Kraftwork

The Minstrel Boy, various composers; Columbia Masterworks, 1947

Alex Steinweiss was the inventor of the LP record cover: not only the revolutionary (pardon the pun) cover art, but the packaging itself. Before Columbia Records invited him in 1947 to develop a new jacket, 78rpm record covers were made from folded kraft paper, but this proved too thin to protect the long playing records. When they were stacked, the paper left marks on the vinyl. Steinweiss’s paperboard jacket would be used for 50 years.

In 1939, Steinweiss as the first art director of the company, had already convinced the Columbia executives to allow him to redesign the drab paper covers. Inspired by French and German poster styles, and mixing musical and cultural references, he invented a new graphic language of album design so identifiable with the period.

Symphony No 9 in C Major, Franz Schubert; Columbia Masterworks, 1947