3 album covers in our archive
Behind the Covers currently documents 3 Prince album covers from 1982 to 1987. Read together, the entries show how the artwork changed from release to release, with each story identifying the designers, photographers, source material, and design decisions behind the sleeve.
Cover evolution
Prince stripped away his usual purple fantasy for stark black typography on white—a radical departure that reflected the album's serious social commentary. The minimalist design was Prince's own creation, abandoning rock star imagery for newspaper-style urgency.
Purple Rain turns a film-poster image into an album sleeve: Prince sits on his customized purple motorcycle while Apollonia Kotero stands in the lit doorway behind him. The photograph was made on Warner Bros.' backlot in Burbank, with Prince credited for art direction, Laura LiPuma for design, and Ron Slenzak / Ed Thrasher & Associates for the front-cover photography. LiPuma created the floral side borders to make the vertical poster composition work on a square LP.
Prince's purple-tinted double album cover features a stark, minimalist portrait that launched his iconic color association. Photographer Allen Beaulieu captured the brooding image in a single session, creating one of the most recognizable album covers of the 1980s.
