

Warhol’s skill, both as an artist and as a commercial designer, was as much about choosing the right item as it was about technical skill. Why not Miracle Whip or Maxwell House? And why, for that matter, when he designed the still-prevalent Velvet Underground banana image, why a banana?

That simple yellow-and-black print covered the album The Velvet Underground & Nico, and still seems as fresh today as it must have been 47 years ago. Forty-seven! But album art sits squarely at the juxtaposition of artistic expression and advertising, so it makes sense that Warhol made his mark on that medium. Other record covers that he designed include: The Rolling Stones’ Love You Live (supposedly Mick Jagger added the pencil smears to the design); Progressive Piano for RCA Victor in ’52; Billy Squire’s Emotions in Motion and (interestingly similar in design) Aretha Franklin’s Aretha from 1986. It would be the last album she’d make for more than a decade but, more importantly, it was Warhol’s final painting.

One of rock’s all-time icons turned 66 on January 8. And to celebrate, he stunned the world—rather than selling it this time.

David Bowie released his “Where Are We Now” single seemingly out of nowhere as a birthday gift to us all. It was the first song off “The Next Day,” the icon’s first album in 10 years. He was long presumed to be in some sort of unspoken retirement. Yet somehow, Bowie managed to keep the entire thing a secret and surprise today’s content-hungry, always on, media.

Bowie’s current legacy is owed to his creative persona as much as (or perhaps even more than) his music itself. He’s not the first artist to adopt an identity, but no one did it with as much flair, substance and impact as Ziggy Stardust, Bowie’s extraterrestrial rockstar. This forward vision permeated everything Bowie did and current fashion icons doubling as rockstars—say Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs or perhaps Bradford Cox of Deerhunter—wouldn’t exist without him. Simply put, Bowie created the blueprint for the merger of ideology, appearance and rock that has become more common today.

(It should go without saying: you can write an entire week’s worth of posts on Bowie’s visual past alone. Take a listen to the folks at Grantland discussing the impact of Ziggy Startdust, or look to London. The V&A Museum—a premier art and design institution in the city—recently devoted an entire exhibition to the man.)

So where does this unexpected release fit in within the impressive gallery of Bowie albums? If you listen to cover designer Jonathan Barnbrook, “The Next Day” should be considered as special as any of them.

“We wanted to do something different with it—very difficult in an area where everything has been done before—but we dare to think this is something new,” Barbrook wrote on his blog. “Normally using an image from the past means, ‘recycle’ or ‘greatest hits’ but here we are referring to the title “The Next Day.” “The Heroes” cover obscured by the white square is about the spirit of great pop or rock music which is ‘of the moment,’ forgetting or obliterating the past.”
Sometimes the simplest ideas are the most groundbreaking, and here Barbrook has a point. Taking an iconic cover and subverting it on its own is rarely done. The original “Heroes” is merely a black and white photo however, so it already fits in with some of the themes “The Next Day” is exploring (“It also has the existential element of Waiting for Godot with waiting for ‘The Next Day’,” Barbrook noted. “These all seem to question the nature of existence so a monochrome palette seemed most appropriate).

In light, Barbrook’s ultimate choice to go with a white box and plain text—not a reshoot of the album’s cover, a Photoshop job of the original Bowie image, or any number of more complicated methods—is just as compelling as reusing a classic LP in the first place.

“We worked on hundreds of designs using the concept of obscuring this cover but the strongest ones were the simplest—it had to be something that was in direct contrast to the image underneath but that wasn’t too contrived,” he wrote. “It would have been clearer to many people if we had scribbled all over the cover but that didn’t have the detachment of intent necessary to express the melancholy of the songs on the album. Obscuring Bowie’s image is also reference to his identity, not only in the past when he changed endlessly but that he has been absent from the music scene for the past 10 years. Was this an act to hide his identity or that he has simply become more comfortable with it?”

This is one of the main themes explored by “The Next Day.” Anything Bowie creates will have the massive shadow of his career looming over it. But today he is simultaneously the man of shifting identities from his past and a man comfortable with who he is (the 66-year-old David Bowie, another new incarnation). Bowie’s new songs recognize how he may have aged but isn’t quite done creatively. The Next Day’s title track leads off the album, and its repeating, shouting chorus conveys this in a not-so-subtle message:

Here I am, not quite dying
My body left to rot in a hollow tree
It’s branches forming shadows on the gallows for me
And the next day, and the next, and another day

His creative days may be numbered (those “shadows”) but the art of Bowie isn’t dead yet. “The Next Day” only adds to both his sonic and aesthetic cannons, while never pretending that they won’t impact how people perceive and judge this newest release. It’s a highly self-aware, somewhat philosophical notion to present fans with, but Barbrook and Bowie managed to do it in a single glance. That… is design worthy of even David Bowie.

“No matter how much we try, we cannot break free from the past. When you are creative, it manifests itself in every way—it seeps out in every new mark you make (particularly in the case of an artist like Bowie),” Barbrook wrote. “People will judge you always in relation to your history, no matter how much you try to escape it. The obscuring of an image from the past is also about the wider human condition; we move on relentlessly in our lives to the next day, leaving the past because we have no choice but to.”

Oyama Enrico Isamu hand painting on Comme des Garçons apparel

While I was in Paris last spring, I visited the exhibition White Drama at Les Docks Cité de la Mode et du Design. It featured the works of two fashion houses — Balenciaga and Comme des Garçons. And, while the Balenciaga apparel was wonderful for its history, it was the Comme des Garçons pieces, culled from the spring/summer 2012 collection and designed by Rei Kawakubo, that really grabbed me.

The thing is, Kawakubo (the founder of Comme des Garçons) had elevated fashion beyond mere dresses and jackets into art. And not just art in the precious sense, but in the sculptural sense. The pieces were grouped by shape and theme and shown in clear bubbles, as if to preserve the antiseptic austerity of the white fabrics. But here and there, Kawakubo brought in jags and slashes of black, most dramatically in the graffiti-like hand painting by Oyama Enrico Isamu.

Keith Haring designs on Tommy Hilfiger shoes

“How much can a structure be also a moving body?” Isamu asks in his artists statement. “How much tenseness can it get to draw a line or paint a flat surface? And, when does a ‘shape’ start to exist as a ‘figure’?” He calls the recurring motifs in his work “quick turn structure,” a network of lines that slice and cross, at times tight and at other times loose. Both urban street art and Samuri swordsmanship. But, above all else, Isamu’s work has a kind of wildness so far removed from fashion’s runways and sunny boutiques that the marriage of the two — Isamu’s art and Kawakubo’s design — is completely unexpected. And completely harmonious.

Stephen Sprouse for Louis Vuitton

This is not the first artist/fashion designer pairing. Pop-punk artist Stephen Sprouse (also a fashion designer) was known for taking cues from street fashion. And for splashing day-glo graffiti over anything that stood still. He adorned his own collection, in the ’80s, with graffiti. His ’88 collection included a collaboration with artist Keith Haring (who passed away in 1990, but whose instantly-recognizable figurative designs grace a 2010 limited edition footware collection by Tommy Hilfiger) — the two created abstract prints of Jesus. But that line didn’t sell well and Sprouse lost his financial backing.

Yayoi Kusama’s collaboration with Louis Vuitton

What brought Sprouse back into the public eye was a 2001 collaboration with Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton — a day-glo graffiti print of the Louis Vuitton name splashed across that designers iconic leather handbags. He went on to do the same with dresses, hats, leggings and shoes, creating a high-low / uptown-downtown look that, instead of putting buyers off, appealed to a wide range of fashionistas and art collectors. For fall ’06 and ’08, Jacobs resurrected Sprouse’s late 80s-era graffiti leopard print for bags, shoes and scarves, all of which sold out immediately.

But Sprouse (who passed away in ’04) was not the only artist with whom Louis Vuitton (under the direction of Jacobs) has paired with. Just last year, the French fashion house tapped Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, known for her signature polka dots.

Ives Saint Laurent’s Piet Mondrian dress

Fittingly, Kusama’s dots festoon shoes, shirts, skirts and sunglasses along with Louis Vuitton’s famous handbags. The whole line was launched with displays (at Louis Vuitton’s Manhattan store) based on Kusama’s motifs “Beginning of the Universe,” “Eternal Blooming Flowers in My Mind” and “Self-Obliteration,” and the entire building facade was wrapped in polka dots.

Takashi Murakami collaborated with Louis Vuitton (by way of Jacobs) a decade ago on a number of pop-art products, beginning with handbags. Though Murakami (known for his mix of high and low, and for coing  the term “superflat”) had previously worked with fashion designer Issey Miyake, it was his series for Louis Vuitton that elevated him to celebrity status.

Cindy Sherman campaign for Comme des Garçons

But artists inspiring and collaborating with fashion designers dates back much farther than a decade or two. Ives Saint Laurent‘s classic graphic A-line dress (circa 1965) was inspired by Dutch painter Piet Mondrian, a contributor to the De Stijl art movement. Last year, Hermès based a scarf print on German artist Josef Albers‘ color studies (Albers passed away in ’76). The spring/summer 2012 collection from Comme de Garçons wasn’t the first time the fashion house saw an artist collaboration. In ’94, photographer Cindy Sherman lent her conceptual point of view to an avant grade fashion campaign by Comme des Garçons. She would go on to work on campaigns by Jacobs and Balenciaga.

As aforementioned, Isamu asked “how can a structure also be a moving body?” and “when does a ‘shape’ start to exist as a ‘figure’?” Challenge yourself with these theoretical questions. How can ‘art’ and ‘design’ also be worn on the human ‘figure’? Can you create a design that both exists as a piece of stand alone ‘art’, but also translates to ‘fashion’ on the female form? We’re teaming up with American Apparel to print an original fan-designed graphic on a dress for Ritzy of The Joy Formidable to wear on stage on their upcoming tour. We challenge you to create a truly original design that translates to wearable art. Check out The Joy Formidable dress graphic design contest here.

Rendering of the iconic “gun barrel” sequence (from intuition-online.co.uk)

Adele’s win for “Skyfall” as Best Original Song at the Oscars in February was the latest success in a long line of star-studded collaborations between the James Bond movie franchise and popular musicians.

However, no Bond song is complete without the opening animations that accompany these classic films. The famous opening sequences for 16 of the first 18 films were designed and directed by Maurice Binder. He’s perhaps best known for the “gun barrel sequences” in which Bond steps into the viewfinder, fires his gun, and blood runs down the screen.

After Binder’s death in 1991, music video director Daniel Kleinman took over as the director for the openings (starting with “GoldenEye”). His highly stylized animations have morphed into an art form all their own and play an important role in setting the tone for each film. Kleinman draws inspiration from both the song and the film, marrying them into entertaining segments that stand on their own as works of art.

From the opening of “Casino Royale”

For the movie “Casino Royale”, Daniel Kleinman based the opening animations on the original book cover designed by Bond author/creator Ian Fleming. Kleinman took the gambling motif and ran with it by juxtaposing a silhouetted 007 against playing card themed kaleidoscope graphics. The resulting animation is the perfect companion to the song, “You Know My Name,” sung by grunge icon and Creative Allies Contest alumnus Chris Cornell.

The title sequence of Quantum of Solace (designed by MK12; not Kleinman) is a retro-futuristic romp tinged with a foreshadowing hint of darkness. The song, “Another Way to Die,” by Jack White and Alicia Keys, is a fuzz addled, slinky number and Kleinman’s animation is the perfect companion.  It features shadowy dancing seductresses, a nod to the classic “closing shutter” graphic appearing as a cosmic grid light show flashing across a desert night sky, while an again silhouetted Bond plummets towards the shifting sands.

Opening credits for “Quantum of Solace”

Kleinmann returned to direct the the Bond title segments with “Skyfall”. This is my favorite opening. It is a truly spellbinding, fantastical and a fully realized masterpiece that far surpasses what came before. In this sequence, Bond floats down into a nightmarish underwater-world, with liquid animations of familiar imagery culminating in epic, apocalyptic visions. Set against Adele’s haunting and regal theme, it is the perfect beginning to the end of another Bond era.

Opening credits for “Skyfall”

Skyfall opening title sequence by Zoomin_Canada

(To learn more about Daniel Kleinman, check out this interview.)

Writer Eric Kramer is a musician and blogger. Find him at:

• http://toneluster.com
• http://twitter.com/toneluster
• http://facebook.com/thecatskills

Creative Allies wants to know –  What is your favorite 007 movie theme song and opening? In addition to Adele, Bond themes have been sung by the likes of Tom Jones (“Thunderball”), Nancy Sinatra (“You Only Live Twice”), Louis Armstrong (“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”), Paul McCartney (“Live and Let Die”), Shirley Bassey (“Goldfinger,” “Diamonds Are Forever,”  ”Moonraker”), Sheryl Crow (“Tomorrow Never Dies”), and Madonna (“Die Another Day”), to name a few. Share this article @creativeallies or tag us #creativeallies and tell us your favorite.

From the 2005 album “Wikked Lil Grrrls,” by Esthro.

The booklet that accompanies a CD is, at first glance, all about the words. Lyrics, acknowledgements and credits. But the liner notes (which can also be printed on the cardboard sleeves of Digipacks and vinyl packages) offer up an opportunity for more than just a lot of type face.

In fact, the design possibilities are great enough that a Grammy for Best Album Notes has been awarded since 1964. This year’s winner was singer, actor and music historian Billy Vera for his work on the Ray Charles box set, Singular Genius: The Complete ABC Singles.

One of the nominees who Vera was up against was Holly George-Warren, who worked on Janis Joplin’s The Pearl Sessions. That album collected studio conversations and outtakes from Joplin’s recording work. It “was so surprising to find out how active of a role she took in the studio, in the making of the album,” George-Warren told Southern California Public Radio.

That’s kind of the experience we all have with liner notes, though, right? They enhance the record, adding another layer of meaning. An insight to the process and to the personal life of the artist. Or, if not the personal life, than the contrived life. The super-cool posed-to-look-candid shots, the pencil-scrawled lyrics, sometimes an artfully-scanned in coffee cup ring.

Pretty on the Inside by Hole

One of my favorites, in my high school hippy phase was Carly Simon’s 1971 Anticipation  album. I loved the record’s breathless final track, but more than that, I loved the easy Bohemian vibe that the artwork telegraphed. The black and white Peter Simon cover photo — Carley herself, posting at a wrought iron gate, with sunlight filtering through her diaphanous skirt — was pitch perfect. But it was the sleeve photos of Carley and her band rehearsing and just hanging out that really spoke to me.

The dream of the lifestyle is conveyed through imagery, but the dream of the songs lives in the words. Having lyrics typed onto an album sleeve is a bonus; an accompanying book (especially with a download) is sometimes even better. There’s more space in a book. Room for credits and extras. Josh Ritter’s latest album, The Beast in its Tracks, included a limited run of booklets with handwritten lyrics. With doodles, too, in Josh’s hand. Not that a listener needs to see a pen-and-ink doodle of an airplane or whatever, but every scratched out word choice and stick figure adds to the personal feel of the music. And what is music if not a personal experience?

Songs are, after all, written, most often, in solitude. Often listened to in solitude – through headphones – as means of shutting out the outside world in order to enter the internal world. Liner notes are the road map to that personal world. They’re as close as we get to a diary entry.

Of course there’s an  art to liner notes: don’t squeeze in too many words or make the font too small, are some tips offered to liner notes writers. Designer Justin Gammon was tasked with working on a package for the KMFDM’s remastered back catalog. His job, he explained on his blog, was to establish visual similarity “by creating a universal graphic standard for the organization of the liner notes, lyrics, photos, credits, etc. This new graphic standard has been carried out through each modern KMFDM release to date.”

Common’s album, Be (designed by Gravillis, Inc.)

But, ultimately, it’s about offering the listener a different or deeper perspective. A savvy musician or designer takes the opportunity (and the sleeve or booklet space) to offer up an intellectual and visual treat.

The Smiths by CDR

In the same way that all movies don’t have to have car chases and explosions, all designs don’t have to have 30 colors and monsters and, well, explosions and car chases. All of that is great, of course. We love aliens, zombies, feathers and the whole multiverse. But sometimes the most apt designs aren’t those that include everything and the kitchen sink but are, instead, those that strip away all the unnecessary fluff, chatter and glitz, and get down to the bare-bones essence.

Minimalism in art — as a specific movement — dates to post-WWII in the United States and has been interpreted as a reaction to abstract-expressionism. The art form, especially in how it’s applied to design and architecture, takes cues from Japanese design. These days, it’s likely that instead of being a response to mid-(last)century culture, minimalist art is a reaction to or a pushing back against the busyness, consumerism and media overload of modern society. But whether minimalism is describing visual art, furniture or music, it’s ultimately about using the fewest and simplest elements to create maximum effect.

Artist Christopher David Ryan (aka CDR) creates the kind of spare, simplistic work often belies complex messages or meanings. Maybe it has to do with being based in Portland, Maine — with living in a hip city, yet also having the vast grey Atlantic close by. And long winter months. If anything will get you thinking about spare canvases and few elements, it’s seven months of winter.

Not that Ryan’s work is landscape-ish, or abstract. His images include simple, repeated shapes and limited color palettes; clean, black and white illustrations; and meet-cute imagery that’s as hope-inducing as it is fun. (And CDR’s booklet, Everything You Need Can Grow, does illustrate the long-cold-winter theme.) Ryan’s client base ranges from Victoria’s Secret and Kate Spade, to Ubiquity Records and Element Skateboards.

Minimalist interpretation of “Absolution” by Muse

In the sometimes screaming world of advertising, it makes sense that the whisper-is-more-powerful-than-a-shout aesthetic of minimalism holds an important place. For album art, minimalism goes farther than conveying a message in the least amount of words (or images, or elements) — it also telegraphs a cool confidence. If a picture is worth a thousand words, one crisp and clean graphic can convey a thesis of stylish sensibility.

A few minimalist album covers worth revisiting: Pet Shop Boys 2008 album, Yes, whose check-mark design was inspired by German artist Gerhard Richter (Richter is referenced in the album’s opening track, ‘Love etc.’). And, regardless of any listener’s opinion of  Pink Floyd, the band’s 1973 Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell-designed Dark Side of the Moon still holds its own as one of the most iconic album images of all time.

Minimalist interpretation of “The Blueprint 3″ by Jay-Z

Noupe Magazine posed the question, “What would happen if you just stripped down movie posters and album artwork to what it really is or could be? What if one decided to pick one thing to single out and used that as the artwork?” The answer appeared in number of artistic interpretations, such as Minimal Album Art’s sendup of The Blueprint 3 by rapper Jay-Z. Here, the daunting mound of white-painted instruments from Jay-Z’s original album cover is gone. All that remains are the three horizontal red stripes on crisp white space. Placed side-by-side with the original, the two versions are different, sure. But the end result packs a remarkably similar punch.

— Alli Marshall

Self Portrait, Raymond Pittibon

While his brother Greg Ginn was assaulting eardrums with his band Black Flag, Raymond Pettibon was defining the look and feel of the west coast punk scene with his iconic imagery. Though he actually started out playing bass in an early incarnation of the group, Pettibon opted instead to create the artwork that would deliver Black Flag’s message to the masses. He gave the band their name and (possibly more importantly) their image, which stood as a battle flag that unified punks all across the nation. This was a battle cry of revolt, a statement that everything is not ok, that underneath the status quo simmers an ugly, often brutal truth. The Black Flag logo became a symbol emblazoned on the very minds of the youth, who to this day wear the four black bars as a proud badge of rebellion, printed on t-shirts and even tattooed on their skin.

Black Flag Logo By Pettibon

Pettibon’s style is stark, comic-bookish, usually black & white and accompanied by text describing dark scenarios. He depicts the underbelly of society through subversive and often violent scenes, laced with anti-authoritarian undertones. These were splattered all over the burgeoning punk scene surrounding Black Flag in California, landing on countless album covers, flyers, posters, T-shirts, and zines. The distinctive pen and ink drawings lent themselves well to this photocopy culture, and offered a mix of low and high art to what has been called the last analog movement (though some would argue that hip-hop actually beat punk to that title, but that is for another blog altogether.) Kim Gordon, bassist of Sonic Youth, brought Pettibon’s work to the east coast art world’s attention when she profiled him for Artforum magazine and subsequently got him to do the cover of the seminal SY record Goo. This lent punk credibility to the NY noise rockers first major label release, which may have paved the way for punk to break the mainstream with the eventual emergence of Nirvana, who cited Black Flag and Sonic Youth as influences.

Sonic Youth’s ‘Goo’ LP Cover Art By Pettibon

Just like the punk movement, the artist has since gone on to international fame. His artwork has been exhibited in major museums and galleries all over the world, has received several awards, and can be found in numerous publications. Pettibon has inspired innumerable disciples and is recognized as a style unto himself.

Title Unknown, Raymond Pettibon

In more recent years, Pettibon has continued to adorn record covers with his provocative images. Keith Morris, the original singer of Black Flag (and Circle Jerks), now fronts a punk supergroup called OFF!, which sports Pettibon artwork on all their releases.

OFF! Album Art By Pettibon

The ongoing punk resurgence of sorts has culminated in the recent announcement that Black Flag will be reuniting for a tour. It’s still to be seen whether Raymond will again play counterpoint to his brother’s band, a development that could really bring the whole thing full circle and unify this die-hard cause.

Black Flag ‘Six Pack’ EP Cover By Pettibon

Writer Eric Kramer is a musician and blogger. Find him at:

http://toneluster.com

http://twitter.com/toneluster 

http://theevilus.bandcamp.com

John Bailey (aka radtodeath) lives in Grand Rapids, Mich., which (this time of year) he describes as cold and gloomy. But that’s just fine with John, whose work is not exactly sunshine and rainbows. It is clean and graphic, fiercely edgy, and has already attracted some impressive fans — like the former keyboardist of Passion Pit, who contacted John to design some T-shirts for a new music project.

While John has not yet won a Creative Allies contest, he did win the Editors’ Favorite Award in the Lights All Night contest. We’re excited to see what’s next for this talented up-and-coming artist.

Creative Allies: Congratulations on your Ally of the Year nomination. What does that mean to you?
John Bailey: It’s cool just to be nominated and to be acknowledged for something I love to do.

CA: Where did you get your inspiration for your designs?
JB: I’d say everything comes down to mortality with me. Just trying to do my part, be a better person, maybe have something to show for my existence before time’s up. Always trying to improve on my craft. Drawing is an end unto itself, I guess.

A radtodeath design, posted on Instagram

CA: Much of your work is dark — do you have any rituals to get into that creative frame of mind?
JB: Haha, I wish.  Maybe I have a bleak outlook on things, but I am a relatively happy and normal dude. In all honesty, I just make the artwork I would want to see. My style has been a constant evolution of my life experience. I’ve never felt like I’ve had to do something to get in the creative mood… I guess maybe cleaning my house — blank slate, you know? So, yeah. No sacrifices or rituals in my basement during a full moon, haha.

CA: How did you produce some of your favorite submissions?
JB: At this point, because things have been getting crazy in terms of deadlines and such, everything is pretty much done with paper and pencil later taken into Photoshop and colored with my Wacom tablet or photograph textures I’ve taken over the years.

“My Own Kind”

CA: What is your background in art/design?
JB: I’ve literally been drawing all my life. I graduated art school last year. I was getting work while in school, it got kind of crazy at points — it’s still crazy. Right now I just finished an album cover for Team Spirit, a band signed to Vice that features a former Passion Pit member. Planning out the next Stepdad album cover, shirt designs for people, shows in bars, doing what I can in the Grand Rapids scene.

CA: Was there one experience that let you know that you wanted to be a professional designer?
JB: It’s never really been like, “I want to be a designer!” for me.  I’ve just always drawn. Like, high school teachers throwing my sketch books in the trash because I never paid attention. I really don’t have any other skills. Being a designer just happened by default. There was moment last year, though, when I got an email from Passion Pit’s ex-keyboard player to do his new band’s shirts and I had my hands in my hair thinking, “man, this isn’t just about drawing anymore.”

CA: Are there any bands you’d especially like to design for in the future?
JB: Doing work for any of my favorite musicians would be an honor. I guess it would be fun to do some art for a noise rock band and just make something completely bonkers.

CA: How does your environment influence your art?
JB: Right now, Grand Rapids is cold and gloomy. I don’t really care much for hot weather. I live in an apartment — I do all my work either in bed or on the couch. I’m not much of a studio person. I’m engulfed in this “thing.”

CA: What other hobbies, interests or specialties do you have?
JB: I work out or run when I need a break from drawing but I really don’t do much with my life other then art. I’m realizing how much of loser I am right now…haha.

CA: Who are some of your favorite visual artists and musicians?
JB: Gustave Dore, Albrecht Duher, Moebius, Zdzislaw Beksinski, Hyrdo 74, Kilian Eng, Takato Yamamoto, Pushead, Rockin Jelly Bean. For music: Burial, Death Grips, Justice, Raekwon, Clams Casino my music tastes change daily.

CA: Tell us about some of your favorite magazines, web sites, blogs, etc.
JB: I watch a lot of YouTube: Needle Drop, Vice, ESPN, BigThink, National Geographic, Pitchfork, Sputnikmusic, Reddit, etc.