Most
of the Cure cover sleeves were made by Parched Art (Porl Thompson &
Andy Vella). They started with the Primary single and went on until Porl
left the band at the end of 1992. Before being brought to life again in
2005 (artwork for the Festival 2005 DVD) to everybody's surprise !
Not only Parched Art would draw, paint, create alphabets (see the Lovecats' and almost that everything that followed)... they would also take pictures. The Faith's cover, for exemple, was done using photographs from the Bolton Abbey in Surrey.
Some photographs actually focused on faces, like the Standing on the Beach cover depicting the face of an old man, called John Button, who was a retired sailor in Rye (England). And the Head on the Door was originally a picture of Robert's sister, Janet, before it got altered...
The Kiss Me one had Robert's lips and eye photographied in close ups all night long in a hotel room in Irland...An experience that lead him to pretend he never really recovered from the intense light that was projected on his eye.
Of course, Chris Parry (at the time) and Robert Smith would have final word on the covers, approving or not. Actually, Robert did some on his own sometimes ! Japanese Whispers was one. Concert, another. This one used a video still from a live TV broadcast concert (Glasgow 25 Aug 84) and the general design purposely looked like a bootleg record.
Sometimes he would also come with a photo to use (Charlotte Sometimes, Pictures Of You, Never Enough...). Charlotte Sometimes and Pictures Of You photos seem to come from the same batch taken by Robert some time in 1980 while being on holiday in Scotland. On the Charlotte's cover, part of the image was covered with a brush. And the idea behind the 17 Seconds album's picture also came from him, as he once dropped a camera and obtained a blurred image of trees.
In 1997 (after Andy Vella stopped working on his own for the Cure), Robert would "found" some entity called smART to do covers himself by then or at least come with the concepts. Five Swing Live was a modified picture from the concert in London 07 May 96, and was the first realisation with that name. The following albums covers were executed by a professional design studio (Stylo Rouge) under smART directives.
Not only Parched Art would draw, paint, create alphabets (see the Lovecats' and almost that everything that followed)... they would also take pictures. The Faith's cover, for exemple, was done using photographs from the Bolton Abbey in Surrey.
Some photographs actually focused on faces, like the Standing on the Beach cover depicting the face of an old man, called John Button, who was a retired sailor in Rye (England). And the Head on the Door was originally a picture of Robert's sister, Janet, before it got altered...
The Kiss Me one had Robert's lips and eye photographied in close ups all night long in a hotel room in Irland...An experience that lead him to pretend he never really recovered from the intense light that was projected on his eye.
Of course, Chris Parry (at the time) and Robert Smith would have final word on the covers, approving or not. Actually, Robert did some on his own sometimes ! Japanese Whispers was one. Concert, another. This one used a video still from a live TV broadcast concert (Glasgow 25 Aug 84) and the general design purposely looked like a bootleg record.
Sometimes he would also come with a photo to use (Charlotte Sometimes, Pictures Of You, Never Enough...). Charlotte Sometimes and Pictures Of You photos seem to come from the same batch taken by Robert some time in 1980 while being on holiday in Scotland. On the Charlotte's cover, part of the image was covered with a brush. And the idea behind the 17 Seconds album's picture also came from him, as he once dropped a camera and obtained a blurred image of trees.
In 1997 (after Andy Vella stopped working on his own for the Cure), Robert would "found" some entity called smART to do covers himself by then or at least come with the concepts. Five Swing Live was a modified picture from the concert in London 07 May 96, and was the first realisation with that name. The following albums covers were executed by a professional design studio (Stylo Rouge) under smART directives.