I guess you must have seen Mike Dempsey's lovely album cover stamps by now? Maybe some of you might think that they're merely an homage to Johnson Banks' Beatles Stamps - but, hey, given the subject matter, wouldn't all of us like to have arrived at the same solution? And it's another lesson to us all that it's simplicity that can so often deliver brilliance.
Amongst designers at least, the perceived impression seems to be that this series of stamps is all about album cover designs. But, actually, isn't it really about the music? And that really tells you something, doesn't it? Not a single non-white face in sight, and only one very well-hidden woman, as far as I can see. I know they all have to be albums by British acts - but isn't our musical heritage far more diverse and interesting than this lot amounts to? Why no Courtney Pine or Nitin Sawhney - or Dusty Springfield or Shirley Bassey?
Anyway, it would be interesting to know how many of these albums you actually own? I can hold my hands up and say it's just the one - and, no, it's not Coldplay (as if). It's Power, Corruption and Lies (on cassette), if you must know.
And getting back to the design bit. If I'd been handed this brief I'd have been so sorely tempted to sneak one in, wouldn't you?
Bang goes my MBE, then.
I have five, including Coldplay I'm afraid.
I've got my Power, Corruption and Lies LP framed and smugly displayed in our kitchen. For those not in the know, it just looks like chintz, but for those who understand, it always receives an approving nod.
And this is how I feel like I have control of my world. Maybe I need to step outside once in a while …
Posted by: Daniel | 11 November 2009 at 01:02 PM