8 cover stories in our archive
Behind the Covers' archive includes 8 album covers documented under the "geometric" design theme, spanning the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s. These covers sit within the alternative, rock, indie, electronic, pop, punk, jazz, funk, soul tradition and feature work by Bloc Party, Death Cab for Cutie, Aphex Twin, The Police 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.
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.
Death Cab for Cutie's Transatlanticism cover was created by Seattle artist Adde Russell: a black bird tangled in vivid red string against a warm ochre field, developed from a white Styrofoam hobby-shop bird and credited to Russell for original artwork and layout.
The debut album that launched ambient techno featured one of electronic music's most minimalist covers—just the Aphex Twin logo floating in stark white space. This radical simplicity perfectly matched Richard D. James's anonymous, mysterious persona and became a template for countless electronic releases.
The Police's final masterpiece features striped portraits that weren't supposed to match but created an accidental optical illusion. Each band member was photographed separately, yet the lines align perfectly when placed together - a visual metaphor for synchronicity itself.
Patrick Nagel's striking illustration of model Marielle Gomar became one of the 1980s most recognizable album covers, featuring bold geometric shapes and vivid colors that perfectly captured MTV's new aesthetic. The artwork was created as an illustration, not a photograph, using Nagel's signature airbrush technique.
The iconic black-and-white photograph of Blondie in matching outfits against a stark white wall became one of new wave's defining images. Shot by fashion photographer Edo Bertoglio, it perfectly captured the band's blend of punk attitude and pop sophistication.
Psychedelic poster artist Victor Moscoso created this mind-bending tribal mask design using his signature vibrating color technique, making it one of the most visually arresting jazz album covers ever produced and helping Herbie Hancock cross over to funk audiences.
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.