Vinyl records are not only about the  sound, they are also about style, nostalgia, and pure aesthetics. From album  covers to custom painted vinyls, vinyl art is a perfect combination of music and art which has  fascinated collectors and music enthusiasts for many years. Whether it is the bright pop art of Andy Warhol  on The Velvet Underground & Nico or the strange and beautiful design of Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures,  album covers and vinyl art have been an essential part of the history and development of music.

So,  we are going to uncover some of the greatest examples of vinyl art.

(Unknown Pleasures Shop on the Royal Mile) 

 The Album Cover as a Canvas

Some of the most famous images in pop culture are from album  covers. Musicians have adopted record sleeves as a way to express themselves, to challenge the audience  and to represent the music that is inside.

🎨 The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely  Hearts Club Band (1967)
This is a psychedelic collage, designed by Peter Blake and Jann  Haworth, and it is regarded as one of the most influential album covers of all time. It  defined what album cover art should look like and what it should not.

🎨 The Velvet Underground  & Nico (1967)
The simple yet effective banana design by Andy Warhol is one of the  most famous album covers in music history. Curiously enough, the initial editions had a peelable banana  sticker that revealed a rather suggestive pink fruit when peeled.

🎨 Pink Floyd – The Dark Side  of the Moon (1973)
The prism and rainbow spectrum design by Hipgnosis is one of  the most loved covers in rock history. It is a simple yet effective cover that is able to capture  the theme of the album without the use of words.

🎨 Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures  (1979)
Stark and black and white, this waveform design by Peter Saville has become  a cultural symbol and can be found on everything from t-shirts to tattoos. It is based on a  pulsar signal, but it has found a place in the cultural realm far beyond its initial scientific context.

 Check out this collection of iconic vinyl art covers to find out more about some of the best vinyl  art.

Vinyl as a Medium for Art

However, the physical vinyl record  itself has also become a canvas on which people can create art. Some artists and collectors have painted,  engraved or sculpted the records to make them pieces of art.
 

Picture Discs 

These  records have a printed image on the vinyl itself, and at times, the grooves are hardly  visible. While audiophiles debate their sound quality, their visual appeal is undeniable.

(Tangerine Dream: Warsaw in the Sun. A shaped picture disc)

(Eadweard Muybridge’s Phenakistoscope Artwork on Vinyl: which gives the illusion of movement when spun) 

Hand-Painted Records 

There are some artists who will take old records and make them into  one-of-a-kind paintings, fusing music and painting into one piece.

Etched Vinyl 

Some records  have intricate laser etched artwork which when the vinyl is spun, can produce amazing effects instead of having  music grooves on one side.

Discover some amazing pieces of vinyl art here.

Final Spin

People have realised that records are  not only about the music, they are parts of culture, they are blank slates and they are  pieces of nostalgia. If you are a collector, a music buff or simply an art enthusiast, the  impact of vinyl visuals will not be lost on you.

🎵  What’s your favorite vinyl artwork? Let us know! 🎨

Explore some of our related blogs here: 

Moriz Jung: The Artist Who Captured the Magic of Early Phonographs

Cassettes vs. Vinyl: Which of the Two Is More Retro?

The Phonograph: A Journey Through Sound and Time

Before Podcasts: The Fascinating World of Educational Vinyl Records