Top 20 Best Album Covers of the 80s

The top 20 best album covers of the 80s

Here is a definitive collection of the most outstanding album covers of the 80s. This collection is based on layout, design and sheer iconic status. it was a close call to choose the best album covers and this list could have easily doubled in size. Design is very objective so a lot of people will have their own personal preferencess so please comment if you agree or disagree. The 80s arguably produced some of the most inventive, creative and iconic album art above any other decade.

Graceland

Paul Simon

Heavily influenced by the traditional South African music of Ladysmith Black Mambazo also influenced this simple graphic which shows Saint George from an ancient Ethiopian manuscript which dates to the late 15th century.

Thriller

Michael Jackson

The album which launched Michael Jackson into the stratosphere. Everybody recognises this cover which shows Michael with his trade mark white suit. Simple but effective.

Top 20 best designed album covers of the 80s

Songs from the big chair

Tears for Fears

A big commercial hit in 1985 for Tears for Fears. A simple cover with a black and white photograph of Roland and Curt in a relaxed pose. However, this image is indelible in peoples memory.

Greatest Hits

Queen

Queen most certainly produced some of the best (and worst) covers. However, the cover photographed by Lord Snowden showed the band in all of their majestic splendour. We all remember this cover.

Purple Rain

Prince

An incredible photographic image bathed in purple lighting fused with a stylish typeface. The artwork seems to encapsulate the mood of the music and the motion picture perfectly. Simply the best album cover of his career

Rattle and Hum

U2

A hard one to call as U2 really did have some striking album covers. A simple play of typography perfectly placed above Bono and the Edge made this album cover to the top of the list.

U2 - Top 20 best designed album covers of the 80s

Actually

Pet Shop Boys

These guys weren't known for their charisma or their stage presence, which ironically the photo captures. However, the image is iconic.

Synchronicity

The Police

A nice use of black and white imagery with strokes of colour gave this cover visual impact, certainly gave their last studio album a great send off.

So

Peter Gabrial

The cover features a now iconic photograph of Peter, taken by Trevor Key, with 'So' in a serif font top left of the image. Yet again simple but effective.

True Blue

Maddona

Maddonas' side profile in this iconic album cover helped to promote this as one her most remembered album covers. The famous photo was photographed by Herb Ritts

Killers

Iron Maiden

Another close call as this band's resident artist Derrick Riggs produced some mighty fine album covers with the main focus being 'Eddie'. However, this cover was voted the No1 Iron Maiden cover by the fans. Who are we to disagree?

Cyndi Lauper

She's So Unusual

The poor man's Madonna? Whatever you think a great visual treat and simply one of the most eye-catching photographs with her red dress contrasting against the blue house.

Cyndi lauper Top 20 best designed album covers of the 80s

Island Life

Grace Jones

Grace Jones' impossible pose made this image an instant icon. The photographer named Jean Paul Goude created this with a series of boxes holding up certain parts of her body, he then created a montage to give the overall effect. And no Photoshop.

Rio

Duran Duran

Although this classic cover looked like it was created by Adobe Illustrator it was actually was painted by a US artist called Patrick Nagel way back in 1982 who was influenced by art deco

Wireless

Thomas Dolby

This debut album in 1981 was influenced by the 40s and 50s sci-fi magazines of that era complete with a distressed/aged effect. A great piece of illustrative and design work. Can anyone work out the background

Stone Roses

This Jackson Pollock inspired album cover was created by the artist John Squire. A few references were incorporated into the art work i.e. the red, white and blue stripes which symbolised the 1968 French riots and the fact lemons were an antidote to tear gas.

Brothers in Arms

Dire Straits

This 1985 release ushered in the dawn of CD sales for the band. An unusual mix of pink text on sky blue with a photograph of Mark Knopfler’s guitar made this one of the most remembered album covers of the decade.

Brothers in Arms Top 20 best designed album covers of the 80s

Born in the USA

Bruce Springsteen

One of the most recognised album covers of the 80s from 'The Boss'. The title track of the album inspired the photo of Springsteen's backside against the backdrop of an American flag. Obvious but highly effective.

Licensed to Ill

Beastie Boys

The image on the album doesn't become apparent until the gatefold is opened fully. The concept was inspired by the producer of the album who thought what would have happened if such stars lives such as Buddy Holly weren't taken by plane crashes.

Cupid & Psyche 85

Scritti Politti

A nice composition of graphic styling and layout, of course, the torn paper and postal mark effect have been done to death but in its day was considered pioneering (graphically speaking that is).

Scritti Polliti Top 20 best designed album covers of the 80s

RIP Microsoft Paint

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All good things come to an end

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Not exactly the flagship of Microsoft applications but after 32 years the software giant has decided to retire this application.

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I've heard this a few times

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I've heard this a few times

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Have to admit that this has been said a few times, but big is not always better.

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New album artwork done

Just finished the artwork for an excellent new acoustic album from Elias T. Hoth called 'Sickle & Scythe'. The album consists of a six-sided cover and printed CD.
After doing a few visuals one particular image which was manipulated to give a rustic-earthy look really stood out from the rest and was choosen for the final design

What makes good web design?

Time after time I still see clients who have existing websites which despite being created by 'so called' professionals fall short of the mark. The competition is stiff with thousands of websites competing for each sector of business, education and promotion etc. A correctly constructed website takes time, patience and a profession approach. If it is used to promote yourself or your business then it has to be done correctly and be both technically and creatively correct. Here are some points to consider for good website design:

1: Navigation:

One of the biggest turn-offs for the user is not being able to navigate throughout the website. It's surprising how many sites exist which baffles the user to where they are actually navigating to.Keep it simple and let the site flow organically

2: Uncomplimentary colour schemes:

This one doesn't need too much explanation - however, it sometimes it is quite obvious when sites have been constructed by individuals without a creative eye which results in colour clashes and an imbalance within the colour palette. A good website needs to have complimentary colours and a good balance of white space without the site looking 'messy'. In short pick your palette.

3: Incompatibility in certain browser

incredibly I still see some websites that are not compatible with some of the most popular browsers which can lead to simple issues i.e. text clipping issues, or more serious matters like javascript not performing as it should. Upon construction, a website should be tested with at least the big 3 browsers i.e. Explorer, Firefox and Chrome.

4: Responsive

Smartphone and tablets are hugely popular and are increasingly used to surf the web. Therefore your site should be able to be displayed correctly on the largest monitors straight through to the smallest mobile phone.

5: Load time

Not usually a major problem with broadband speeds now. However overloading your site with too much functionality usually involves complicated scripts which run repeated HTTP requests can affect the load time. And for an impatient end user this can result in them closing your page and looking elsewhere.

6: SEO

In a nutshell, you cannot underestimate the power of SEO. Without a website being correctly optimised then effectively it's dead in the water. Again competition is fierce out there so when somebody searches for your services then it's critical to be ranked

Is my website mobile-friendly?

If you have ever thought Is my Website mobile friendly? Well here is another thing to consider, Google is now set to chastise websites that are not mobile-friendly. As more and more people are viewing websites on their mobile and tablet devices is now critical that your website is mobile-friendly, not only to be more user-friendly but it now impacts on your Google search rankings

Here are some steps you can take:

Visit Google's guide to mobile-friendly sites. This page will give you information how to make your site mobile friendly
Take Google's Mobile-Friendly Test to see how your site stacks up on a mobile platform
Try using the Webmaster tools Mobile Usability Report, This can help identify problems with your site

Talk to KM Creative to help change your website so it can become mobile friendly