Make it new …
Blue Monday in 1983 was the first single to establish New Order as a force, after the death of Ian Curtis had ended the band’s previous incarnation as Joy Division. To match their new synth sound, Peter Saville created this groundbreaking sleeve.
Ex machina …
With Joy Division, Saville had dashed album art rules, omitting the title from Unknown Pleasures and using classical imagery with Closer. For Blue Monday, he looked to machine-age aesthetics, anticipating computer-led design.
Ready to flop …
The occult black sun imprinted at its centre, attended by the dash and dot, is still recognisable as the long-obsolete floppy disk.
Writing code …
The colour chart suggests new machine-led, colour-coded design. It’s literally coded, too. Saville placed a colour wheel on the back of the album Power, Corruption & Lies that helps reveal the song’s title.
Grand design …
The sleeves reportedly cost so much to print that Factory Records lost money on the biggest-selling 12-inch ever.
