Leo Sayer, eight studio album, Living In A Fantasy, this 19080 album package was designed by Hipgnosis after Sayer's manager Adam Faith wanted to try and update Sayer's image. Paul Maxon and Aubrey Powell did the photo shoots with Sayer, some at the Hipgnosis office, with Peter Wagg
Singer / songwriter Leo Sayer was managed by Sixties pop star Adam Faith, and it was Faith who approached Hipgnosis to put a cover together for Sayer's eight album, 1980's Living In A Fantasy. Some will recall Sayer for the clown make up gimmick which accompanied his early hits but was now seen as old hat, and hoped Hipgnosis would be able to create a new look. It was a tall order. Initially Paul Maxon (who worked on a number of record sleeves for the agency) and Aubrey Powell did a series of photo shoots with Sayer, some at the Hipgnosis office, and these were then printed out in colour by a specialist repro house called Maintide. With Peter Wagg overseeing things, these prints were then torn or cut out and along with other images reassembled to create several interesting montages, onto which pastels and other elements were applied. Bravely Sayer's face was actually obscured. Three of these images were then applied to the front back and inner sleeve, with just one unaltered photo on the reverse of the inner bag. An alternative image was used for the accompanying single. The montage was set against a plain white background. There were then a few smaller photos slotted down the left hand side. Sayer's name was done in an out of register way, and overall it was both a very typical Hipgnosis product while answering the brief perfectly. Not being a Sayer fan myself, I had no problem recognising the sleeve as being rather special when I picked my copy up in a charity shop (still wearing the £ Our Price sticker on the front.
Size: 3809px × 3659px
Photo credit: © Simon Robinson / Easy On The Eye / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1980, album, aubrey, design, fantasy, hipgnosis, leo, living, maxon, paul, powell, sayer, vinyl
