Chicago, IL-based organization announces its latest class of honorees in the 6 major categories - as voted on by a world-wide panel of music, art and marketing experts in the area of album cover art & packaging – which represents a "who's who" of creative and production talent, including many recognized names of craftspeople working in the worlds of fine art, graphic design and photography.

Since officially launching the site in 2012, we’ve previously enshrined eight classes of Inductees based on the results from the group’s yearly surveys, with the voting panel considering the creative output of all producers active any time since 1960. Dozens of additional biographies were added for consideration by the esteemed panel of writers, curators of galleries (retail and online) that focus on album cover imagery, art/design museum curators and music marketing experts.

Continuing on via our standard methodology, this year’s Class allowed for the consideration of any talent not previously inducted into the ACHOF’s six major categories. The people under consideration this year are people who BEGAN their careers in the field at any time during the period the ACHOF focuses its attention on (1960 – present). As you can figure, this was a very long list, but after a research, nominating and voting process that began in September and ended in mid-November with our final vote (with everyone participating safely from the comfort of their own homes), the ACHOF Voting Panel has selected a list of individuals and companies that very clearly represent the best examples of a large number of talented men, women and teams who’ve cumulatively created and published a huge portfolio of memorable album cover images and record packages.

The Album Cover Hall of Fame’s Mike Goldstein had this to say about this year’s efforts – “While 2020 has been a year like no other in recent memory, through the ongoing efforts of those who support of this Hall of Fame, we’ve been able to continue our work (online, to keep us all healthy) to recognize the contributions of those who have had a significant impact in the ongoing development and advancement of rock and roll album cover-related art direction, illustration, photography and package design, along with the record labels and musical acts who’ve supported great work in the field. Based on each inductee’s body of work in the field, we feel that their talents have exemplified the best possible efforts made to package and promote their clients’ recorded music, and so we’re privileged to have been able to include them in this year’s voting efforts and, ultimately, our new list of honorees.”

Goldstein added “I’d also like to note that this year’s voting showcases the great range of package and promo designs for musical acts popular in the many rock and pop music genres we focus our attentions on, showing fans that album cover imagery continues to be an important part of the relationship between musical acts and their buying/listening public of all ages and musical tastes. I’m happy to say that, while many considered the album cover as a relic of the music industry as it existed before its shift into the digital arena, the commitment shown by musical acts and their labels to continue to invest in the visual aspects of their products – vinyl records, web sites, merchandise, etc. – and to work hard to impress fans with the totality of their creative output is a true testament to the importance of this aspect of the recorded music business.”

Inductees have been divided into their respective categories so that fans can get to know each winner individually and within their group of peers. Below, you'll find a summary of the winners in each category:

Album Cover Photographer Inductees 

⮚ Drew Carolan, Eric Meola, Stephen Paley, Mark Seliger and Mark Weiss 

Album Cover Illustrator Inductees (inc. those specializing in logos and typography)

⮚  Stefan G. Bucher, Nic Dartnell, Boyd Elder, Jann Hawworth and Raymond Pettibon

Album Cover Designer Inductees 

⮚ Susan Archie, Tracy Maurice, Mike Salisbury, Hugh Syme and Ed Thrasher

Album Cover Art Director Inductees

⮚ Ron Coro, Rod Dyer, Bill Levy, Vaughan Oliver and Winston Smith

Inducted Record Labels with a long-standing commitment to great Album Cover imagery 

⮚ The Vinyl Factory and Smithsonian Folkways

Inducted Musical Acts with a long-standing commitment to great Album Cover imagery

⮚ The Clash, The Decemberists and Cat Stevens/Yusuf

A more-detailed document that includes samples of each Inductees album cover credits, along with links to their respective web sites, can be found on the ACHOF site at 

https://albumcoverhalloffame.wordpress.com/achof-class-of-2020-inductee-intro-page/

Qualified individuals become eligible for induction 10 years after the publication of their first record album, CD, DVD or digital album cover image. Please note that some names will be seen in more than one category, as it is that certain individuals serve in more than one role in a project. 

Going forward, the Voting Panel – currently consisting of over 75 experts in the fields of packaging design, illustration, photography and music product marketing – will continue the process each year (beginning again in late Summer 2021 to nominate the next class of Inductees representing those whose works were published any time during the period of 1960 – present) by selecting nominees in each of the featured categories for consideration by both that voting body and those nominees that receive the most total votes in their respective categories will be inducted. Panel members discussed the possibility of opening some aspect of next year’s voting to the public – we’ll notify fans and the press once any decisions have been made regarding this effort.

To see a list of all of the current inductees to the Album Cover Hall of Fame, please visit - https://albumcoverhalloffame.wordpress.com/achof-nominee-inductee-menu-page/achof-inductee-list-main-page/

Please contact Mike Goldstein, Curator, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com with any questions or comments. He can be reached via email at curator@albumcoverhalloffame.com or via phone at 971-645-8958.

A comprehensive summary of news stories about album cover art and artists is added monthly (typically, on the first of the month) on our site (see the site index for our most-recent article postings) and also on the site's Facebook page found at https://www.facebook.com/AlbumCoverHallOfFame

Author: Adam Bailey

Adam is a regular contributor for established press release distribution website Release-News.com. He writes on a wide range of topics including music.