Designed for Hi-Fi Living

Before album covers were reduced to tiny icons on smartphones, they were bold, colorful pieces of art, as much cultural indicators as protectors for the records inside.

An excellent example of consumer research subtly linked to political ideologies and shifting consumer attitudes and tastes.

One of the smartest books we’ve ever seen on album cover art – a lavish full color volume that not only presents loads of classic images, but also has plenty to say about them as well!

Fascinating.

Terrific. Makes a great gift for the music lover who loves midcentury design and travel.

Borgerson and Schroeder contend that midcentury record albums offered compelling visions for incorporating style, home, and travel into mainstream American society. Their book, Designed for Hi-Fi Living, offers a view of this vision, a way to illustrate the role of the vinyl LP in developing contemporary American consumer culture.

An eye-opening, colorful, often humorous look back at a time when the vinyl LP was not only becoming a commonplace item in the American home, but also reflected the times we lived in, and our hope for the future.

Delve[s] beneath the kitschy album art to explore how this genre of mood music reflected an era of shifting desires.

A slice of American postwar life…. An indication of how music is visually interpreted.

Janet Borgerson is Senior Wicklander Fellow at the Institute for Business and Professional Ethics at DePaul University.Jonathan Schroeder is William A. Kern Professor of Communications at Rochester Institute of Technology. Borgerson and Schroeder are coauthors of From Chinese Brand Culture to Global Brands- Insights from Aesthetics, Fashion and History.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.