Textual Poaching - Record Collectors and Album Art

            For this project, I decided to represent myself as an avid record collector by remixing the album cover of “A Hard Days Night” by The Beatles, from 1963. 

I chose this particular record not only because it is an iconic record cover that collectors like myself adore, but because the format of the cover itself presented many opportunities to further represent my hobby and how it has become intertwined with my identity. This is due to the 20 panels that make up the original cover, in which John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr pose in four different photos. I decided to take advantage of this unique format by using the four rows to pay tribute to four of my favorite bands – The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Pink Floyd and STRFKR. In each of those rows, I chose five of my favorite records by each of those bands. I found that by doing so I could not only pay tribute to some of my favorite bands and records but also show why the medium I am choosing to represent myself – album covers – is significant. I love record collecting not necessarily because they sound better, but because I love having a physical piece of art that I can behold. Album covers are an art form distinct from the record’s content, and since they are the primary reason I collect records in the first place it felt appropriate to make those covers the centerpiece of my album cover.

            On the back cover, I took some more liberties and only partially stayed true to the original format. 

I stuck with the four pictures of the Beatles that were originally on the back of the record and took four different pictures of myself from distinct periods of my life. I also really liked the original Parlophone and Emitex logos and text boxes, so I decided to keep them. Where I deviated was with the text that originally was on the back of the record, and instead inserted a photo of me filming my TMA Application video behind my turntable. I really like that photo because it shows two defining features of how I identify myself – an aspiring filmmaker that loves to collect records. The context of the photo makes it even more appropriate – my application video was about a record collector desperate to obtain a copy of Rubber Soul (the copy I used in the film is also in the picture).

            Putting this album cover together was challenging. I used InDesign to build it from scratch, using A Hard Days Night as a guide for drawing text boxes, placing design elements like bold or thin lines, and getting the right dimensions. It was the first time I used InDesign since I was an editor on my highschool newspaper, so I was a little rusty, and some trial and error was involved. However, the difficult process of putting this piece together gave me further appreciation for album cover designers and the beautiful work they produce. I love how their work stands as a way to represent record collectors, and I love that I got to pay tribute to some of those famous album covers by both re-making one of my favorites and putting some of my other favorites on display in my piece.