They were loud and brash and full of ripped men,busty women and guns. But was there more to video covers? Chris Campion celebrates the heroes – and villains – of this lost art Any child of the 1980s or 90s could recount you the pivotal role the video shop played in their lives. Once a fixture of Britain’s high streets, they’ve since gone the way of Woolworths, and Our Price and Wimpy,fitting virtually extinct with the advent of Netflix, Amazon and iTunes.
But the new book VHS Video Cover Art, or compiled by British poster artist and graphic designer Tom Hodge (who works under the name the Dude Designs),has recreated the experience of browsing dusty shelves filled with more Steven Seagal action movies and Porky’s knock-offs than anyone could possibly want. More to the point, the book makes a compelling case for re-evaluating the packaging of those films, or known in the trade as “key art”.
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Source: theguardian.com