La Boca’s design for Muse’s LP The Resistance has been named best album cover in the Best Art Vinyl 2009 awards.

Jenny Saville’s original painting for the cover of Manic Street Preachers’ Journal for Plague Lovers took second place in the competition, while Martin Ander’s design for Fever Ray’s eponymous album was named the year’s third best cover. A total of 50 awards were made, with an appearance by Damien Hirst – for The Hours album See The Light – at number 20.
Andrew Heeps, director of vinyl framing company Art Vinyl, says album cover design is enjoying a revival, driven by last year’s vinyl sales rise of 30 per cent.

‘With CD sales losing their importance, the canvas that a vinyl record sleeve provides is really adding value for the owner, as they are also purchasing a piece of collectable art. Also, both the majors and indie labels are investing money in really stand-out sleeve art,’ says Heeps.

He picks out the Florence and the Machine album cover, which was placed 17th in the list, as being particularly labour-intensive. It involved a team of at least four, including art director Tabitha Denholm, layout designer Hugh Frost, photographer Tom Beard and illustrator Orlando Weeks

The 50 winning designs will be on display at The Art Vinyl Gallery at Selfridges in London, the Snap Galleries in Birmingham and the Georges House Gallery in Folkestone.