Though the effect is pretty, there’s also a bit of stylized violence – she was marrying a bloodthirsty sultan after all. Renaissance’s classic 1975 album Scheherazade & Other Stories was given an appropriate storybook-like cover, showing some of the characters that sprang from its heroine’s imagination. The Hipgnosis team may have made its name with outlandish visions, but they could do something simple and lovely when an album called for it. Renaissance – Scheherazade & Other Stories (1975, Illustrated by Hipgnosis) In America, the album was renamed Expresso and given an alternate cover designed by John Thompson that was equally whimsical but lacked the colorful pop-art elements. The Seattle native Moitoret created similar surrealist designs for Helix, Seattle’s first “underground” newspaper in the 60s. It also tied in with the European title, which literally meant “fizzy!” but likely had a colloquial meaning as well (It’s a gas!). The new sound was steeped in hipster jazz, so in Europe, the 1975 album was given a lively, pop-art cover by artist Jacques Moitoret that harked back to the hippest corners of the early 60s. Gazeuse! was an important transitional album for Gong, who’d lost visionary leader Daevid Allen an album earlier and were now dispensing with vocals altogether. Gong – Gazeuse! (1975, Illustrated by Jacques Moitoret) Trouble was, not everyone in the band smoked, so when keyboardist Peter Bardens proposed a track called “Twenty Sticks of Cancer,” that was the end of that. They even suggested that the band rename some of its instrumentals to reinforce the connection. The European cigarette company loved the cover and released album-themed packs as a tie-in. At home in the U.K., the response was quite different. label came up with a cartoon camel on the moon as a quick substitute. Stateside, the cigarette folks threatened to sue, so the U.S. The album’s original jacket was designed after the Camel cigarettes package by artist Phil Smee (of Motörhead logo fame) but rendered out of focus, as to resemble a mirage. There was no way the original cover for Camel’s 1974 Mirage album was ever going to fly in America. Camel – Mirage (1974, Illustrated by Phil Smee) Speaking on this, he explains that although there are recognisable patterns in his artwork and designs, he also hopes that his work continues to “evolve and improve”.Here are the stories behind some of the greatest prog rock album covers. Moving forward, Samuel says he will be working with more record labels and musicians, expanding his portfolio stateside to further hone his already impressive practice. 2018 also saw him collaborate with iconic American rock band, Thirty Seconds to Mars on the artwork for their single Dangerous Night, through which he was able to combine his skills in art direction, graphic design and photography.Īlong with his ever-changing medium of choice, Samuel’s style also changes frequently from photographic work showcasing vivid colour palettes and neon-lit foregrounds to monochrome typographic poster design, his aesthetic is constantly adapting – with the moody and ethereal tone of his work being the only reoccurring element. Over the past year, conceptualising identities featuring his botanical motifs, Samuel has worked with other big names in music such as Ta-ku & Wafia and Warbear (Yuuki Ozaki). Other recent career developments include relocating from his long-standing base of London to Los Angeles, where new ventures are already underway. “My career has transitioned more towards creative direction in recent years but I am still at my happiest working within graphic design and image-making parameters.” Hard to pinpoint why above anything else, but graphic design is something I became obsessive with and explored seriously in my late teens,” he says. But, on the contrary, he says it’s a no brainer: “Graphic design and art were always natural inclinations as far back as I can remember. With such a mix of disciplines, you would think that Samuel would be hard pushed to pick a favourite. On top of working with the band, Samuel’s portfolio is as vast as his multidisciplinary job title, working for high-profile clients such as Nike and Unilever, for which he recently worked on a range of projects, from branding to macro painting.
We are close friends and talk every day,” he tells It’s Nice That. But for Samuel, the band are much more than just a client: “They are a part of my life, almost separate from the rest of my career. Creative director, artist, graphic designer and photographer, Samuel Burgess Johnson, is most known for his typographic and photographic work for British pop rock band, The 1975.
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