Reid Miles
(July 4th, 1927-February 1993)
Before I began the vinyl cover task, I researched into different types of cover designs for inspiration and I decided to explore Reid Miles in more detail.
Reid Miles was an American graphic designer and photographer. His best-known work was for Blue Note Records over a number of decades. A key element that can be found in the majority of his record covers was the photography Francis Wolff. I have decided to focus on the cover he designed for Donald Byrd’s studio album ‘A New Perspective’. I feel the composition of this record is successful as the photography mirrors the album’s title. I feel the light of the car also looks like a speaker almost bottom half of the cover highlights the meaning behind the album visually to the viewer. I like how all the writing and information is to the left of the image of Byrd, as it is easy for the viewer to take in. The simple colour palette is effective as, even though the text is small, the pink and orange highlight the important information.
In terms of my own vinyl cover, while I will be exploring a more expressive & loose design, I am interested in the use of black and white with one or two more colours as I don’t want to overwhelm the viewer. Also, how the singer isn’t the main focus of the design which I feel would link well to the punk and rebellious era. Lastly, I hope to incorporate Miles’ use of small text for the artist’s name and record label information. Overall, I feel this is a successful record cover and it contains elements that I will include in my own record design so that it resembles a DIY record design from the punk era.