Design Inspiration From Music Album Covers Music and art has accompanied each other ever since

the first album art was introduced in 1939 by Columbia Records graphic artist Alex Steinweiss (1917-2011). Album cover art has helped pushed influential music recordings to cultural and iconic status, thanks to the work of artists, designers and photographers who created art that gave the listener a visual idea of what them recorded music is all about. Since most multimedia design also involves other accompanying mediums other than visual, it would be helpful for the designer to study the work of commercial graphic artists who were hired by music companies to create eye-catching album covers that will make the musicians work stand out from the rest in store shelves. The following are examples of album cover art that have successfully stirred the imaginations of millions of music listeners and impacted popular culture. 1. YES - Relayer (1974). The album cover was designed by English artist and architect Roger Dean, whose style reflects an otherworldly, fantasy feel.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/92/Relayer_front_cover.jpg

2. PINK FLOYED -Wish You Were Here (1975) With art direction from graphic artist Storm Thorgerson, this album art makes use of song lyric metaphor (getting burned). Two stuntmen, one of them wearing a fire-retardant suit, posed for this iconic image.
http://images3.makefive.com/images/entertainment/music/albums-you_ll-still-be-listening-to-20years-from-now/wish-you-were-here-pink-floyd-7.jpg

3. PUBLIC IMAGE LTD. - Metal Box (1979). The bands label hired designer Dennis Morris to create an album packaging beffiting the sound of the music in the album, which included metallic guitar effects. It is a literal round metal box with the bands logo embossed on top.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/23/PIL_-_Metal_Box_original.jpg

4. THE BEATLES - SGT. PEPPERS LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND (1967). Considered as one of the most expensive album covers in the history of rock music, it was put together by art director Robert Fraser, designers Peter Blake and Jann Haworth, and photographer Michael Cooper. A big cardboard collage of famous people served as a backdrop to the Fab Four, dressed in military marching band uniforms. The drum was used to show the album title, and it was painted on by artist Joe Ephgrave.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/50/Sgt._Pepper%27s_Lonely_Hearts_Club_Band.jpg

5. U2 - THE JOSHUA TREE (1987). Designed by Steve Averill, using photographs by Anton Corbijn, U2s tour photographer at that time. The albums namesake, a specie of the yucca plant commonly seen in desert regions of North America, was known as a resilient tree and was named so after a Mormon legend based on the biblical character Joshua. As U2s songs for this album reflected themes based on lyrical imageries of the desert, resilience and spiritual redemption, Corbijn took the band to several locations in the Death Valley National Park, the most well-known desert in the U.S., and shot what would become one of the most iconic pop culture images of the 80s.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6b/The_Joshua_Tree.png

6. VELVET UNDERGROUND - VELVET UNDERGROUND AND NICO (1967). The minimalist-style album cover features a banana image print by reknowned pop art forefather Andy Warhol. The original pressing of the album has a banana sticker that can then be peeled off to reveal a flesh-colored fruit flesh, suggestive of the sexual themes which was part of the albums lyrical content.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0c/Velvet_Underground_and_Nico.jpg

7. SONIC YOUTH - GOO (1990). The band that was well-known for its sound experimentation and noise collages would require an album cover that fits well with its stark imagery. Longtime punk album artist Raymond Pettibon provided a line drawing based on a photo of Maureen Hindley and ex-husband David Smith, witnesses to the 1966 Moors Murders case.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b2/Sonic_Youth_Goo.jpg

8. AC/DC - BACK IN BLACK (1980). The Australian hard rock band behind one of the most definable albums in rock music had the idea for an all-black album cover after the death of their lead singer Bonn Scott, who died while still in the middle of recording the album. The band then faced an uncertain future because of the loss. They decided to finish the album with newly-hired singer Brian Johnson, and thought up of the black cover as a form of mourning for their late lead singer. Atlantic Records had qualms about the idea but gave in when the band agreed to have the gray outline around their logo. The seemingly-menacing and grim appearance of the album with its utmost minimalism actually worked well for it, as it became a commercial success.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/92/ACDC_Back_in_Black.png

9. ROLLING STONES - EXILE ON MAIN ST. (1972). A gatefold cover was used for this records cover, to showcase concealed artwork that is part of the one visible on the cover. The photography and concept was made by well-known photographer and film maker Robert Frank. He used some of the photos from his influential 1958 book The Americans on the cover, to match the musical content of the album, that draws from various styles of American popular music such as r&b, gospel, blues, soul, rock and roll

and country. It corresponds with the idea of American culture being a mix of different cultural influences, as the photos aim to represent American culture from various locations and socio-economic strata.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/ca/ExileMainSt.jpg

10. GREEN DAY - DOOKIE (1994). Illustrated by Richie Bucher, it depicts cartoon bombs being dropped all over the place. Looking closely, though, one will see references to San Franciscos East Bay music scene, which the band pays tribute to. According to Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, I wanted the art work to look really different. I wanted it to represent the East Bay and where we come from, because there's a lot of artists in the East Bay scene that are just as important as the music. So we talked to Richie Bucher. He did a 7-inch cover for this band called Raooul that I really liked. He's also been playing in bands in the East Bay for years. There's pieces of us buried on the album cover. There's one guy with his camera up in the air taking a picture with a beard. He took pictures of bands every weekend at Gilman's. The robed character that looks like the Mona Lisais the woman on the cover of the first Black Sabbath album. Angus Young is in there somewhere too. The graffiti reading "Twisted Dog Sisters" refers to these two girls from Berkeley. I think the guy saying "The fritter, fat boy" was a reference to a local cop.