Damien Saunder, a cartographer from rural Wangaratta, combines his love for music and maps in 'Maps on Vinyl', a book exploring the influence of cartography on album sleeve design. Featuring over 415 records, the project took four years and includes artists like Oasis, Coldplay, and Talking Heads. It highlights the intersection of music and cartography, previously overlooked in cartographic studies. Saunder's background as director of cartography at National Geographic enhances the depth of the project, showcasing both obscure and celebrated album covers.
Growing up in rural Wangaratta in north-eastern Victoria, Damien Saunder spent many a wintry day listening to music on the family's record player. Just beneath the stereo was a Reader's Digest atlas.
Decades later, music and maps have come together again, this time in a coffee table book: Maps on Vinyl, a world-first survey of the cartographic influence on album sleeve design.
The project became a four-year labour of love: 32,000 words and a collection of more than 415 vinyl records some of them deeply obscure, some celebrated.
While he was studying typography at the ArtCenter College of Design in the US, a lecturer recommended looking at album covers for inspiration.
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