These intricate pencil illustrations by visual artist John Paul Thurlow pay homage to 80s era rock-and-roll iconography. Recreating a series of infamous album covers, the New York based artist remixes retro record artwork from some of the era's most popular musical artists. The popular icons include English pop group the Eurythmics and androgynous disco queen Grace Jones among others.
These album art illustrations by John Paul Thurlow recreate original album artworks while infusing the retro era masterpieces with inked tattoo imagery. These added accent details are unexpected thanks to their symbolic elements that relate to religious and cultural contexts.
Whether depicting an inked Annie Lennox or a ethnically tattooed George Harrison of iconic group The Beatles, this intricate image series modernizes the iconography of the 80s.
What's Driving This Trend
- Retrowave Album Art
- The trend of recreating and remixing retro album covers with modern artistic elements, such as inked tattoo imagery, provides a disruptive innovation opportunity for graphic design and music marketing industries.
- Symbolic Tattoo Illustrations
- The trend of adding symbolic tattoo elements to album cover illustrations creates a unique visual aesthetic and opens up disruptive innovation opportunities for tattoo artists and album cover designers.
- Reviving Retro Iconography
- The trend of modernizing and reinterpreting iconic 80s album art presents disruptive innovation opportunities for artists, marketers, and nostalgia-driven industries.
Who This Affects Most
- Graphic Design
- The graphic design industry can capitalize on the trend of creating retrowave album art by offering their expertise in recreating and remixing retro album covers with modern artistic elements.
- Music Marketing
- The music marketing industry can leverage the trend of retrowave album art to engage with audiences and create unique visual identities for music artists.
- Tattoo Artistry
- The tattoo artistry industry can explore new collaborations with musicians and album cover designers by incorporating symbolic tattoo elements into album cover illustrations.
