Inventor of Modern Album Cover Dies

Limited Edition WUSF poster by Alex Steinweiss

You can thank Alex Steinweiss for bringing color to the cover of your old LP's. He was hired in the 1930s by Columbia Records as an art director and graphic designer to do advertising to boost album sales.

It was his idea to create a visual representation of the music to put on the album cover.

It worked, according to the New York Times, the first album cover he worked on increased sales for that record by 800 percent.

When Steinweiss started with Columbia Records, record sleeves were solid colors. He thought that was ridiculous, according to the Times.

Steinweiss passed away Sunday in Sarasota at the age of 94.