Laini (née Sylvia Abernathy) designed several record covers for Chicago-based Delmark Records in the 1960s. She is one of the few African American women of the period to be credited as a designer.
For the avant-garde musician Sun Ra, type takes a back seat so the illustration can shine. Abernathy abstracts a drawing of the sun into painterly swirls with rays of sunlight that beam to the edge of the frame — fitting for the artist whose stage name was coined in honor of the Egyptian God of the Sun. The glowing, orange mass against the red background reflects the surge of energy in the Afrofuturist’s synthy, cosmic sound.
2 Comments on “Sun Ra – Sun Song (Delmark Records)”
Looks like they updated the font as well—is that Hoefler?
I think it’s Stempel Garamond Italic. Added, thanks.