Get it? Top 40?… Anyway, strolling around a record store, there’s usually a couple of record covers that always catch your eye. Whether it’s bold coloring, illustration, photography or typography — it’s one of the most popular outlets for creative design. Here is a showcase featuring 40 recent covers in the world of indie artists for your inspiration in alphabetical order.

Jenny Owen Youngs

Alphabetical after this… love love love the typography on the logo badge.

Amesoeurs

Airborne Toxic Event

Art Brut

I love these guys, check them out at their website: http://www.artbrut.org.uk/

Au Revoir Simone

Bat For Lashes

Beirut

Bishop Allen

Bob Dylan

Dylan’s “indie”" in spirt…

The Breeders

Brighton Port Authority

Camera Obscura

Carolina Liar

Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood

Not exactly “indie” but I like the cover as they can legitimately go retro…

Death Cab For Cutie

Deer Hunter

Not their newest album but I always loved the bold simplicity and weirdness of this cover… I had to include it.

Decemberists

Doves

Fever Ray

Ida Maria

Isis

Kind of out of character for Isis but it’s a beauty none-the-less.

Lily Allen

I immediately liked this the moment I saw it.

M.Ward

Maximo Park

Merge Records – Various Artists

Metric

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Currently my favorite band of the last few years, check them out: http://www.thepainsofbeingpureatheart.com/

Peter Bjorn and John

Peter Doherty

Ray Barbee

Seeland

I like covers like this that pay homage to Pink Floyd’s abstract pseudo scientific look…

St. Vincent

It’s just a simple portrait but I love how they do it in a unique way (for a record cover). Reminds me of the 40-Year-Old-Virgin poster.

Super Furry Animals

SFA always has insanely great covers.

Swan Lake

Telekinesis

So simple, yet so cool…

The Bird and the Bee

My co-worker likes this band but I like the retro movie poster look even better.

Viva Voce

White Rabbits

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Love this cover.

Other articles you might like:

Top 30 Indie Band Websites
50 Beautiful Gig Posters (Flatstock) For Your Inspiration
30 Awesome Designerly Band T-Shirts

Agree? Disagree? What’s your favorite? Comment?

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 31st, 2009 at 11:10 pm and is filed under Best of Industry, Design, Music, Showcase, Top Lists. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.