Sleeve Talk

I only know one graphic design joke which goes like this:

Q: How many graphic designers does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Does it have to be a light bulb?

A real thigh-slapper huh? What the punchline is (attempting to) make fun of is how designers are taught (or should be) to question assumptions when presented with a problem. These days they call this "thinking outside the box" but I won't because I don't want to be the sort of person who says things like thinking outside the box. Like, does a record sleeve have to be a cardboard square that opens at the side? Why can't it be round? In a tin cannister? Die-cut like a floppy disk?

The original UK sleeve of Elvis Costello's 1978 album "Armed Forces" takes similar liberties with the traditional sleeve format. On the front (above) is a rather naff painting of elephants (which I've always assumed was some conceptual joke about the military) with the amateur, cack-handed quality of art you'd find at a jumble sale. But flip it over and things get a bit more interesting. The album doesn't open at the side but has four brightly-decorated, interlocking flaps..



... that open out like an Origami puzzle...


...into a riot of Jackson Pollock-, Kandinsky-, Pop Art-, and Mondrian-inspired graphics.


Remove the inner sleeve and you get the image that was on the front of the American version of the album (they added "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding?" to the tracklisting too, which sound-wise doesn't fit in with the rest of the album at all.)


This is the work of a designer called Barney Bubbles who is a cult figure among other designers but is barely known outside the field. Unlike contemporaries and followers like Peter Saville, Neville Brody, and Vaughan Oliver there has never been a book published or a museum exhibition of his work. Barney was publicity shy, never gave interviews and was rather nonchalant about credits (his name doesn't appear anywhere on the "Armed Forces" sleeve) reasoning that it was just packaging and there's no designer credit on a box of soap powder. He was closely associated with hippy rockers Hawkwind before making the transition to a more punk/new wave aesthetic working for Stiff Records in the late 70s where he produced an amazing body of work marked by a wit and conceptual brilliance that have kept them fresh today. He designed all Costello's sleeves up to the "Imperial Bedroom" album and other notable work included The Damned's "Music For Pleasure" and Ian Dury's "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick," but his most famous design is probably the brilliant "Blockhead" logo.

"Armed Forces" is probably his Sistine Chapel though, an inspired example of what a great designer can do when given the opportunity to stretch his wings. Costello's previous album "This Years Model" was a big hit so I imagine Barney was told to make a splash with the sleeve of the next one. Above all, it looks like he's having fun, piling on the visual puns and references in a way that matches the intricate, dense wordplay of Costello's lyrics.

Download: Goon Squad - Elvis Costello & The Attractions (mp3)
Buy: "Armed Forces" (album)

For a more in-depth look at Barney's life and work (sadly he committed suicide in 1983) read this excellent post at John Coulthart's site for which I contributed the above photos (larger versions can be found here.)