For the illustrated, what stands out are Tony McDermott's classic album covers for recording engineer Scientist. Scientist Rids The World Of The Evil Curse Of The Vampires features a cacophony of monsters and ghouls, depicted like a scene from the myth of Orpheus, except the boat sailing down the River Styx supports Scientist and a Jamaican soundsystem.
Optical illusions come in many different forms, from the perplexing to the mind-melting, but op art doesn't always have to be headache-inducing. Representing the serene side of op art, Larry June's Life is Beautiful LP is a mesmerising visual treat with a delightfully smooth soundtrack to match. From the cognitive to the physiological, optical illusions are typically caused by our brain misinterpreting information, leading to visual displays that amaze and confuse.
After last summer's BRAT attack, it felt like minimalist album art was back with a bang (for better or for worse). While I'm all for the rise of anti-design, there's a stark difference between counter-cultural creations and plain underwhelming art, and sadly, pop star Justin Bieber's latest album fits into the latter category. Swag II, the successor of Bieber's recent album, Swag, features a painfully innocuous album cover that's undoubtedly functional but disappointingly flat.
But the sheer volume of variants we're seeing right now feels not only calculated to maximise sales (imagine that), but it's also diluting the aesthetic identity of individual album eras. Whereas the best album art of all time is immediately recognisable, I couldn't tell you what the cover for Life of a Showgirl actually looks like. Same goes for Sabrina Carpenter's new album - just days after the provocative original variant prompted outcry, came the bait-and-switch, as Carpenter revealed a several safer versions.