View source for Cover art

{{short description|Artwork on the outside of a published product}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2011}}

[[File:Edward Penfield, Harper's June, 1896.jpg|thumb|''[[Harper's Magazine]]'', June 1896, by [[Edward Penfield]]]]

'''Cover art''' is a type of artwork presented as an [[illustration]] or [[photograph]] on the outside of a [[published]] product, such as a [[book]] (often on a [[dust jacket]]), [[magazine]], [[newspaper]] ([[Tabloid journalism|tabloid]]), [[comic book]], [[video game]] ([[box art]]), [[Album|music album]] ([[Album cover|album art]]), [[CD]], [[videotape]], [[DVD]], or [[podcast]]. Cover art can include various things such as logos, symbols, images, colors, or anything that represents what is being sold or advertised. <ref name=":03">{{Cite web |title=Evolution of Cover Art: From Vinyl Records to Digital |url=https://music-artworks.com/the-history-and-evolution-of-cover-art/ |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=music-artworks.com/ |language=en-US}}</ref> The art has a commercial function (i.e., to promote the product it is displayed on), but can also have an aesthetic function, and may be artistically connected to the product (such as with art by, or commissioned by, the creator of the product).

== Album cover art ==

{{Main article|Album cover}}

Album cover art has a long history dating back to the late 19th century. This art is artwork created for a [[Album|music album]] and is one of the most representative techniques to show the changes and trends found within the music, art, culture, and technological industries.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |title=Evolution of Cover Art: From Vinyl Records to Digital |url=https://music-artworks.com/the-history-and-evolution-of-cover-art/ |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=music-artworks.com/ |language=en-US}}</ref> As music became popularized, so did creating cover art. Throughout the years, cover art went through different stages and styles. 

In 1938, Columbia Records hired [[Alex Steinweiss]] as its first art director.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-02 |title=The Evolution & Artistry of Vinyl Record Album Cover Design - By Kerwin |url=https://bykerwin.com/the-evolution-artistry-of-vinyl-record-album-cover-design/#:~:text=The%20first-ever%20album%20cover,how%20album%20covers%20were%20perceived. |access-date=2024-12-08 |language=en-GB}}</ref> Notable album cover art includes [[Pink Floyd]]'s ''[[The Dark Side of the Moon]]'', [[King Crimson]]'s ''[[In the Court of the Crimson King]]'', [[Kanye West|Kanye West's]] ''[[My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy]],''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Milton |first=Jamie |date=2017-11-20 |title=The best album artwork of the 21st Century so far |url=https://www.nme.com/photos/best-album-artwork-21st-century-2155715 |access-date=2024-01-29 |website=NME |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |author=Billboard Staff |date=March 16, 2022 |title=The 50 Greatest Album Covers of All Time |url=https://www.billboard.com/photos/best-album-covers-of-all-time-6715351/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006125825/https://www.billboard.com/photos/best-album-covers-of-all-time-6715351/ |archive-date=October 6, 2022 |access-date=January 29, 2024 |magazine=Billboard}}</ref> [[the Beatles]]' ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'', ''[[Abbey Road]]'' and their [[The Beatles (album)|self-titled "White Album"]], among others. Albums can have cover art created by the musician, as with [[Joni Mitchell]]'s ''[[Clouds (Joni Mitchell album)|Clouds]]'',<ref>{{cite web |url=http://jonimitchell.com/paintings/view.cfm?id=11 |access-date=8 June 2014 |title=Clouds |website=Joni Mitchell |publisher=Les Irvin}}</ref> or by an associated musician, such as [[Bob Dylan]]'s artwork for the cover of ''[[Music from Big Pink]]'', by [[the Band]], Dylan's backup band's first album.

Artists known for their album cover art include [[Alex Steinweiss]], an early pioneer in album cover art, [[Roger Dean (artist)|Roger Dean]], and the [[Hipgnosis]] studio. Some album art may cause controversy because of nudity (for example, [[John Lennon]] and [[Yoko Ono]]'s'' [[Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins]]''), offending churches, trademark or others.<ref name="nyt">Heller, Steven, [https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/20/business/media/alex-steinweiss-originator-of-artistic-album-covers-dies-at-94.html?_r=1 "Alex Steinweiss, Originator of Artistic Album Covers, Dies at 94,"] ''The New York Times'', July 19, 2011</ref> There have been numerous books documenting album cover art, particularly [[Rock music|rock]] and [[jazz]] album covers.<ref>"The Blues: Album Cover Art", Chronicle Books, 1996</ref><ref>''1000 Record Covers'', Michael Ochs, [[Taschen]] Publications, 2005</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Designed for hi-fi living : the vinyl LP in midcentury America |last1=Borgerson|first1=Janet |publisher=MIT Press|last2=Schroeder |first2=Jonathan E. |year=2017|isbn=9780262036238 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|oclc=958205262}}</ref> Steinweiss was an art director and graphic designer who brought custom artwork to record album covers and invented the first packaging for long-playing records.<ref name="nyt" />

[[Joanne Gair]]'s early album artwork such as  [[David Lee Roth]]'s 1986 ''[[Eat 'Em and Smile]]'' album cover helped launch her career.<ref>{{cite book|title=Body Painting: Masterpieces by Joanne Gair|isbn= 0-7893-1509-2|year=2006|publisher=Universe Publishing|author=Gair, Joanne}}, intro</ref>

== Book cover ==

A [[book cover]] is usually made up of images (illustrations, photographs, or a combination of both) and text. It emerged in the 19th century when books started to become mass-produced.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Books: Cover Art - Illustration History |url=https://www.illustrationhistory.org/genres/books-cover-art#:~:text=Some%20of%20the%20first%20radically,Alexander%20Rodchenko%20and%20El%20Lissitzky. |access-date=2024-12-08 |website=www.illustrationhistory.org}}</ref> It usually includes the book title and author and can also include (but not always) a book [[tagline]] or quote. The book cover design is usually designed by a [[graphic designer]] or [[book designer]], working in-house at a publisher or freelance. Authors can make suggestions for book cover design elements (e.g., a preferred color) but rarely communicate directly with the designer.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Isen |first=Tajja |date=2024-08-14 |title=The Hidden Racism of Book Cover Design {{!}} The Walrus |url=https://thewalrus.ca/the-hidden-racism-of-book-cover-design/ |access-date=2024-10-14 |language=en-US}}</ref>  Once the front cover art has been approved, they will then continue to design the layout of the spine (including the book title, author name and publisher imprint logo) and the back cover (usually including a book [[blurb]] and sometimes the barcode and publisher [[logo]]). Books can be designed as a set of series or as an individual design. Very commonly, the same book will be designed with a different cover in different countries to suit the specific audience. For example, a cover designed for Australia may have a completely different design in the United Kingdom and again in the United States.

Book covers need to be effective at marketing, which can encourage reliance on stereotypical representations.<ref name=":0" />  For example, if the marketing strategy emphasizes that the author is a woman, then the cover might be designed in stereotypical feminine colors such as pink, and if the publisher wants to emphasize that the author is from a particular ethnic background, then the cover might include stereotypical representations of people from that ethnic group.<ref name=":0" />

Book cover art has had books written on the subject.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Guden |first=Catherine |date=2024-10-21 |title=The history and future of book covers: the influence of cover design within the publishing industry. |url=https://wearewhitefox.com/the-history-and-future-of-book-covers-the-influence-of-cover-design-within-the-publishing-industry/ |access-date=2024-12-16 |website=Whitefox |language=en-US}}</ref> Numerous artists have become noted for their book cover art, including [[Richard M. Powers]] and [[Chip Kidd]]. In one of the most recognizable book covers in American literature, two sad female eyes (and bright red lips) adrift in the deep blue of a night sky, hover ominously above a skyline that glows like a carnival.  Evocative of sorrow and excess, the haunting image has become so inextricably linked to ''[[The Great Gatsby]]'' that it still adorns the cover of [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]]'s book 88 years after its debut.  The iconic cover art was created by Spanish artist [[Francis Cugat]]. With the release of a big Hollywood movie, however, some printings of the book have abandoned the classic cover in favor of one that ties in more closely with the film.<ref>{{cite web |last=Stamp |first=Jimmy |date=May 14, 2013 |title=When F. Scott Fitzgerald Judged Gatsby By Its Cover |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/when-f-scott-fitzgerald-judged-gatsby-by-its-cover-61925763/ |website=Smithsonian Magazine}}</ref>

== Magazine cover ==

First showing in the 1900s, illustrated covers became common with magazines like Vogue and Cosmopolitan featuring full-page illustrations in the 1900s.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-05-04 |title=A Brief History of Magazine Cover Illustration {{!}} Art & Object |url=https://www.artandobject.com/slideshows/brief-history-magazine-cover-illustration |access-date=2024-12-08 |website=www.artandobject.com |language=en}}</ref> The first magazine cover with a photo appeared in 1932. Vogue was one of the first to adopt photography, and its first full-color photo cover was in July 1932. Famous artists like Salvador Dalí, Man Ray, and Juan Miró contributed covers to Vogue in the 1940s.  Magazine cover artists include [[Art Spiegelman]], who modernized the look of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' magazine, and his predecessor [[Rea Irvin]], who created the [[Eustace Tilly]] character for the magazine. Magazine cover artists who were well known for capturing important political and social issues of the day include [[Norman Rockwell]], whose work appeared 322 times on the cover of ''[[The Saturday Evening Post]]''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Norman Rockewell Biography |url=https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/norman-rockwell-biography/ |website=The Saturday Evening Post |quote=Forty-seven years later, Rockwell’s work had appeared 322 times on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post — the last, a portrait of John F. Kennedy, appeared in 1963, a week after the president’s assassination.}}</ref> (11 featuring the [[Willie Gillis]] character),<ref name=NRWC>{{cite press release|url=http://www.philadelphiahistory.org/akm/press/photo/?action=viewPressRelease&id=e37709b0b7b228315ffd0c71ec17c9c3 |title=Norman Rockwell's Wartime Covers  |access-date=April 4, 2008 |publisher=Atwater Kent Museum of Philadelphia |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080309020644/http://www.philadelphiahistory.org/akm/press/photo/?action=viewPressRelease&id=e37709b0b7b228315ffd0c71ec17c9c3 |archive-date=March 9, 2008  }}</ref> and Dennis Wheeler, whose 40 covers for [[Time (magazine)|''Time'']] magazine illustrated social movements and news events of the 1960s and 1970s; seven of them are in the permanent collection of the [[Museum of Modern Art]] in New York City.<ref>{{Cite web|date=July 21, 2016 |title=Wheeler: In the Permanent Collection of the Museum of Modern Art |url=http://joedimaggiophoto.com/2016/07/21/wheeler-in-the-permanent-collection-of-the-museum-of-modern-art/|website=Joe DiMaggio Photography}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Dennis Wheeler |website=Museum of Modern Art |url=https://www.moma.org/artists/6333}}</ref> ''[[Mad (magazine)|Mad]]'' magazine has a long history of placing the [[Alfred E. Neuman]] character prominently on its cover.<ref>Maria Reidelbach. Completely Mad: A History of the Comic Book and Magazine (New York: Little Brown & Company, 1992).</ref>

== Tabloid cover ==

Today, the word [[Tabloid journalism|tabloid]] is used as a derogatory descriptor of a style of journalism, rather than its [[Tabloid (newspaper format)|original intent]] as an indicator of half-broadsheet size. This tends to cloud the fact that the great tabloids were skilfully produced amalgams of human interest stories told with punchy brevity, a clarity drawn from the choice of simple but effective words and often with a dose of wit.<ref name="Day">Day, Mark. (2008, August 21). "For a brighter future, tabloids could look to the past." The Australian, p. 38.</ref> The gossipy tabloid scandal sheets, as we know them today, have been around since 1830.  That's when [[Benjamin Day (publisher)|Benjamin Day]] and [[James Gordon Bennett Sr.]], the respective publishers of ''[[The Sun (New York City)|The Sun]]'' and the ''[[New York Herald]]'', launched what became known as the [[penny press]] (whose papers sold for one cent apiece).<ref name="McLaren">McLaren, Leah. (2001, August 11). "Admit it: Tabloid culture is what we are" The Globe and Mail, p. L3.</ref>  But some of what is considered the world's best journalism has been tabloid.<ref name="Wynne-Jones ">Wynne-Jones, Ros. (2011, July 28). "They've still got news for us." Independent Extra, p. 2.</ref> From the days when [[John Pilger]] revealed the truth of Cambodia's [[Killing Fields]] in the ''[[Daily Mirror]]'', to the stream of revelations that showed the hypocrisy of John Major's "back to basics" cabinet, award-winning writing in the tabloids is acknowledged every year at the National Press Awards.<ref name="Wynne-Jones "/>

Good cover art can lead readers to this fact; the ''New York Herald'', for example, offers some examples of tabloid cover art.<ref>{{cite web |author=C. DeForest Switzer |date=August 11, 2017 |title=Cover-Art Credentials |website=Siouxland Observer |url=http://siouxlandobserver.blogspot.com/2017/08/cover-art-credentials.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=new york Herald cover art |url=https://www.google.com/search?q=new+york+Herald+cover+art |website=Google}}</ref> So too does the ''[[News & Review]]'', a free weekly published in Nevada and California.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.newsreview.com/gyrobase/entry |title= News & Review|date= 26 March 2020}}</ref> The tabloid has thrived since the 1970s, and uses cartoonish cover art.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chico Issue Archive |url=http://www.newsreview.com/chico/archive |website=Chico News & Review Archives}}</ref> Tabloids have a modern role to play, and along with good cover art (and new ideas) they fill a niche.<ref name="Berlin">Berlin, Jess S. (2006, November 8). "Cyber tabloid will cover all the news that's virtually true." The Guardian, p. 20.</ref>

== Sheet music cover ==

[[Sheet music]] cover artists include Frederick S. Manning, [[William Austin Starmer|William Austin Starmer and Frederick Waite Starmer]], all three of whom worked for [[Jerome H. Remick]].  Other prolific artists included [[Albert Wilfred Barbelle]], [[André De Takacs|André C. De Takacs]],<ref name="ragpiano-De-Takacs" /> and [[Gene Buck]].  E. H. Pfeiffer<ref name="ragpiano-Pfeiffer" /> did cover illustrations for [[Gotham-Attucks]]; Remick, F.B. Haviland Pub. Co.; [[William Jerome|Jerome & Schwartz Publishing Company]]; Lew Berk Music Company; [[Waterson, Berlin & Snyder, Inc.]]; and others.

== Gallery ==

=== Books ===

<gallery mode="packed" heights="160" style="text-align:left">
File:Ivory book cover MS Douce 176.jpg|Ivory [[book cover]] with scenes from the life of Christ, {{Circa|800 AD}}
File:Mitrohin for Zamiatin's Uezdnoe.jpg|{{Lang|ru-latn|Uezdnoe}}, by [[Yevgeny Zamyatin]], 1916
File:RealMotherGoose.jpg|''The Real Mother Goose,'' [[Blanche Fisher Wright]], illustrator, 1916
File:The Great Gatsby Cover 1925 Retouched.jpg|''[[The Great Gatsby]]'' by [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]], dust jacket art by [[Francis Cugat]], 1925
</gallery>

=== Newspapers, magazines, comic books ===

<gallery mode="packed" heights="160" style="text-align:left">
File:OlympicClubTimesDemocratHeadline.JPG|[[Gentleman Jim Corbett]] and [[John L. Sullivan]] at the [[Olympic Club (New Orleans)|Olympic Club]], [[New Orleans]], ''[[The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate|The Times-Democrat]],'' September 8, 1892
File:Billboard02 10thAnniv.jpg|''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'s'' tenth anniversary edition, 1904
File:Vanity Fair June 1914.jpg|''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]],'' June 1914
File:Vanity Fair cover by Ethel Caroline Rundquist 1916.jpg|Skater with scarf, illustrated by Ethel Caroline Rundquist, ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]],'' January 1916
File:Silver Sheet January 01 1923 - BELL BOY 13.pdf|''[[Thomas H. Ince#The Silver Sheet|The Silver Sheet]],'' a studio publication promoting [[Thomas H. Ince|Thomas Ince Productions]] ''[[Bell Boy 13]],'' E. H. Pfeiffer, illustrator, January 1923
File:The Spider April 1934.jpg|Pulp magazine ''[[Spider (pulp fiction)|Spider]],'' vol. 2, {{nowrap|no. 3}}, April 1934
File:AmazingMan22.jpg|[[Amazing-Man (DC Comics)|''Amazing Man Comics'']] no. 22, illustrated by [[Paul Gustavson]], May 1941
File:LIFE 06191944 Eisenhower cover.jpg|''[[Life (magazine)|LIFE]]'' magazine, official U.S. Army photo, June 19, 1944
File:MisterMystery12.png|''Mister Mystery'' #1, [[Key Publications]], July–August 1953
File:Horisont 1 1967 kaas.jpg|The first ''[[Horisont]]'' magazine in [[Estonia]], 1967
File:Road & Track March 2011 cover.jpg|''[[Road & Track]]'' [[automobile magazine]] featuring a [[Porsche 911 (991)|Porsche 991]], March 2011
File:May 2019 Artforum Cover.jpg|''[[Artforum]]'' [[art magazine]], featuring [[Cauleen Smith]] in a digital video ''Sojourner'', May 2019
File:Net_magazine_June_2020_cover.webp|''[[Net (magazine)|net]]'' [[computer magazine]], June 2020
File:Broadcast_Magazine_November_2024_cover.webp|''[[Broadcast (magazine)|Broadcast]]'' [[trade magazine]], November 2024
</gallery>

=== Sheet music, recorded music ===

<gallery mode="packed" heights="160" style="text-align:left">
File:Bon Bon Buddy cover.jpg|Sheet music for the [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] musical, ''[[Bandanna Land]],'' Andréa Stephen Chevalier de Takacs, illustrator, [[Gotham-Attucks]], publisher, 1908
File:My Favorite Rag by James White - cover by Grim Natwick.jpg|"My Favorite Rag" by James White, illustration by [[Grim Natwick]] (one of his earliest published works), 1915
File:TheBeatles68LP.jpg|Cover for [[The Beatles]]' [[The Beatles (album)|White Album]], 1968
File:Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin US promotional single.png|Cover for [[Led Zeppelin]]'s promotional single "[[Stairway to Heaven]]", 1971
File:Queen & David Bowie - Under Pressure.jpeg|Cover for [[Queen (band)|Queen]] and [[David Bowie]]'s single "[[Under Pressure]]", 1981
File:Three of a Perfect Pair.jpg|Cover for [[King Crimson]]'s album ''[[Three of a Perfect Pair]],'' 1984
File:De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising Cover.jpeg|Cover for [[De La Soul]]'s album ''[[3 Feet High and Rising]],'' 1989
File:Beyoncé - Beyoncé.svg|Cover for [[Beyoncé]]'s [[Beyoncé (album)|eponymous album]], 2013
File:"1-800-273-8255" cover by Logic.jpg|Cover for [[Logic (rapper)|Logic]]'s single "[[1-800-273-8255 (song)|1-800-273-8255]]" featuring [[Alessia Cara]] and [[Khalid (American singer)|Khalid]], 2017
File:Look at Me!.jpg|Cover for [[XXXTentacion]]'s single "[[Look at Me!]]", 2017
File:Deltarune Chapter 1 Soundtrack.jpg|Cover for [[Toby Fox]]'s [[Music of Deltarune|soundtrack]] to the first chapter of ''[[Deltarune]]'', 2018
File:BTS Dynamite (NightTime Version).svg|Cover for [[BTS]]' single "[[Dynamite (BTS song)|Dynamite]]", 2020
File:Charli XCX - Brat (album cover).png|Cover for [[Charli XCX]]'s album [[Brat (album)|''Brat'']], 2024
</gallery>

== See also ==

{{Commons category}}
*[[Book cover]]
*[[Dust jacket]]
*[[History of graphic design]]
*[[List of controversial album art]]
*[[Video game packaging]]

== References ==

{{reflist|30em|refs=

<ref name="ragpiano-De-Takacs">"{{URL|http://ragpiano.com/artists/detakacs.shtml|André De Takacs}}" by Bill Edwards ''(né'' William G. Motley; born 1959), ''{{URL|http://ragpiano.com}}'' Website administrator: Bill Edwards (no date); Contributors: Andrea Ellis and Keith Emmons (retrieved February 21, 2020)</ref>

<ref name="ragpiano-Pfeiffer">"{{URL|http://ragpiano.com/artists/pfeiffer.shtml|Edward H. Pfeiffer}}" by Bill Edwards ''(né'' William G. Motley; born 1959), ''{{URL|http://ragpiano.com}}'' Website administrator: Bill Edwards (no date)</ref>

}}

[[Category:Cover art| ]]
[[Category:Illustration]]
[[Category:Graphic design]]
[[Category:Comics terminology]]