disassociated

American graphic designer Alex Steinweiss, who pioneered the concept of album cover artwork, died last week aged ninety-four.

In 1939 Steinweiss thought records might have more appeal if they featured eye-catching artwork over the plain brown packaging that was then in use. And he was right.

After designing a cover for Smash Song Hits by Rodgers & Hart (Internet Archive link), sales of the record increased by almost nine-hundred percent.

See more of Steinweiss’ work here (Internet Archive link), and here.

Originally published Thursday 28 July 2011, with subsequent revisions, updates to lapsed URLs, etc.

We tend to stop dreaming in colour as we age, according to a study which surveyed a group of people in 1993, and then again in 2009.

In both surveys, approximately 80% of subjects younger than 30 years of age experienced color in their dreams, but the percentage decreased with age and fell to approximately 20% by the age of 60. The frequency of dreaming in color increased from 1993 to 2009 only for respondents in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. We speculate that color TV may play a role in the generational difference observed.

Originally published Tuesday 12 July 2011.