Setting My Sights on a New Horizon

Everyone who knows me understands my passion—yea obsession—with Irish rock band U2. You can only imagine the downright glee I experience when I hear rumors of a new album from this fantastic foursome. Their recently released twelfth studio album, No Line on the Horizon, certainly did not disappoint. It wouldn’t take much to get me to wax eloquently about the sonic goodness that is No Line, but here I want to focus on an aspect of album releases that is oft overlooked: package design.

Many of my peers exercise great financial stewardship content to barely break a Hamilton and download the basic version of album from online stores such as iTunes. Not me, my friend. I foam with rabid excitement when I see the title followed by “deluxe edition.” Imagine my euphoric delight to hear of such inclusions as “thirty-six-page booklet” and “fold-out poster.” I don’t think overpriced when I see the $65 price tag of the limited edition box set; I see that as a few weeks I could stand to ride my bike to work and re-allocate my gas money. Sure the music is the same. But the care and concept that went behind such design masterpieces is worth every additional penny. As a designer I have a slight bias, but I like to think that my passion for advocating well-designed album packaging is tantamount to those who line their music shelves with freshly pressed vinyl simply because it sounds better. Why not take the same approach visually and adorn your media cabinet with the artistic stylings of the deluxe digipak?

Certainly if any band can make an argument for turning a frugal downloader into a package-design collector it is U2. Beginning early in their career, U2 collaborated with longtime friend and quintessential U2 designer Steve Averill (of Ireland based design firm Four5one Creative) and iconic photographer Anton Corbijn to bring brilliant blends of concept, artistry, and design to every visual aspect of the band.

No Line takes shape in five different available album packages (including one LP design, for all you audiophiles). Each one has their extra embellishments and supplemental elements that help tell the story of the album and the songs within. Thanks to my beautiful wife Sarah, I am currently enjoying the limited digipak version (though how I long for thee, oh $65 dollar limited edition box set). Within it’s sleek-but-subtle clear sleeve (embellished with opalescent “equal sign” line element) lies a folding digipak album. No tacky jewel cases here; the album is pure ink on paper that opens to reveal a 36-page booklet which combines elements of photography and type that visually underscore each song. Subtle embellishments like certain text printed in spot varnish show the attention to visual detail and the value placed in the overall design. Carefully affixed to the interior of the packaging, the magazine makes the album more book than CD. Even the foldout poster (which I am typically not a fan of) is appropriately affixed to the opposite panel, composed with striking photography of the band during the development of the album.

Yes, U2’s No Line on the Horizon package design is an example of the attention to design that I argue should be placed into all albums not just as an afterthought, but as an additional element in the telling of the story.

My limited edition digipak sits proudly on my shelf, as if a recent acquisition in a museum display. Hopefully the musical world will continue to create beautiful “artifacts” that will continue to visually tell the sonic story.