Legendary designer Peter Saville was interviewed recently by The Talks and discussed graphic design, pop culture, and hooking up with Factory Records. During the interview Saville talked about how he was on his own when it came to designing the album sleeves/covers for Joy Division and New Order. Initially Stephen Morris gave him the idea for the Unknown Pleasures cover, but for subsequent records (Joy Division's Closer, then the New Order singles & albums), he was given the freedom to do what he chose:
"...the covers were about what I wanted to do, which was in some kind of weird, subconscious way about me and where I was going. New Order didn’t approve it, they rarely saw it...it was always, “Where is it? It’s late, it should have been done weeks ago, just get it to the fucking printer.” More often than not, New Order would get to see the covers when they were in the stores. And sometimes they liked them and sometimes they didn’t."
Read the full interview with Peter Saville over at the Talk. A few other video interviews with Saville are posted below:
Meanwhile, Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures cover art was recently printed in 3D and it's fascinating to look at.