“Tony, we’ve got a tomb on the cover of the album,” Saville awkwardly pointed out. Packaging each new record in ever more inventive ways, the best Peter Saville artworks revealed a unique vision that was as fit for your walls as the music was for your stereo. For those who know this story well, there’s little new here, but it’s a joy all the same. 2019-06-18 18:38 in Style Words By Cassidy George. The English graphic designer began to explore computer-led design in the early 80s. Produced in collaboration with Brett Wickens, the artwork’s most novel feature was a square cut-out which revealed an inner-sleeve photograph of diagonal hazard stripes beneath a stairwell, a nod to Saville’s architectural influences. For the artwork, a photo shoot led by German photographer Horst Diekgerdes took place in Saville’s apartment, where a Russian model, Ksenia, posed topless across a leather sofa looking like a Barbie doll. A longtime admirer of the band, the art director had the esteemed honour of designing the artwork for their swansong, 1982’s Avalon. With the remaining members of Joy Division adopting a new name following the death of Ian Curtis, New Order’s debut album, Movement, was a statement of intent bolstered by one of the best Peter Saville artworks of the early 80s. With the designers help, the band were able to start afresh with a new visual aesthetic inspired by early-20th-century Italian Futurism. Based on a poster designed by Fortunato Depero which promoted an exposition in 1932 called Futurismo Trentino, Saville’s minimalist use of colour and typography was bold and distinctive. Surprisingly, the gallery yielded to his request, resulting in not just one of the best Peter Saville artworks, but one of New Order’s finest album covers. Aiming to convey the notion of “unknown pleasures”, Saville explained: “I thought the more this could be an enigmatic black thing, the more it might evoke the title.” His design is now cited as one of the most iconic albums covers of all time. “We stole it because we saw it as a metaphor for what we did.”. “I was a Roxy Music fan,” Peter Saville admitted. Saville has since stated that of all his work this design is his personal favourite. For Pulp’s post-Britpop comedown album, This Is Hardcore, Peter Saville knew exactly what was required. “There were things in this that were just so terrible that they were interesting. Intensively designed across a two-day period, the artwork was an immediate success. “It’s the mattress [that] makes it,” the designer reflected. Based on a graphic of radio emissions from a pulsar in deep space, it … “We nicked it off her!” OMD’s Andy McCluskey recalled. This iconic album cover remains emblematic of the collective grief the music world felt at the singer’s passing. A harbinger of the computer age, the design for New Order’s Blue Monday 12” was a die-cut sleeve inspired by a floppy disc, incorporating the colour-wheel motif that Peter Saville created for the band. From rock anthems to dancefloor classics, the best darts walk-on music will have you chanting along and chucking your pint in the air. The media lambasted it as sexist, implying the woman was a rape victim, or that she was dead, and many promotional posters around London were defaced. To match their new synth sound, Peter Saville created this groundbreaking sleeve. I understand that I can opt-out at any time by emailing privacypolicy@wmg.com. The inspiration behind his artwork for New Order’s third album, Power, Corruption & Lies, came when Peter Saville picked up a postcard in the National Gallery and found himself looking at the painting A Basket Of Roses by French artist Henri Fantin-Latour. Thinking of Wunderlich’s use of zebra and tiger skins, Saville suggested posing on a rug, but Anderson proposed using a mattress instead, as if he were in a squat. They’re seductive,” Saville later said. Prior to the release of Joy Division’s second album, Closer, Peter Saville received a phone call from Tony Wilson to tell him singer Ian Curtis had committed suicide. Enter your email below to be the first to hear about new releases, upcoming events, and more from Dig! The best Prince videos straddle superhuman live performances and high-concept pieces that shone a light on their creator’s unique worldview. The design earned Peter Saville won D&AD silver award in 1981. Here are the ten best Peter Saville artworks, from his 40-plus-year career. The colour code spells out the name of the single, the B-side (The Beach) and the band’s name. For OMD’s self-titled debut album, Peter Saville pioneered his innovative use of die-cutting, perforating the blue front cover with slanted obrounds which exposed the orange and black inner sleeve. The only single design in our list of the best Peter Saville artworks, Blue Monday more than earns its place. “If you take the obelisk out of that movie,” he said, “it has that same black shape.” Peter Saville set these eerie radio signals against a black backdrop, making the cover itself it more tactile by texturing the sleeve design. David Oates Photography/Alamy Stock Photo, Best Prince Videos: 25 Classics That Got The Look, Best Darts Walk-On Music: Songs That Hit The Bullseye. Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark spent 28 weeks on the UK album charts, largely owing to its cover. “The music was a lot deeper, darker, and moodier,” he said. With their groundbreaking use of graphic design, the best Peter Saville artworks helped to define the post-punk movement and beyond. “I converted the alphabet into a code using colours. When Joy Division were looking to release their debut album with Tony Wilson’s Factory Records in the summer of 1979, they went to the label’s in … With art direction by Peter Saville and John Currin, the This Is Hardcore album was immediately met with controversy. Continuing the band’s tradition of including women on their album covers, Bryan Ferry’s soon-to-be wife Lucy Helmore donned a medieval helmet and looked out upon a lake in Ireland, a falcon perched on her gloved hand. “I went back and looked on the bookshelf and I found [a book by] Paul Wunderlich,” the designer said. Peter Saville's Joy Division Artwork Is Still Influencing Fashion 40 Years On. Blue Monday in 1983 was the first single to establish New Order as a force, after the death of Ian Curtis had ended the band’s previous incarnation as Joy Division. Regarded as one of the most iconic album covers ever, Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures is one of the most identifiable pieces of graphic design art ever and a fine example of the groundbreaking designs from Factory Record’s album cover catalogue designed by British artist Peter Saville. The mattress is brilliant.”. “I understood the floppy disc contained coded information,” said Peter Saville. The resulting album cover – depicting a couple of hazy squatters basking in a digital neon yellow glow – became a Britpop classic, and stands as one of the best Peter Saville artworks of the era. Factory Records. “I suppose it really seals its place in history as a mythical being for that reason,” said Peter Hook. It reflected the hieroglyphic visual language of the machine world.”. Peter Saville designed many record sleeves for Factory artists, most notably for Joy Division and New Order. Peter Saville designed many album covers for electronic outfit Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, but his eye-catching design for their 1981 album, Architecture & Morality, brought them wider recognition and laid the blueprint for the synth-pop boom. The colour chart suggests new machine-led, colour-coded design. It was a fittingly prescient and sombre artistic choice made even more tragic in the wake of the Curtis’ death. There was this weird kind of psychedelic, surreal quality this had.”. Any worries that the artwork may have seemed exploitative were unwarranted. By submitting my information, I agree to receive personalized updates and marketing messages about WMX based on my information, interests, activities, website visits and device data and in accordance with the Privacy Policy. Topping our list of the best Peter Saville artwork, the album cover for Joy Division’s seminal 1979 debut album, Unknown Pleasures, perfectly complemented Martin Hannett’s sci-fi-tinged production.