Jennifer McKnight-Trontz & Alex Steinweiss (introduction by Steven Heller)
Princeton Architectural Press, 2000
Paperback. 224pp. colour illustrations
£14.95

In 1939, twenty-three-year-old graphic designer Alex Steinweiss revolutionized the music industry when he invented the illustrated album cover. His seemingly obvious idea - to create a snappy graphic package that would both protect and advertise the record - proved an instant success, spawning an entirely new field of commercial design.

As the art director of Columbia Records, and later as a freelance designer working for such labels as Decca, London, and Everest, Steinweiss was the undisputed king of the field he created. Using eye-catching illustrations, vivid colours, and playful typography, Steinweiss gave visual form to a golden age of classical, jazz, and popular music. In his extraordinary career, Steinweiss created albums for such luminaries as Louis Armstrong, Bela Bartok, County Basie, Leonard Bernstein, Duke Ellington, George and Ira Gershwin, Benny Goodman, Paul Hindemith, Paul Robeson, Kate Smith and Igor Stravinsky. Designed as miniposters, the album covers he produced over his four-decade career remain icons of the genre and works of art in their own right.

Before Alex Steinweiss invented the illustrated album cover in 1938, at the age of 23, records came in drab wrappers. Steinweiss's idea to create a package that would lure the consumer with snappy graphics while protecting the record proved an instant success; sales of the first such record, Smash Song Hits by Rodgers and Hart, soared. This simple idea revolutionized the record business and spawned an entire new field of design--album cover art--that is now inseparable from the product it promotes.

Steinweiss's covers are still regarded as icons of the genre. He designed them as miniature posters, with eye-catching graphics, distinctive and vivid colors, and creative, even playful, typography, often incorporating his much-imitated "Steinweiss scrawl" lettering. The Steinweiss style went hand in hand with the golden age of jazz, classical, and popular music dominated by Columbia, RCA, Decca, Victor, and London Records. This book collects over 150 of the most famous and original graphics created by Steinweiss, including cover designs for Benny Goodman, Xavier Cugat, the New York Philharmonic, Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, Leonard Bernstein, Dizzy Gillespie, Esquivel, and many others.

Designed at the same size as a 45 rpm record, this chunky book is not only a feast of graphic design, but also offers an illustrated history of music in the '30s, '40s, '50s, and '60s. Brief essays by Steven Heller and Jennifer McKnight-Trontz discuss Steinweiss's career and the indelible mark he has left on the graphic design and music industries. The book looks also at the celebrated painting and ceramics this master has created in his retirement.

For the Record includes an introduction by Steven Heller.

ALEX STEINWESS was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. His career as a leading figure in graphic design spanned more than forty years. Now retired, he lives in Sarasota with his wife, Blanche.

JENNIFER McKNIGHT-TRONTZ is a Florida-based designer and writer, and the author of Exotiquarium: Album Art from the Space Age.

STEVEN HELLER is the author of numerous books and articles on graphic design, including Looking Closer: Critical Writings on Graphic Design.

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FURTHER READING

other books about album cover design: In the Groove a collection of album cover designs from the 1940s and 1950s

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