The CD cover for The Beatles 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' is one of the most iconic album covers of all time. The cover presents an image of the band, in their signature costume, as well as many other stars (dead or alive). The digipack won a grammy for artwork and was designed by Peter Blake and Jann Haworth. I have chosen this cover as it is not only iconic but interesting and revolutionary. It features a colourful collage of life-sized cardboard models of famous people on the front of the album cover and lyrics printed on the back cover, the first time this had been done on a British pop LP. In the centre of the scene, The Beatles stand behind a drum on which are painted the words of the album's title. Bold and bright colours are used to catch the attention of the audience and make the cover stand out. The cover depicted more than 70 famous people, including actors, musicians and writers such as James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Oscar Wilde and Marlon Brando. The cover may also be seen as ironic, as it is set as a funeral scene and many of the people featured are dead. The use of funeral flowers to spell out the name of the band may also been seen as satircal. Despite many colours being used on the cover, the image of the band immediately stands out, as it is centered and uses the boldest colours. This cover is dissimilar to many other albums at the time. The Beatles stemed a new era and revolutionised music. Their cover is seen as a landmark for the artwork many artists now use on their covers, and therefore this album does not comply to any genre characteristics. The final bill for the cover was £38, 823- a staggering sum not only for the 60s but even now.
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