There was a time when my favourite album covers looked like the fantasies of a prepubescent boy – all demons, lightning bolts, strange new worlds – and I firmly believed that Mark Wilkinson and Derek Riggs were the greatest artists to set oil on canvas, thanks to their designs for Marillion and Iron Maiden.
‘Like a neon sign Jonathan Richman would have seen on Route 128’ Harriet Gibsone The Modern Lovers – The Modern Lovers Its colour scheme, a very 70s clash of bold hues – mauve, red and orange – are also gregarious shades that seem to complement what Melody Maker referred to, somewhat snidely, as this album’s “cocktail jazz”.Įxamining this vinyl sleeve in 2016, the artwork appears effortlessly aloof and elegant, it emanates a strange sophistication, and is a symbol of a man who shirked the spotlight, the stereotypes and the silly shoes of the 1970s. I happen to think his terrible posture and shadowy face is rather apt, given his temperament. Backstory aside, the other intangible elements of the image come from its awkward composition, something that I love, but is likely to infuriate design pedants, from the positioning of the portrait in the oval shape which looks a little off-kilter, to Drake’s face, largely covered in shadow.
If one forum is to be believed, Waymouth’s shoes, which were made to design by the Chelsea Cobbler, were placed in front of Drake’s feet “to add an optimistic note (blue suede shoes – dancing shoes), in an otherwise sombre photograph, that would echo the title of the album, Bryter Layter.” The post also goes on to detail its other items: the chair Drake sits on was once reportedly owned by Charles Dickens, who sat in it to write, and the small Guild guitar was one that Eric Clapton gave to his friend and flatmate Martin Sharp.