3 cover stories in our archive
Behind the Covers' archive includes 3 album covers documented under the "modernist" design theme, spanning the 1950s, 1980s, 2000s. These covers sit within the alternative, rock, indie, pop, jazz tradition and feature work by The Killers, Peter Gabriel, The Dave Brubeck Quartet. 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.
The Killers created their own cover art for Hot Fuss using simple white text on a stark black background, defying industry expectations for flashy debut album artwork. The band's DIY approach perfectly captured their Vegas-meets-New Wave aesthetic with zero budget but maximum impact.
Peter Saville stripped away all imagery for Gabriel's most commercial album, creating a cover so minimal it consists only of typography on white space. The radical simplicity marked a complete departure from Gabriel's surreal previous covers.
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.