VIA PRESS RELEASE | The best in vinyl records packaging was celebrated at the Making Vinyl Packaging Awards at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel on October 1.
Three of the 12 categories (Boxed Set, Reissue, and Gatefold) were won by art director/designer Torsten Posselt of German design firm FELD, while the Beggars Group’s 4AD and Rough Trade Records came away with two wins (Record Store Day and Illustrated Cover) and a runner-up (Best in Show), while Merge Records took home one win (45 single) and two runners-up awards (45 single and Photograph Cover).
Genres represented in the top prizes ran the gamut from heavy metal and rap to classical and alternative to Weird Al Yankovic, whose entire catalog was packaged in a facsimile accordion, his trademark instrument, to video game soundtracks.
Smog Design of Los Angeles won the “Best in Show – Alex Steinweiss Award” for its exquisitely packaged 7-inch collection for The Decemberists. Sony Music’s U.S. and European offices each won categories (“They Said It Couldn’t Be Done” and Best CD Boxed Set, respectively). Los Angeles indie label Ninja Tunes won the Best Photograph LP Cover and the runner-up in Best Gatefold categories.
LA creative production company iam8bit won Best Picture Disc category and the runner-up prize for Vinyl Boxed Set, while London music packaging firm Key Production took the runners-up in both Best CD Boxed Set and LP Picture Disc categories. The alternative band The National (4AD) was recognized for two releases (Record Store Day and Best Photograph).
The 24 winners and runners-up were picked during a judging session in late August at AIGA, the prestigious design organization. A record 237 submissions – up from 124 in 2017 – were reviewed online by 24 award-winning art directors on both sides of the Atlantic.
The ceremony was hosted by renowned packaging legend Craig Braun (the Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers and Alice Cooper’s School’s Out) who’s been an actor for the past two decades. Crosley provided to the winners specially inscribed turntables for their prizes, while Coral Graphics printed certificates for both winners and runners-up.
The awards are part of Making Vinyl, the first B2B conference dedicated to the rebirth of the vinyl record industry, and produced by Colonial Manufacturing Cooperative, a buying collective among media manufacturers. A list of all the winners and runners-up follows. More info about the awards here.
LIST OF WINNERS & RUNNER-UPS, FOLLOWED BY SUBMITTING PARTY
BEST ‘RECORD STORE DAY’ – VINYL RELEASE
Boxer Live In Brussels – The National – (WINNER) – 4AD/Beggars
Feast of Panthers – Ensign Broderick – (RUNNER-UP) – Six Shooter Records
BEST 45–RPM SINGLE PACKAGE
“An Ambulance” – Mike Krol – (WINNER) – Merge
“What a Time to Be Alive” – Superchunk – (RUNNER-UP) – Merge
BEST VINYL ALBUM REISSUE PACKAGE
Eulogy for Evolution 2017 – Ólafur Arnalds – (WINNER) – Torsten Posselt/FELD
What Another Man Spills – Lambchop – (RUNNER-UP) – Merge
BEST VINYL ALBUM COVER (PHOTOGRAPH)
Cocoa Sugar – Young Fathers – (WINNER) – Ninja Tunes
Sleep Well Beast – The National – (RUNNER-UP) – 4AD/Beggars
BEST VINYL ALBUM COVER (ILLUSTRATED)
Babelsberg – Gruff Rhys – (WINNER) – Rough Trade/Beggars
The Worm’s Heart – The Shins – (RUNNER-UP) – Sony Music US
BEST VINYL BOX SET
1 + 1 = X – Erased Tapes Records (Compilation) – (WINNER) – Torsten Posselt/FELD
Cuphead Soundtrack – Maddigan (RUNNER-UP) – iam8bit
BEST CD BOX SET PACKAGE
Listen Without Prejudice – George Michael (WINNER) – Sony Music Intl.
Manchester North Of England: 1977–1993 – (RUNNER-UP) – Key Production
BEST RECORD ART (LP SIZE)
Double Trouble – Wax Mage (compilation) – (WINNER) – Gotta Groove Records
August Burns Red – Phantom Anthem – (RUNNER-UP) – Concord Records
BEST VINYL GATEFOLD
Kaiho – Kauan – (WINNER) – Torsten Posselt/FELD
A Moment Apart – ODESZA – (RUNNER-UP) – Ninja Tunes
BEST VINYL PICTURE DISC
140 Vinyl (Soundtrack) – Schmid – (WINNER) – iam8bit
She Taught Me How To Fly – Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – (RUNNER-UP) – Key Prod.
THEY SAID IT COULDN’T BE DONE – VINYL
Squeeze Box: The Complete Works of “Weird Al” Yankovic – (WINNER) – Sony Music US
Portal (Soundtrack) – Apeture Science Psychoacoustics Laboratory (RUNNER-UP) – Stoughton
THE ALEX STEINWEISS AWARD (BEST IN SHOW)
I’ll Be Your Girl – The Decemberists – (WINNER) – SMOG Design
Too Many Bad Habits – Johnny Nicholas – (RUNNERUP) – Microforum Vinyl Record Pressing
