City Libraries, City of Gold Coast

Alex Steinweiss, the inventor of the modern album cover, by Kevin Reagan with an introduction by Steven Heller

eng

Includes bibliographical references (p. 416)

illustrations

no index present

non fiction

Alex Steinweiss

bibliographycatalogs

by Kevin Reagan with an introduction by Steven Heller

the inventor of the modern album cover

"Alex Steinweiss invented the album cover as we know it, and created a new graphic art form. In 1940, as Columbia Records' young new art director, he pitched an idea: Why not replace the standard plain brown wrapper with an eye-catching illustration? The company took a chance, and within months its record sales increased by over 800 per cent. His covers for Columbia--combining bold typography with modern, elegant illustrations--took the industry by storm and revolutionized the way records were sold. Over three decades, Steinweiss made thousands of original artworks for classical, jazz, and popular record covers for Columbia, Decca, London, and Everest; as well as logos, labels, advertising material, even his own typeface, the Steinweiss Scrawl. He launched the golden age of album cover design and influenced generations of designers to follow. Less well known--but included here--are his posters for the U.S. Navy; packaging and label design for liquor companies; film title sequences; as well as his fine art. Includes essays by three-time Grammy Award-winning art director/designer Kevin Reagan and graphic design historian Steven Heller; Steinweiss' personal recollections from an epic career; and extensive ephemera from the Steinweiss archive, most of it never before published." --Publisher's website

Foreword / Kevin Reagan -- Vorwort / Kevin Reagan -- Avant-propos / Kevin Reagan -- School days / Schulzeit Les Annees D'ecole -- Visualizing music / Steven Heller -- The apprentice / Lehrjahre L'apprentissage -- Musik wird bild / Steven Heller -- The composing room / Der Composing Room: The Composing Room -- Visualiser la musique / Steven Heller -- The production process / Das Herstellungsverfahren le Procede de Fabrication -- Remastering Columbia / Das el der Columbia Recomposition de Columbia -- In the navy / Bei der U.S. Navy Dans La Marine -- Packaging records / Plattenhullen Conditionnementdudisque -- Logos and letterhead / Logos und Briefkopfe Logos et en-Tetes -- Poster design / Plakatentwurfe Affiches -- The Steinweiss scrawl / Der Steinweiss Scrawl: Le Steinweiss Scrawl -- Creative remedies / Kreative Heilmettel Remedes Creatifs -- Magazines and books / Zeitschriften und Bucher Livres et Revues -- Decca and London / Decca und London et London -- Film titles / Filmtitel Le Traitement de Tritre -- 'Tis the season / Es Weinhnachetet Sehr La Periode de Fetes -- Design for distilleries / Design Fur Hochprozentiges Dessins Pour Distilleries -- Scaling Everest / Die Bexwingung von Everest L'Escalade d'Everest -- Ceramic art / Keramikkunst l'art Ceramique -- Homage to music / Hommage an die Musik Hommage a la Musique -- Collage series / Collagenserie Series de Colleages -- Tangency series / Die Tangency-Reihe Series Tangency -- Alex Steinweiss: a life / Alex Steinweiess: Ein Leben Alex Steinweiss: Une Vie

Inventor of the modern album coverSteinweiss