Packed with innovative artworks by one-of-a-kind designers, this is a unique guide to album cover design in the 21st century.
Each book comes with a unique bookplate signed by John Foster, exclusive to Hypergallery customers.
OVERVIEW
We are in the middle of one of the greatest periods in music packaging. Collectible packaging is back at the cultural vanguard: physical records are coveted by millennials, and hip clothing outlets devote massive amounts of space to record players and racks of LPs.
Album Art profiles thirty-three designers at the forefront of this movement, among them Braulio Amado, Chris Bigg, Brian Roettinger and Jonathan Barnbrook. They reveal and analyse the creative process behind each design, offering exclusive insights into how they are able to elevate the simple record cover into something more, something special, something unique, something memorable.
Exclusive interviews with some of the biggest names in the field, including Stefan Sagmeister and Paula Scher, accompany the profiles. The designers aren’t the only stars of the show – the book reproduces and discusses sleeve designs for such artists as David Bowie, Tame Impala, Kesha, Kim Deal, David Sylvian, The Flaming Lips, Queens of the Stone Age, and more.
THE AUTHOR
John Foster is the founder and Principal of the design company Bad People Good Things. He is the author of numerous books, most recently New Masters of Poster Design and Paper and Ink Workshop, and has written columns on design and on music packaging for howdesign.com, brightestyoungthings.com and rockpaperink.com.
Flexibound - 320 pages.
Published in 2018 by Thanks & Hudson.
Please note, if ordering from the EU, that whilst there is no tax charged on UK books sales you may be charged import fees and duties upon delivery. These should be at your own country's rate of tax on books, which in most cases is 0% but we have no way of controlling this once the books have left us. As we are liable for the same tax to retrieve shipments from customs we cannot offer refunds requested on this basis.
All the artwork published, printed or marketed by Hypergallery is of the highest quality. All artwork is printed on the finest paper stock by renowned and experience printers using traditional or modern techniques. They will either be signed by the artist or embossed with authentication.
In the rare eventuality that an error with publicised price or availability means that we cannot fulfil your order we will let you know as soon as we discover the error and issue an immediate and full refund.
Listed sizes are for approximate guidance only. If you require a precise measurement please get in touch.
LIMITED EDITION PRINTS
The very nature of a limited edition print is that it is limited, forever, to the total number detailed in the original edition. If your print is number 70 of 295 then it really is just that: the 70th numbered print in a total edition of 295.
There will also be Artists Proofs (APs) numbering up to a maximum of 10% of the edition, and sometimes Printer’s Proofs (PPs) which are usually kept by the printer, or Hors Commerce prints (HCs) which are used by the publisher for promotional purposes.
Sometimes limited editions are published at different sizes. This is OK, as long as the sizes are distinctly different and they should be published at the same time.
ARTIST/PRINTERS PROOFS
An artist's proof in modern practice is usually used to describe an impression of the finished work that is identical to the numbered copies. There can also be printer's proofs which are taken for the printer to see how the image is printing, or are final impressions the printer is allowed to keep but normally the term "artist's proof" would cover both cases.
Artist's proofs are not included in the count of a limited edition, and they belong to the artist. By convention, the artist is not supposed to sell these at once.
COPYRIGHT
In most cases, if an album cover is a photograph then the photographer will own the copyright. Design work is a little more complicated and depends entirely on the contract drawn up at the time of the creation of the art.
Hypergallery doesn’t own the copyright to any of our prints, but in all cases we ensure that we have the permission of the copyright holder to produce the prints.
ATTRIBUTION
In many cases the creation of an album cover is a collaborative affair. Many album covers designs are attributed to artists who haven’t been directly involved in creating and signing the prints and we aim to make this as transparent and clear as possible in the product details.
ARCHIVAL INKJETS
Archival inkjet printing is also commonly referred to as Giclée. It denotes the high-quality ink-jet printing process which uses fade resistant, archival inks and archival substrates on large format printers to produce fine art prints.
Similarly, the term serigraph has been used to describe artistic use of the silkscreen process.
ARTISTIC ENHANCEMENT
With only a few unavoidable exceptions (when the artist is no longer alive) the prints sold by Hypergallery have been conceived, created, approved and signed by the artist themselves. In many cases the prints look quite different from the original album cover as we give the artist the chance to revisit their original artwork and rework it specifically as a print, without the restrictions of producing it as a mass market album cover.
COST
The value of a print increases as the edition sells out. You may see some prints on sale at a much higher price than others in the same collection and this will usually mean that less of these prints remain available on the primary market. It might also mean that a print has been signed by the musician as well as the artist - for this reason sometimes you may see exactly the same print available at two different prices.
CARING FOR YOUR PRINT
We will wrap your print in acid-free tissue paper and ship it to you in a sturdy cardboard tube. When you take your print out of the tube it is a good idea to let it uncurl overnight on a flat surface before handling it. This will give the paper a chance to lose some of its springiness and make it much easier for you to handle. Remember to wash your hands before handling your print and to take care not to scuff the surface of the image as some of the print surfaces are very delicate.
DISPLAYING YOUR PRINT
We recommend that you frame your print behind conservation quality glass or acrylic (most framers will offer this as standard) and make sure you use archival quality mount board. This way, your print will be free from any materials that might cause it damage.
UK orders will be dispatched by either Royal Mail First Class post, Special Delivery or by courier. Orders to the rest of the world are dispatched by Airmail or by Royal Mail International Tracked and Signed. Royal Mail’s service is a little slower than FedEx and other couriers, but is the only way, at present, for us to guarantee that our prints are actually delivered to a human and signed for. In all cases, a contribution towards the packing and consignment cost will be added to your order and calculated at checkout.
Responsibility for the print lies with us until you receive and sign for it* and for this reason we insist on sending items over £150 by insured, sign-for shipping. All of our print shipments require signature upon delivery so please check the condition of the packaging before accepting it.
*If you have an agreement in place whereby delivery services are to leave parcels without obtaining a signature, as is often the case in the USA, our instruction for them to obtain a signature will be overridden. In these cases responsibility for the print lies with us until it has been recorded as delivered 'as authorised by' your agreement.
COPYRIGHT
All artwork reproduced on the site is the copyright of the respective owners who reserve all their rights. Any use of these images, including reproduction, modification, distribution or transmission is strictly forbidden unless the owners of the copyright give express permission. If your use of an image from our website is covered by Fair Use, we would appreciate it if you would correctly attribute the artist and our website and drop us a line to let us know - we can probably share a link in return.
The design of the site, including all graphics, structure and text is the property of Hypergallery Ltd and all rights are reserved.
PRICING
The price of limited edition prints and collectables increases as the edition sells out. We reserve the right to increase the advertised price of the artwork without notice. The price of the artwork will be in force from the date of publication on the website.
VAT is chargeable on all UK sales. Sales to non-UK customers where the delivery is outside the UK will include a full commercial invoice to aid customs clearance on importation to the destination country. Local duties and taxes may be charged at that stage and are payable by the customer. We will endeavour to help predict these costs where possible and help our customers who are not accustomed to dealing with import duties, especially now that this has become necessary in Europe thanks to the UK's departure from the EU.
Payment made to the UK in other currencies will be converted to pounds sterling at the exchange rate current on the day of the transaction.
PAYMENT
We know how important it is that you feel secure about paying online. Hypergallery.com is hosted by Shopify and payments are handled by Shopify's own system. Shopify is Level 1 PCI DSS compliant by default so payment info and business data is kept safe. Payments made to the UK in other currencies will be converted to pounds sterling at the current exchange rate.
FRAMING
Prints come unframed. Measurements on product pages are approximate and frames should not be ordered based on these measurements. If you would like us to give you a mm accurate measurement please drop us a line.
RETURNS / REFUNDS
We take great care to ensure that your goods are delivered to you in perfect condition, so please do not accept delivery if there is obvious damage to the packaging. If you sign for the goods you are accepting delivery in perfect condition and the shipping agent cannot be held responsible for any damage.
If for any reason you are not happy with your purchase, you may return it for full refund of the cost of the artwork on the following conditions: You must notify us in advance and within 7 days that you wish to return the artwork. You can do this by email or by phone. The artwork must be returned in its original packaging and undamaged within 7 days of your notification. You accept that the shipping cost to return the print is borne by you and the return shipment must be covered by adequate insurance.
Payment made to the UK in other currencies will be converted to pounds sterling at the exchange rate current on the day of the transaction.