Next month, eclectic hip-hop and soul artist Theophilus London releases his new album, Vibes!, and in addition to getting excited about the new music, we were impressed by the retro-inspired artwork unveiled for the release. The fashion-forward musician teamed with fashion legend Karl Lagerfeld for the visual design, and what resulted is an album cover with a very distinctly ’80s look.
Inspired by this contemporary tribute to a retro aesthetic, we decided to re-envision some of our other favorite recent album releases as homages to eras gone by. To do so, designer Jami Miles created all-new artwork for artists including Drake, Miley Cyrus, and Arctic Monkeys, all paying tribute to vintage design styles.
Read on for Jami’s thoughts on each piece, and click on any album title to see the real artwork featured on its release.
1950s
Frank Ocean, Channel Orange
“For this piece, I played with the literal idea of a channel, with the orange static screen on a vintage TV set. A lot of the material on the album focuses on California life, which is why I chose the halftone beach background and palm trees extending out of the noise-filled screen.”
1950s
Drake, Nothing Was the Same
“Jazz music has consistently informed hip-hop, so a late-50s jazz-style record cover for Drake was perfect. The somber tone of the album also made it easy to create an instantly recognizable visual aesthetic similar to the actual cover itself.”
1960s
Arctic Monkeys, AM
“I wanted this one to be vivid, psychedelic, and dreamlike. The album’s lyrics talk a lot about a powerful female figure, which is why I chose the feminine legs. Basically, frontman Alex Turner (or his imagined persona) can’t stop thinking about her, and she’s walking through his daydreams.”
1970s
Bombay Bicycle Club, So Long, See You Tomorrow
“This one also plays off the idea explored in the original artwork. The album is very much about circularity, things falling apart and coming back together, especially in relationships. Night and day are used much like in the original cover to convey repetition, but also separation. I wanted to keep the figures anonymous and almost ghostlike to express the feeling of someone being a memory.”
1980s
Miley Cyrus, Bangerz
“Miley often seems like she could have stepped right out of the ’80s, so this era is especially appropriate for her. The centered mouth, tongue-out, is inspired by the provocative star herself. It sums up the attitude of the whole album — and the artist herself — for me.”
Explore the lightbox below to see all the images used in this post »
Which other album covers would you like to see reinvented for different eras? Let us know in the comments!
Interested in creating your own album art? Check out this tutorial for more inspiration »
