History Main / IdiosyncraticCoverArt

* All of Music/PenguinCafeOrchestra's albums have covers that depict naked people with [[NonHumanHead penguin heads]] [[note]]Except for the first issue of their debut album, which follows Obscure Records' cover theme (see below)[[/note].

!Artists

!Labels

* Creator/{{EMI}} and their sublabels did this quite a bit with their CD reissue/remaster campaigns in TheNineties:
** The 1990 reissues of Music/BeBopDeluxe's backlog comprise six [=CDs=][[note]]their five studio albums and the LiveAlbum ''Live! In the Air Age''[[/note]] where the spines spell out BE•BOP at the top and DELUXE at the bottom.
** The 1992 Music/PinkFloyd BoxedSet ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shine_On_%28Pink_Floyd_album%29 Shine On]]'' features the included [=CDs=] in opaque jewel cases with printed decals. When put together in order, the printwork on the spine forms the iconic cover art to ''Music/TheDarkSideOfTheMoon''.
** The 1997-1999 remastered Music/{{Marillion}} [=CDs=] from ''Script for a Jester's Tear'' to ''Afraid of Sunlight'' have letters on the spines which spell M-A-R-I-LL-I-O-N (eight albums, nine letters, so the two L's go on one spine).
** The 1997 Music/TalkTalk [=CDs=] bear letters on the spines that spell out T-A-L-K. As this campaign only encompassed the band's first four albums (the [[Music/LaughingStock fifth and final one]] being released on a different label owned by [[Creator/PolydorRecords a different parent company]]), each case gets one letter, repeated on both ends of the spine; thus, when the cases are laid out in order, you get "TALK" on the top and "TALK" on the bottom, thus altogether reading "TALK TALK".
** The 1999 Music/DavidBowie [=CDs=], spanning his studio albums from ''Music/SpaceOddity'' to ''Music/{{Tin Machine|Album}}'', each have a cropped image of Bowie's face from the album cover on both the spine and the disc art. Sadly, nothing gets spelled out on the spines.
** Similarly to Pink Floyd's example, the 2000 Music/MikeOldfield HDCD reissue campaign (which covers the entirety of Oldfield's UK output on Creator/VirginRecords) features spine art on the jewel case traycards that, when lined up in order, form the iconic ''Music/TubularBells'' logo.
* The cover art for Music/{{Nelly}}'s ''Sweat'' / ''Suit'' albums can be placed side by side to form a picture.
* Music/{{Starflyer 59}}'s ''Ghosts of the Future'' box set consists of 10 vinyl singles. When their sleeves are laid out in a 2x5 row, they form an abstract isometric picture.
* Music/JudasPriest and Music/IronMaiden have both released CD remasters which, when placed side by side, form a picture. In addition, the Priest set spells out the band's name.
** As have Music/{{Megadeth}} and Music/{{Japan}}.
** It should be pointed out this is a rather crafty marketing trick to sell live albums. ''Live After Death'', ''A Real Live Dead One'' and ''Live At Donington'' are required to complete Iron Maiden's spine image, regardless of whether you want to listen to them or not.
* Music/TypeONegative album covers generally have a theme. On the front, the band's logo is in one corner, the album title in the diagonally opposite corner, usually no tracklist on back and the band's name and album title in large bold lettering on the spine. Because the lettering on each spine is a different color, they look quite nice when lined up next to each other, Bloody Kisses, October Rust and World Coming Down being the best examples. Their only albums not to follow this pattern are the original release of The Origin Of The Feces, (the cover was redesigned to fit the tradition on its reissue) and The Best Of, which was released without their permission. Part of the reason the band were so annoyed with The Best Of is that they had no input with the cover.
* Everything by Music/DemonHunter has a TextlessAlbumCover with some variation on the band's logo (a silhouette of a demon's head with bullet hole) rendered in a different "medium": a seal on the cover of a leather-bound book, an appropriately-shaped dead tree stump, rust on a metal gate, a cow's skull on a bed of roses, etc.

* The covers for the five installments of Celldweller's ''Wish Upon a Blackstar'' can be pieced together to form a very wide image
* All of ''Back Majesty'''s album's cover art feature a cloaked and masked figure accompanied by a lion (other than ''Sands of Time'', where the lion is missing and the figure has a slightly different design).
* ''Give 'Em The Boot'', a series of budget-priced compilations released by Hellcat Records, has almost always used the same ink-stamp-like image of a stomping, booted foot in different colors as cover art. In fact, almost all of the covers are identical except for the color of the background and a different roman numeral for which number in the series it is. The first compilation is the only exception, as it used the Old English font found on all of the other albums, but over a black and white picture of skyscrapers in Los Angeles at night, which can be chalked up to EarlyInstallmentWeirdness.
* The three official Silva Screen Records soundtracks to ''Series/ThePrisoner1967'' have "Be Seeing You" written across their spines.
* Covers for Music/TheBirthdayMassacre are purple and always include a rabbit on them.
* Music/{{Sophie}}'s single artwork from 2013-2015 are stock renderings of waterslides on plain white backgrounds (except for "L.O.V.E." which instead features a rendered inflatable bug on a white background).
* All three of Music/TheXX's albums and most of their singles feature one big "[[XMakesAnythingCool X]]" on their covers.
* Music/TheWhiteStripes' record covers all contain a combination of red, white, and black owing to Jack White's predilection with the RuleOfThree.
* Music/TearsForFears: ''Music/TheHurting'' cover is recycled from that of the "Suffer the Children" single, but features the photo in full colour instead of black-and-white and alters the title logo to match the album name. Similarly, the original international album cover reuses the photo from the "Mad World" single.
* The 2010 [=CD=] reissues of the first seven Music/{{Madness|Band}} albums spell out "MADNESS" on their spines when placed left to right in chronological order.
* Music/JackStauber's ''Micropop'' [=EP=]s each have a clay figure with large googly eyes against a black background, with the figure themed after the first track of the EP.
* Graphic designer Peter Saville is well known for doing this with the artwork he makes for various albums and associated single releases, regardless of which artist he's working with at the moment. Music/NewOrder is a prominent example of this (given that they're the band with whom Saville has most closely collaborated over the years): once the band started releasing album singles, each album would feature at least one single whose cover art or inner sleeve repeats a visual motif found on the parent album. This also extended to the later single covers Saville did for New Order's previous incarnation, Music/JoyDivision, with the 12" release of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" repeating the framed statue photo motif from ''Music/{{Closer}}'' and the 1988 reissue of "Atmosphere" repeating the New Alphabet headstone motif seen on ''Music/{{Substance|JoyDivisionAlbum}}'' (for which it was released to promote).
* Béla Fleck and the Flecktones' first three albums, ''Béla Fleck and the Flecktones'', ''Flight of the Cosmic Hippo'', and ''UFO Tofu'', each depicts part of the same space scene. The 2011 album ''Rocket Science'' calls back to them by showing the full scene from the perspective of a rocket from one of the covers.
* Covers of Music/TheSmiths' studio output all feature old black and white photos, usually of celebrities.

** The newest North American editions (also published in the UK, although the original Kirby/Kidby art is also still available) all have a black background with a single inanimate object artistically shown.

* Many of the Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse novels have the Star Wars logo written across--not down, like on most books, but across--the spine. Some have the titles written the same way; others don't. It's a bit inconsistent. Also, the Star Wars logo is always on the cover, usually at the top, sometimes in raised letters, with the book's [[AnachronicOrder Era]] emblem on a lower corner of the back.

* When ''Anime/StandByMeDoraemon'' and it's sequel, ''Anime/StandByMeDoraemon2'' are adapted to comic format ([[RecursiveAdaptation somewhat recursively]]), both issues combined formed a complete Doraemon, with two Nobitas of different ages standing side-by-side. [[https://img.ws.mms.shopee.com.my/my-11134207-7qul9-lh31uexfuz9254 Like this]].

** Early western UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem boxarts all had a gridded white background and consisted of crude drawings in the lower left illustrating an object or action related to the game's premise, seemingly in an attempt to invoke a "high school doodle" motif. By the time the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis launched, box artwork switched to more conventional illustrations and photos, although the "graph paper" branding would remain until the end.

* The box art for the ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series has the Bros. sitting behind the logo over a white background. To Luigi's left would be a few characters that have a major role in the game (the Luiginoids for ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam'' or Bowser for ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory for example). However, the only exceptions to this trend are the non-Japanese releases of ''Superstar Saga'' and all versions of ''Partners in Time''.

** The later ''Literature/VirginNewAdventures'', from ''Happy Endings'' on, had the top third taken up by the ''New Adventures'' logo, the middle third by the cover picture, and the bottom third by the title and author.

** The ''Literature/VirginMissingAdventures'' generally shared the same cover format: the left third of the cover would have a picture of the starring Doctor at the top and a companion (or companions) below, while the right two-thirds would have the Missing Adventures logo against a black background at the top, a picture in the middle, then the title against a black background and the author's name in a coloured stripe to finish off. The left-hand side occasionally got changed up: Sixth Doctor solo novel ''Time of Your Life'' only had the Doctor, Doctorless story ''Downtime'' had the Brigadier and Victoria, and Second Doctor story ''The Dark Path'', a Master [[StartOfDarkness origin story]], had the Doctor and a pre-Master Koschei, as played by Roger Delgado.

* Some older ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' comics featured 3-part mini-arc comics fairly often; each mini-arc's cover could be placed side-by-side, forming a large piece of artwork relevant to the story within. This also applied to almost every single issue of its ''Knuckles The Echidna'' spin-off.

* The Japanese [[UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis Mega Drive]] versions of the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' games all feature mostly white backgrounds with artwork of the main character(s), surrounded by various geometric shapes of basic colors (white, black, red, green, blue, and yellow). They also sometimes have English text (usually an inspirational quote and/or "[[InSeriesNickname The Most Famous Hedgehog In The World]]"). The JP boxarts for [[UsefulNotes/SegaCD Mega CD]]'s ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogCD Sonic CD]]'' (as well as its PC release) and UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn's CompilationRerelease game ''VideoGame/SonicJam'', as well as a few of the Sega UsefulNotes/GameGear Sonic games, also use boxarts of this design nature. Somewhat subverted however with ''[[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles Sonic and Knuckles]]'' as that game's boxart goes for a more basic approach--it only features the "Sonic and Knuckles" insignia rather than character artwork, and makes use of only two colors (white and blue).

* The Japanese versions of the ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' games (aka ''Ryu Ga Gotoku'') were all released with monochrome covers during the [=PS2=] and [=PS3=] era. The earlier covers all feature Kiryu Kazuma in some form, with ''2'' having him next to his rival Ryuji Goda and ''Kenzan!'' having his face surrounded by supporting characters, while ''4'', ''Of the End'' and ''5'' have him posing with the other playable characters from those games. From ''Ishin'' and onward, they switched to using full color images. This includes the remastered ports of ''3'', ''4'' and ''5'' on the [=PS4=], which remade the cover images from their respective [=PS3=] versions in color.

** The North American covers for a good number of first-party UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn games had a slight minimalist streak, with the covers of games such as ''VideoGame/{{Bug}}!'', the ''VideoGame/VirtuaCop'' series, etc. consisting of renders of the game's characters over a white background, in a manner reminiscent of the above Master System boxes but executed a bit more tastefully. This was not done as consistently, however.

* Some older ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' comics featured 3-part mini-arc comics fairly often; each mini-arc's cover could be placed side-by-side, forming a large piece of artwork relevant to the story within. This also applied to every single issue of its ''Knuckles The Echidna'' spin-off.

* The 2010 [=CD=] reissues of the first seven Music/{{Madness}} albums spell out "MADNESS" on their spines when placed left to right in chronological order.

* ''Literature/RiversOfLondon'' novels all have a cover illustration showing a relevant area from Steven Walker's "The Island: London Series", a series of incredibly detailed hand-drawn maps (except ''Foxglove Summer'' and ''The October Man'', which show equivalent maps of Hertfordshire and Tier), with the title above in a slightly chaotic font with lots of swirls linking the letters together.

* The ''DC Icons'' series of YA novels (''Literature/WonderWomanWarbringer'', ''Literature/BatmanNightwalker'', and ''Literature/CatwomanSoulstealer'') all feature a cover with the character's logo in the centre, a character portrait (not in costume, but with suggestions of it) above, and the title below. (The [[RecursiveAdaptation graphic novel adaptations]] replicate this but with the title superimposed on the logo and, for ''Nightwalker'' and ''Soulstealer'', another figure upside down beneath it.)

* When ''Literature/TheBoxOfDelights'' was republished to tie in with the [[Series/TheBoxOfDelights TV adaptation]], with a [[https://d2pk39vnfxxys4.cloudfront.net/content/images/thumbs/0001666_the-box-of-delights_300@2x.jpeg photo cover]] showing Devin Stanfield as Kay Harker kneeling so that Creator/PatrickTroughton's Cole Harker could show him the box, the previous novel, ''Literature/TheMidnightFolk'' was also republished, with an [[https://d2pk39vnfxxys4.cloudfront.net/content/images/thumbs/0001666_the-box-of-delights_300@2x.jpeg illustrated cover]] showing Kay surrounded by the Folk, but drawn to resemble Stanfield and kneeling in exactly the same position.

** And even earlier with ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}'' characters for the release of ''Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie''.

* Music/BeBopDeluxe: Six [=CDs=] where the spines spell out BE-BOP at the top and DELUXE at the bottom.
* Creator/{{EMI}} did this quite a bit with their CD remaster campaigns in TheNineties:

** The 1999 Music/DavidBowie [=CDs=], spanning his studio albums from ''Music/SpaceOddity'' to ''[[Music/TinMachineAlbum Tin Machine]]'', each have a cropped image of Bowie's face from the album cover on both the spine and the disc art. Sadly, nothing gets spelled out on the spines.
* Similarly to Pink Floyd's example, the 2000 Music/MikeOldfield HDCD reissue campaign (which covers the entirety of Oldfield's UK output on Creator/VirginRecords) features spine art on the jewel case traycards that, when lined up in order, form the iconic ''Music/TubularBells'' logo.

* Covers of Music/TheSmiths' studio output all feature old black and white photos, usually of celebrties.

* Between 2006 and 2018, ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'' had a cover design similar to the ''Literature/DoctorWhoMissingAdventures'', with a strip down the left side of the main cover image featuring the Pertwee/[=McGann=] logo, the actor playing the Doctor (or the companion/narrator if it's a Companion Chronicle), the title, and the Doctor's face as it appears in the title sequence (or as it ''might'' have appeared in the title sequence for Creator/WilliamHartnell, Creator/PaulMcGann and Creator/DavidTennant, if their title sequences had done that). The "Lost Stories" series has the further idiosyncrasy that the main image is a single colour near-silhouette against a stark white background.

* Paul Kidby's covers for the ''Literature/JohnnyMaxwellTrilogy'' all show Johnny in a circle of light, holding something (a game controller for ''Only You Can Save Mankind'', a BedsheetGhost costume for ''Johnny and the Dead'' and Mrs Tachyon's shopping trolley for ''Johnny and the Bomb'') and with a group looking over his shoulder (Kirsty, Wobbler and the [=ScreeWee=]; the Dead; and his whole friend group plus Mrs Tachyon and a soldier [possibly young Grandad], respectively).

* Paul Kidby's covers for the ''Literature/JohnnyMaxwellTrilogy'' all show Johnny in a circle of light, holding something (a game controller for ''Only You Can Save Mankind'', a BedsheetGhost costume for ''Johnny and the Dead'' and Mrs Tachyon's shopping trolley for ''Johnny and the Bomb'') and with a group looking over his shoulder (Kirsty, Wobbler and the [=ScreeWee=], the Dead, and his whole friend group plus Mrs Tachyon and a soldier [possibly young Grandad], respectively).

* Paul Kidby's covers for ''Literature/TheJohnnyMaxwellTrilogy'' all show Johnny in a circle of light, holding something (a game controller for ''Only You Can Save Mankind'', a BedsheetGhost costume for ''Johnny and the Dead'' and Mrs Tachyon's shopping trolley for ''Johnny and the Bomb'') and with a group looking over his shoulder (Kirsty, Wobbler and the [=ScreeWee=], the Dead, and his whole friend group plus Mrs Tachyon and a soldier [possibly young Grandad], respectively).

* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' and its sequels all had the same recognizable cover theme: a dark background with some image symbolic to the book's plot coming out of the darkness. ''Breaking Dawn'' was slightly different, but still within the same theme.