CD cover art designs

[amw]

I like these

[Jay F]

I always liked the basic DG label design. Before I knew much about classical music, I thought Deutsche Grammophon was a cut above. A lot of times, that held true.

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[Jay F]

I liked Philips' and DG's original mid-priced covers, too. And the white and red trays. Didn't like the London/Decca version as much.

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[amw]

Worst ones for me are photographs of the artist, especially some artists. 

True. But not all artists.

[Jay F]

Just give me an abstract painting with nicely done font work and I'm happy. 


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I like abstract art, too. I wonder if it's enough to get me to like Brahms.

[kishnevi]

I like these

Disastrous cover, IMO--no fault of the image itself, but it's near impossible to read the composer's name and the titles of the works included without having to make a close inspection of the cover.  The grey type simply makes no contrast with the picture on which it is imposed.

[Rinaldo]

The resurrection of this imprint was a victory for graphic design.

+1

I love L'Oiseau Lyre, both the old and the new, but I prefer this leaner design. It makes me want to buy the disc regardless of its contents. Very dangerous.

[mc ukrneal]

I came upon this thread while reading the "Worst Looking CD/LP Artwork," and decided I'd rather look at some un-uglies. I always liked the design of the DG-Philips-Decca Trio series.

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I agree, always found the minimalistic touch for Pinnock's Bach album to be perfect...


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Sarge just posted some buckeyes from this series on the WAYLT thread. What have buckeyes got to do with Beethoven String Quartets? Or cherries with Bach harpsichord concertos!? The only explanation for your posts is that you accidentally posted in this thread when you meant to post in the worst cd covers thread. Yeah, that must be it. Phew, I thought I was gonna have to knock heads for a minute there... 
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[Jay F]

Sarge just posted some buckeyes from this series on the WAYLT thread. What have buckeyes got to do with Beethoven String Quartets? Or cherries with Bach harpsichord concertos!? The only explanation for your posts is that you accidentally posted in this thread when you meant to post in the worst cd covers thread. Yeah, that must be it. Phew, I thought I was gonna have to knock heads for a minute there... 

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It's three things:

1. Three is my favorite number.

2. It's an interesting way of symbolizing the "three-ness" of the Trio series.

3. I have a predilection for seeing identical, or nearly identical, objects rendered in different colors.

Why don't you point out some of your favorite covers, mc?

[North Star]

What have buckeyes got to do with Beethoven String Quartets? Or cherries with Bach harpsichord concertos!?

So only composer/performer portraits are cool to you?

I like these, for example:





And just about all Hyperion discs.

[mc ukrneal]

Why don't you point out some of your favorite covers, mc?

Sure. Classical art is usually good. Sometimes nature scenes. Though, I like odd angles and such in a classical way. I also like architecture. Humor related to the music is nice. I generally dislike portraits/pictures of people (some paintings can be interesting though). Here are a few I could think of...(by the way, love the Gluck that North Star just posted)...

[Jay F]

Sure. Classical art is usually good. Sometimes nature scenes. Though, I like odd angles and such in a classical way. I also like architecture. Humor related to the music is nice. I generally dislike portraits/pictures of people (some paintings can be interesting though). Here are a few I could think of...(by the way, love the Gluck that North Star just posted)...

Yes, we have very different tastes, mc. The only ones of those I would probably look at twice under normal circumstances are the Handel, the Mozart ASMF, and the Brahms, probably because I could immediately identify each label. A lot of my favorite CDs are from those labels.

In general, I have no interest in representative art, neither on CD booklet covers or in paintings.

Anyway, thanks for responding.

[Pat B]

That Mozart/ASMF cover looks like what happens when the Time Bandits form a chamber ensemble.

[kishnevi]

CPO in my opinion has the best choice of art for its covers.   Naive also tends to come with artistically interesting covers.  Harmonia Mundi France and Hyperion usually are also excellent, but they have their share of "what were they thinking of" images.  For instance, the image used for the cover of the Jerusalem Quartet's newest CD (Janacek and Smetana) is--well, disturbing. 

Most interesting series of covers for me is Gardiner's Bach Cantata series on SDG.

[Rinaldo]

That Mozart/ASMF cover looks like what happens when the Time Bandits form a chamber ensemble.

Ahahaha, spot on!

[mc ukrneal]

CPO in my opinion has the best choice of art for its covers.   Naive also tends to come with artistically interesting covers.  Harmonia Mundi France and Hyperion usually are also excellent, but they have their share of "what were they thinking of" images.  For instance, the image used for the cover of the Jerusalem Quartet's newest CD (Janacek and Smetana) is--well, disturbing. 

Most interesting series of covers for me is Gardiner's Bach Cantata series on SDG.

It is interesting how we can have some of the same favorites (Hyperion and CPO), but so utterly disagree on the Bach Cantata series and Naive. But those two use pictures of people (something I don't like), which is part of it. At least Naive is a bit cheeky, as oppposed to the Gardiner Bach, which I find depressing.

[Jay F]

For instance, the image used for the cover of the Jerusalem Quartet's newest CD (Janacek and Smetana) is--well, disturbing.

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Thank you, Jeffrey. I like the Jerusalem's new cover so much, I'm going to order the CD. Plus I really like their Shostakovich and Brahms.

[Mirror Image]

Sure. Classical art is usually good. Sometimes nature scenes. Though, I like odd angles and such in a classical way. I also like architecture. Humor related to the music is nice. I generally dislike portraits/pictures of people (some paintings can be interesting though). Here are a few I could think of...(by the way, love the Gluck that North Star just posted)...

Wow, I don't like any of these covers. It's always amazing how different all of our tastes are. I think I'm similar to sanantonio in that I like slightly abstract cover art and despise cover art that uses the conductor, or whomever the musician may be, on front.

[mc ukrneal]

Wow, I don't like any of these covers. It's always amazing how different all of our tastes are. I think I'm similar to sanantonio in that I like slightly abstract cover art and despise cover art that uses the conductor, or whomever the musician may be, on front.

You have just very succinctly described EXACTLY what I dislike (both what you like and dislike). How cool is that! Though, I have to add, I find it hard to dislike Renoir for any reason. He's one of my favorite artists.

[kishnevi]

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Thank you, Jeffrey. I like the Jerusalem's new cover so much, I'm going to order the CD. Plus I really like their Shostakovich and Brahms.

Beat you to it: Prestoclassical shipped my copy today.  At worst, I'll turn the case over and have the backside facing me while I play it.  (I think I have everything the Jerusalem Q. has released, including a couple from before their days with HM.)

It is interesting how we can have some of the same favorites (Hyperion and CPO), but so utterly disagree on the Bach Cantata series and Naive. But those two use pictures of people (something I don't like), which is part of it. At least Naive is a bit cheeky, as opposed to the Gardiner Bach, which I find depressing.

The Gardiner covers are a sort of anthropological tour: no musicians appear on the covers.
Regarding Naive, remember that 1) I said "artistically interesting".  This is not the same as "aesthetically pleasing".  There are some rather ugly covers from Naive.  But they're artistically ugly.   2)Naive does sometimes use photos of the musicians on its covers, but often the images have no apparent link to the music--paintings or prints contemporary to the music. or rather enigmatic photos like the one which appears on the Vegh Quartet Beethoven cycle.  The only Naive series that uses exclusively humans is the Vivaldi Edition, and my point 1 definitely applies there.