Album Art – Doug Henders – Around the World in a Day

This is where I’ll talk about the Album Art I like. That is one of the benefits of 12″ vinyl albums, the cool packaging surrounding the record. Here I’ll research the creations that we all loved as children, teenagers, and adults. I’ll try to find as much information on the artists as possible.

Around the World in a Day was the seventh studio album by Prince and the 2nd billed to the Revolution. It was released on April 22, 1985, by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. In compliance with Prince’s wishes, the record company released the album with minimal publicity, withholding accompanying singles until almost a month after the album’s release.

For the album cover, Prince came up with a 16-item list of things he wanted portrayed. The main thing he didn’t want was a photo of himself on the cover, as he felt that had been overdone. Graphic artist Jim Warren came up with an initial concept but Prince settled on one from Doug Henders – a jobbing artist employed also as a carpenter on the Purple Rain Tour, who also designed the eyes artwork on the Purple Rain album.

Warren’s graphic of a boy holding a balloon featuring the logo by Margo Chase bearing the title of the album was overprinted on the final artwork. The requirements included various references to the lyrics: an image of silent movie era actress Clara Bow;

a juggling clown; a ladder rising out of a pool of water and leading to a cloud; a blue sky filled with fluffy clouds; a black baby waving an American flag; doves; an exotic woman wearing a raspberry beret; olive-skinned people wearing robes (the white-robed character looking uncannily like Prince); a Russian fighter jet; a lace-wearing woman with red hair and eating an ice cream;

an old black male crying; a young white woman crying; a field of violets; a young smiling girl sitting on a see-saw; and representations of the band The Revolution. Other unlisted elements were also included in the finished design, such as a puppy (believed to be Prince’s actual dog at that time) and a woman playing a violin.

Doug Henders’ was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1957. He now lives and works in New York City. His education includes the US Army – Defense Map Agency, Washington DC 1975 – 1976, and the Minneapolis College of Art & Design – BFA Painting & Video 1983. Henders’s work relates strongly to his concept of contemporary painting as an expanded medium that can incorporate the technological attributes of screens, windows, and interfaces