2 cover stories in our archive
Behind the Covers' archive includes 2 album covers documented under the "anti design" design theme, spanning the 1980s, 2020s. These covers sit within the pop, electronic, hip-hop tradition and feature work by Charli XCX, Beastie Boys. 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.
Charli XCX designed her own deliberately ugly lime green cover using Arial font, creating one of 2024's most memed and culturally impactful album designs. The intentionally amateurish aesthetic spawned countless imitations and redefined pop album art.
The Beastie Boys' debut features a deliberately generic black background with simple white text, designed by World B. Omes as an anti-cover statement that perfectly captured hip-hop's raw, no-frills aesthetic in 1986.