Alex Steinweiss
March 24, 1917 – July 18, 2011
Alex Steinweiss was a graphic artist who came along when record companies were still packaging their releases in plain jackets or books, but when given the task of creating unique packages, he suddenly turned the album cover into an exciting new art form. Beginning in 1939 as Columbia Records’ very first art director and running through his semi-retirement in 1973, Steinweiss reportedly designed in the neighborhood of 2500 album covers. Following his run at Columbia, he went on to design packages for London, Decca and Everest Records, and along the way created the blueprint from which all future album designers would follow. During the 1950s, Steinweiss began incorporating photographs into his cover designs, one of, if not THE first to do so. He also created numerous logos, book covers, posters, magazine covers, and TV show title logos throughout his career. Steinweiss retired from the music business when he realized during the mid-70s, that his retro designs were not what the acts of the booming rock era had in mind for their images. He went on to work with other media, including ceramics and paint. Alex Steinweiss was 94 when he passed away on July 18, 2011.