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Posts Tagged ‘Music’

2000 – 43rd Annual Grammy Awards

Best Recording Package: Madonna – Music

Kevin Reagan, art director

Best Boxed Recording Package: Miles Davis & John Coltrane – The Complete Columbia Recordings 1955-1961

Arnold Levine & Frank Harkins, art directors

2001 – 44th Annual Grammy Awards

Best Recording Package: Radiohead – Amnesiac – Special Limited Edition

Stanley Donwood & Tchocky, art directors

Best Boxed Recording Package: Various Artists – Brain In A Box – The Science Fiction Collection

Hugh Brown & Steve Vance, art directors

2002 – 45th Annual Grammy Awards

Best Recording Package: Dixie Chicks – Home

Kevin Reagan, art director

Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package: Charley Patton – Screamin’ And Hollerin’ The Blues – The Worlds Of Charley Patton

Susan Archie, art director

2003 – 46th Annual Grammy Awards

Best Recording Package: Ani DiFranco – Evolve

Ani DiFranco & Brian Grunert, art directors

Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package: Miles Davis – The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions

Howard Fritzson, Julian Alexander & Seth Rothstein, art directors

2004 – 47th Annual Grammy Awards

Best Recording Package: Wilco – A Ghost Is Born

Dan Nadel & Peter Buchanan-Smith, art directors

Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package: Talking Heads – Once In A Lifetime

Stefan Sagmeister, art director

2005 – 48th Annual Grammy Awards

Best Recording Package: Aimee Mann – The Forgotten Arm

Aimee Mann & Gail Marowitz, art directors

Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package: Johnny Cash – The Legend

Ian Cuttler, art director

2006 – 49th Annual Grammy Awards

Best Recording Package: Tool – 10,000 Days

Adam Jones, art director

Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package: Red Hot Chili Peppers – Stadium Arcadium

Anthony Kiedis, Chad Smith, Flea, John Frusciante & Matt Taylor, art directors

2007 – 50th Annual Grammy Awards

Best Recording Package: Bright Eyes – Cassadaga

Zachary Nipper, art director

Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package: Various Artists – What It Is!: Funky Soul And Rare Grooves (1967-1977)

Masaki Koike, art director

2008 – 51st Annual Grammy Awards

Best Recording Package: Metallica – Death Magnetic

Bruce Duckworth, David Turner & Sarah Moffat, art directors

Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package: Radiohead – In Rainbows

Christiaan Munro, Mel Maxwell & Stanley Donwood, art directors

In 1939, 23 year old graphic designer Alex Steinweiss became Columbia Records first art director. He soon convinced the executives at Columbia  to create the first modern album cover. Until then, most records were packaged in generic sleeves of brown paper or cardboard. Record albums were rare and used very simple design layouts and lettering. His concept was to transform the record album by using original artwork on the front cover and  informative, well designed liner notes on the inside flap. The first album cover to undergo Steinweiss’ new design aesthetic (Musical Comedy Hits by Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart) was released in 1939. Sales soared. The modern album cover was born.

Alex Steinweiss designed all the album covers for Columbia Records between 1939 and 1945. He later designed covers for other record companies including RCA, Remington, Decca and London. Before retiring from album design in 1973 he had designed close to 2500 album covers.

Books:

Alex Steinweiss: Creator of the Modern Album Cover (Limited Edition)

For the Record: The Life and Work of Alex Steinweiss

Links:

• alexsteinweiss.com
• Alex Steinweiss profile at The Art Directors Club
• The Remington Site
• undependent – Images of Rogers & Hart – Musical Comedy Hits