45 RPM A visual history of the seven-inch record

When conducing some further research into album cover design I felt it was appropriate to look at seven inch records in particular. As these dimensions will formulate the basis of my work as are the only real restrictions within this project asides from the making sure I do not give away the title of the band or artist. Looking at some of the classic sleeves over the years would show me if there is anything in particular that makes a seven inch record eye catching.

The images below I have picked eight pages that I found engaging and interesting, trying to pick a large range of artist and genres to give me a better overview.

 This design uses some of Pablo Picasso's drawings and used them for the album artwork. This is an example of how they designs could be fairly ambiguous yet still remain alluring. Picasso confident and simple use of line is always engaging and for there is no difference for this album cover.

 These two artworks show an amazingly expressive use of type to convay the psychedelic style that is the main focus of these designs. I think it is interesting how these hippy, rock theme is shown without the use of colour and to great effect. I think the type is much larger than what you might typically see on a normal record size this is something I will consider in my workings.

These covers for Sex Pistols and the rolling stones I found particularly engaging due to there use of collage and abstraction of images. The designs create a sense of wonder and intrigue and the vibrant and varying use of colour especially on the right shows how effect it can be in composed right. The use of more childish and interesting hand drawn text gives the designs a more tactile and thoughtful designs.

I found these designs particularly eye catching due to the simplicity of the ideas and the composition with the square space. The black and white designs allow the images to stand out from a far and the pink hands on the right hand side sleeve draws the viewer in. I love the concept of the right hand image and it is conveyed in a engaging and concise manor.

These two designs both show amazing uses of contrasting colours, the images have been manipulated to be much more abstract. These two are a real contrast from the rest of the designs yet show how colour combinations that typically may look off putting work together. 

 These designs colour combinations are not unlike the designs above but use much more expressive and interesting type. Both designs show very abstract images in conjunction geometric and exciting type to great effect. The different colour combinations and the tactility of the materials in particular make these design extremely alluring.

 These two designs show again this amazing tactility and personal feel that comes from using better quality and textured materials. Within my design I think to make my work stand out this is something I have to look into, using standard stocks and materials only takes away from the designs.

Looking at these design in context of a seven inch record I think that it is clear that as the size of obviously much smaller the designs need to me more simplistic and work with the space. Making to scale mock ups will allow me to better understand the scaling and if it is appropriate. I additionally think that type sizes are much larger with seven inch records to make them stand out more.