11 cover stories in our archive
Behind the Covers' archive includes 11 album covers documented under the "abstract" design theme, spanning the 1950s, 1960s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s. These covers sit within the hip-hop, rock, electronic, pop, indie, alternative, funk, soul, jazz tradition and feature work by Kanye West, Tame Impala, Panda Bear, Radiohead and others. Each entry below includes the cover artwork, the designers and photographers behind it, and a short story about the visual choices that defined the release.
Kanye West commissioned neo-geo artist Peter Halley to create an abstract geometric painting, then had it photographed on a cheap disposable camera for maximum rawness. The cover changed multiple times during the album's chaotic rollout.
Robert Beatty's abstract image of swirling liquid in vivid colors visualizes the album's theme of overwhelming change — something solid becoming liquid, a form dissolving and reforming as something new. Not chaos, but metamorphosis.
Panda Bear's psychedelic masterpiece features a self-designed cover inspired by his move to Lisbon, with swirling patterns and vibrant colors that perfectly capture the album's hypnotic sound collages.
Stanley Donwood created this ethereal landscape using a revolutionary digital painting technique, layering translucent colors to mirror Radiohead's groundbreaking pay-what-you-want release strategy with equally innovative visual art that abandoned traditional album cover conventions.
Peter Saville transformed a simple mathematical formula into one of the most striking album covers of the 2000s, using pure geometry and bold color to capture Bloc Party's angular post-punk sound in visual form.
Created during sleepless nights fueled by anxiety about Y2K and climate change, Stanley Donwood's ghostly landscape for Kid A was painted using a light box technique that mimics the ethereal, digitally processed sound of Radiohead's most experimental album.
Thane Kerner's abstract illustration for Dave Matthews Band's breakthrough sophomore album has become synonymous with the band's visual identity. The enigmatic cover features flowing organic forms in muted earth tones, complemented by C. Taylor Crothers' band photography.
Pearl Jam's debut album cover features a mysterious abstract image that's actually an extreme close-up photograph of pool balls. The band wanted something that didn't scream 'grunge' and found their answer in photographer Lance Mercer's experimental macro work.
Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation features a detail from Gerhard Richter's 1983 painting "Kerze" (Candle), cropped so tightly that most viewers don't realize they're looking at a candle flame. The band discovered the German artist's photorealistic painting in a book and used it without permission, creating one of alternative rock's most enigmatic covers.
The explosive red-orange burst radiating from the center creates one of funk's most dynamic covers, perfectly matching the revolutionary energy of Sly Stone's music. The simple yet powerful design became a template for psychedelic soul artwork.
S. Neil Fujita's abstract painting for Time Out broke jazz album cover conventions, replacing typical band photos with bold modernist art that visually mirrored the experimental odd-time signatures within.