It was during this period that Martyn Atkins took on regular design responsibilities for the band. It went on to be selected by Life magazine in 1990 as one of the best photographs of the decade, and remains rightfully respected to this day.
Ī Broken Frame is rarely cited as a fan favourite, but Griffin excelled himself with the cover image. Its 12” format, however, with its restrained neo-classical sleeve, again by Simon Rice, was more complementary to the maturing sonic aspirations that would follow with the release of the band’s sophomore album, A Broken Frame. The 7”, with its naïve cover painting and hypersaturated graphics by Moritz Reichelt’s Ata Tak studio in Düsseldorf, was unlikely to convince Depeche Mode sceptics that something different could be expected. The two sleeves for See You, Gore’s first single for Depeche Mode, in some ways illustrate the existential predicament the band found themselves in that year. Get Classic Pop’s Depeche Mode special here Outside the frameīy 1982 Martin Gore had inherited sole songwriting responsibilities and needed to decide whether the new three-piece would continue down the pop path or risk something less colourful and commercial. This restrained design is atypical of Bubbles’ work, and his contribution went uncredited on the sleeve. With Speak & Spell, many failed to notice how Bubbles subtly constructed the album’s tracklisting on the back cover to form the shape of a chess piece, complete with a king’s crown. The album’s graphics were the work of another acclaimed designer, Barney Bubbles, famous for his work with the Stiff Records label. The photograph divided people – I’ve no idea what it means, and I’m not sure that Brian does either!” Brian Griffin would go on to create many more images for the band. “Before we met, I’d been a fan of his work with artists like Devo and Siouxsie. “Brian Griffin did the photography,” confirmed Daniel Miller.