What if 'Sticky Fingers' Didn't Have a Zipper?
Breaking down designer Craig Braun's creative process from The Rolling Stones to The Carpenters
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Photography by Michael Heinz
About a year ago, I began ruminating on how to better publicize this newsletter. As much as I wanted to avoid the idea of creating “content,” I couldn’t help but notice the lack of intelligent, thoughtful coverage of album art on social media. I braced my ego and started making short-form videos on the topics I had written about here to see if they would translate. Some were fun, others felt like posting into a void. The last thing I expected was for legendary designer Craig Braun to comment on one.
Three months later, I found myself across from Craig, reminiscing in his Manhattan apartment. “When I was a young kid, I loved music. But I never, ever thought that I would be in the music business. I mean, Jesus!” Born in 1939, the same year Alex Steinweiss designed the first album cover, Craig would go on to create some of the most iconic visuals of our time. With a background in stickers and die-cut (Craig invented the hype sticker you find on vinyl), Andy Warhol called him up to assist in creating that banana peel on the cover of The Velvet Underground & Nico. On a Wednesday afternoon, we went through his archives together, hearing the stories behind the logo for The Carpenters and the alternative covers for The Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers. A “push-the-envelope kinda guy,” Craig walks us through his process of creating some of music’s most impactful artworks.
Before the notorious cover for The Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers was approved, Craig Braun had some other ideas up his sleeve. “I was afraid of the zipper,” Braun jokingly laughed, thinking of the fragile vinyl that was at risk of being dented and scratched by the pull. Marshall Chess, the founding president of Rolling Stones Records, agreed with Braun but urged him on. “If anyone could solve that, it’s you, Craig.”
His first alternative idea was to have the vinyl jacket fold out into three panels, forming life-size pant legs. The third side would rest against the cover, protecting the vinyl from the zipper. In the photo above, you can see the mockup, or “comp” as Craig likes to call them. Next came a heat-sensitive replica, made up of encapsulated ink crystals. Upon pressing a hand to the cover, the green ink would change to blue, leaving an imprint of “sticky fingers.” While this second idea was shelved, the concept appears to have made its way onto the cover of George Harrison’s Living In The Material World.
The ultimate solution for the cover was to pull the zipper all the way down, rest it on the vinyl label, and reveal a sliver of underwear, cementing its salacious nature in music history. An eleventh-hour idea, Craig remembers calling up the vinyl plant and Warhol with the plan of action. “I would say about 70% of my risk-taking paid off. Whether it was a love affair or an album cover,” Braun jokes. The packaging was unfortunately deemed too expensive after the first edition, which is why many copies of the album now have the zipper photographed.
On that same record, Braun also ushered in what Vanity Fair calls “one of the most recognizable brand logos in history.” The “licks” lip-and-tongue emblem, another last-minute addition to the record, was initially sketched by John Pasche, a student at the time, in London. According to The New York Times, “Braun modified the design not because it was lacking in any respect but because it had been faxed to the United States in a rush. The fax ‘was very grainy and gray’ — and the logo, Pasche admitted, ‘needed redrawing.’ It is Braun’s elongated version, with extra lines and highlights, that continues to be used officially.” Craig, who did both the design and production of all the albums he was commissioned for, remembers the frantic rush, calling Marshall Chess up every day, exclaiming, “I need it motherfucker!” He had a handful of days to meet the print deadline to have the vinyl out on street date, which was one month away.
1971, a landmark year for Braun, also saw him work across the logo for sibling duo The Carpenters. Thankfully, not as rushed, the emblem was designed over a month with longtime collaborator, illustrator Walter Velez. The type is a combination of a classic font with hand-drawn elements laid out like the arch of a bridge, which Craig notes as the original inspiration. The logo was used on the band’s self-titled record, which Braun also packaged like an envelope. Inside sits a photo of Richard and Karen Carpenter in nature, framed by a white vignette. Craig recalls, “Richard [Carpenter] didn’t like my idea because he felt it was too sentimental and too romantic. I said I’m using that photo of the two of you to sell it. It’s romance. It’s mostly love songs that Paul Williams writes!”
Understanding Craig’s three-dimensional style and logo sensibilities, the vinyl packaging for Alice Cooper’s School’s Out is an unmistakable Braun masterpiece. After hearing the title single from Shep Gordon, he knew right away that they had to find a school desk to photograph. He carved the album title, band members’ initials, and an Alice Cooper logo into the wooden top. If you look even closer at the bottom left, you’ll see Craig’s studio logo (a black pug with a lightbulb overhead). Once the desk had been carved to precision, he photographed the left and right sides, developed the negatives, printed them as chromogenic prints, and sent them to his favorite retoucher to stitch them together.
Upon opening the jacket like a desktop, one comes across an endless assortment of your average school items (pencils, marbles, notebooks) to photos of the band and a written tracklist. To top it all off, he even added flaps to the bottom of the jacket that one could pop out to stand up like a real desk. Early editions also included the vinyl record wrapped in faux underwear. The panties were unfortunately deemed flammable and nixed after the first run.
Sometimes Craig’s ideas were too big for his own britches, yet I wish more modern releases stole a page from his book. We’ve seen it most recently in limited-edition records, with Chappell Roan trapping strands of hair inside a 7” and indie band Alvvays releasing a liquid-filled anniversary edition vinyl of Blue Rev. Or Charli XCX and Show Me The Body printing vinyl to purposefully destroy. An expensive endeavor, no doubt. Yet for the most prominent artists in the world, this feels like a more interactive way to elevate the musical experience rather than releasing an exorbitant amount of alternative covers (another topic to rant about at a later date). Until then, enjoy more of Craig’s work, below:
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Wow, this is great! Craig Braun was involved in some of my favorite albums (and favorite album covers) and I had no idea who he was - and I loved the photos, always cool to get a glimpse into a creative person's private world. "Sticky Fingers" as a tri-fold, who'da thunk it??
I always enjoy your posts, and this was one of the best. Thanks!
What a fantastic, well-researched read. Appreciate what it took to pull this together—to compose and photograph.
I’m a 50-year art director and music journalist — and I morn the loss of the tangible experience of studying an album cover while enjoying the music. It pulled you deeper into the artists world and vision.
Why would I want 35 different cover versions by Taylor Swift? — a move that had nothing to do with creative expression and everything to do with greed and blatant fan-grift. Very MAGA.