Composing the Sun

Music cover design in
Firouz Shafei

(Neshan Iranian Graphic Magazine,Number 12,Winter 2007, www.neshanmagazine.com)

In his third trip to , Nasseredin Shah was introduced with an apparatus for voice recording called the phonograph. This machine had wax cylinders that recorded and played sounds. The phonograph was exclusively used by Nasseredin Shah in his last years of ruling but early during Mozaffaredin Shah’s time a limited number of these apparatuses were brought to . As these equipments became cheaper to make and more functional the wealthier families initiated to purchase them. The newer models had winding handle and a 36 centimetre brass horns for playing music while the wax cylinders recorded and played voices for 2 minutes.
In the memoirs of his second trip to in 1902 Mozaffaredin Shah has mentioned seeing and buying this apparatus. From about 1899 or early in the rule of Mozaffaredin Shah there was mention of this voice recording system in some houses. In that period some of the royals socialized with the artists and sometimes recorded their musical works in the phonograph cylinders.
The first gramophone disc recording in dates back to pre-Constitutional movement about 1904. The first music records in the time of Mozaffaredin Shah were recorded and distributed by the Gramophone Company in . For the first time, in 1906 a branch of the said company began operations in and musical works were recorded.
As a result of World War I and the impacts it had on ’s internal circumstances and the unrest followed by shortage of food and necessary materials, music recording that was ongoing from 1906 until 1915, came to a halt. After the end of the war national songs and lyrics became prevalent among people. Meanwhile, a new era began when Ahmad Shah left for and Reza Khan took on power in 1925. In those periods centers were opened for music education. The opening of the Higher Institution for Music Education in 1923 and Musical Club under the efforts of Ali Naghi Vaziri provided suitable grounds for record and distributing of music records.
Evidence suggests that the recording of gramophone records in re-started in 1926 and the conduction of several concerts was one of the reasons to attract foreign companies to invest and send representatives for recording and sales of music records. The advancement of technology in making gramophones rendered the possibility of electrical recording, a breakthrough in voice recording system. Abolhassan Saba’s first violin album was among these records.
In terms of design, until 1958 all the details of music production were printed on the round label in the middle of the record itself and it reached the customer in a white plain envelope. In 1958, record importers with regards to foreign record covers thought of providing record covers with a design. The managers of the record companies therefore, based upon their own talent and taste left record cover designing in the hands of etchers and print shops and pictures of singers or landscapes decorated these covers.
Finally, in the 1960’s the first Iranian company called Ahang-e Rooz initiated a fundamental approach for the design of their record covers. At that time for their album covers companies preferred to use pictures of singers who had not yet performed on television and were therefore unknown faces. That way they both satisfied their keen listeners who wanted to see pictures of their favourite singers and promoted their business. The covers in that period did not yet have a distinct or special graphic design.
In the early 70’s a small branch of pop music that drew the attention of intellectuals became interested in record cover design. The album cover designs of Shabaneh (Nightly), Jomeh (Friday) and Tangna (Bottleneck) are some examples.
In 1971 the Center for Intellectual Education of Children and Youths (Kanoon) was founded. This institute produced story and musical tapes for children. Ahmad Reza Ahmadi, a well-known Iranian poet was assigned to manage this division and he, with utmost taste made plans for recording Iranian music including folk.
Ahmadi’s new look at music accompanied by his artistic talent and taste provided the grounds for graphic designers to design cassette and record covers. It was then that for the first time record and tape cover design found its true logic. Using lithography technique of Persian rug patterns Farshid Mesghali, a notorious Iranian designer designed beautiful covers for the records. Ebrahim Haghighi, another well-known designer also by using pen and ink, introduced a different style of music cover design. Some other designers used calligraphy as the main tool to design covers for records. Record and tape cover design reached its peak in those years. Then with victory of the Islamic revolution on 1978 all music record and distribution companies were closed down.
After the revolution the musical groups of Sheyda and Aref lead by Mohammad Reza Shajarian, a prominent Iranian singer, brought on new light to the art of record and tape cover design. The effect of the Iranian revolution’s intensity is evident on the tape covers of these periods. Unfortunately this period did not last for a long time. The Iran-Iraq war for a long period stopped creative works in both areas of music and naturally cover design.Shortly after the war music production entered to a new area and graphic designers such as Aydin Aghdashlou, Ebrahim Haghighi, Houshang Amir-Ardalan and Morteza Momayez started cassette cover designing and they created such remarkable works.
With the launch of CDs in the market, graphic design for musical productions entered a new sphere and became a serious profession for many designers. Iranian calligraphy, illustration and photography became more visible in many CD covers.