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Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Drawing

ca.1980 (made)
Artist/Maker
Smith, Bill (artist)
Place of origin
Great Britain (made)

Page from a sketchbook featuring a design for the record sleeve for the album 'abacab' by the group Genesis.

Object details

Categories
Labels & Packaging
Music
Object type
Drawing
Materials and techniques
Coloured crayon, pencil, ink and collage
Crayon
Pencil
Ink
Drawing
Collage
Brief description
Page from a sketchbook, featuring a design for the record sleeve for the album 'abacab' by the group Genesis. By Bill Smith, Great Britain, ca.1980.
Physical description
Page from a sketchbook featuring a design for the record sleeve for the album 'abacab' by the group Genesis.
Dimensions
  • Height: 10cm
  • Width: 9cm
Group mounted: E.1730-1733 - 1992.
Gallery label
(2019)
These sketches trace the design journey from drawing to finished product, exposing the designer's thinking process on the page. Designers develop a visual concept which then meets the practical considerations of the layout, text, and how the sleeve looks in the crowded shelves of a record store. The Genesis sleeve faithfully reproduces the hand-made quality of the original design. Verhoeven's drawing created a story from small details.
Credit line
Given by Bill Smith
Historical context
Bill Smith has designed records sleeves since 1977. Genesis sketched the design for 'Abacab' after browsing through Smith's 'ideas' sketchbook. Smith worked-up different colour versions of the original Pantone collage. Four different colourways were eventually printed, each with 5 special Pantone Colours on special board with embossing. There were 200,000 - 300,000 in the limited edition. Smith appears to have used the Pantone sample swatched themselves for his collage.
Associated objects
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.1730-1992

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Record createdMarch 18, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O201667/drawing-smith-bill/
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