Mark Farrow, The Other Rock Star Designer

I once saw one of those silly Facebook questions/memes that you are supposed to tag a friend and have them answer the question “Have you ever bought a record (God, I’m dating myself) just because you thought the album cover was cool?”

Honestly, no, but if it was designed by graphic designer Mark Farrow, I probably would.

Most people don’t know designers by name. It’s pretty much anonymous art, for the people and by the people. Whoever designed the packaging for Chex cereal you ate this morning didn’t sign the box (thankfully). But like Peter Saville who I reviewed last week, Farrow is also a rock star graphic designer.

The very same high school friends who introduced me to New Order, also introduced me to The Pet Shop Boys.

My first encounter with them was the stunning “Lego/Manhole cover” for their album “Very”. I had never seen such sophisticated CD packaging before (or since really) with its raised round LEGO like surface. I also wanted the rare (in the US) companion album “Relentless” (you get the clever English pun, Very Relentless), whose soft plastic packaging was just as intriguing.