Since I Left You

Jonathan Zawada spent months collecting vintage airline advertisements and travel brochures from the 1960s and 70s to create what would become one of electronic music's most beloved album covers. The young Sydney-based designer understood that The Avalanches' sample-heavy masterpiece needed artwork that reflected the band's cut-and-paste aesthetic.

The concept emerged from the album's title track, which featured a haunting vocal sample about departure and longing. Zawada envisioned the cover as a visual representation of escape and wanderlust, themes that ran throughout the record's dreamy soundscapes.

Working in the pre-digital collage era, Zawada physically cut and assembled dozens of airline promotional materials. He layered images of stewardesses, aircraft, and exotic destinations to create a sense of movement and journey that mirrored the album's seamless flow between samples.

The central image features a vintage airliner floating through clouds, surrounded by fragmented images of travelers and tropical destinations. Zawada deliberately chose imagery from commercial aviation's golden age, when flying represented glamour and possibility rather than routine transportation.

The designer's meticulous attention to color harmony created a cohesive whole from disparate source materials. He carefully balanced warm oranges and cool blues to evoke both sunset skies and ocean depths, suggesting the liminal space between departure and arrival.

Zawada was already establishing himself as one of Australia's most innovative graphic designers when he took on the project. His approach combined the tactile quality of analog collage with a sophisticated understanding of visual rhythm that complemented the music perfectly.

When Since I Left You was released, the cover immediately resonated with fans and critics alike. Music journalists praised how the artwork captured the album's nostalgic yet forward-looking spirit, while design publications celebrated its fresh take on retro aesthetics.

The cover helped establish a visual language for sample-based electronic music that influenced countless album designs throughout the 2000s. Its success demonstrated how thoughtful artwork could enhance and expand an album's conceptual reach beyond the music itself.

Zawada went on to become one of the most sought-after designers in electronic music, creating covers for artists like Flume and What So Not. However, many consider Since I Left You his masterpiece, a perfect marriage of concept and execution.

The original collage artwork now resides in Zawada's personal archive, though he has occasionally exhibited it in galleries as a standalone art piece, cementing its status as both commercial design and fine art.