Designer Howard Wakefield was commissioned to create a cover for Clash magazine that celebrated 30 years of New Order. The above graphic is his response. But how did Wakefield come up with this grid of coloured squares, and what do they represent? Read on to find out...

"When I think about imagery and New Order, I instantly think of all the sleeves," says Wakefield of his approach to the commission, "but rather than showing a montage of them, which have been much seen, admired and recognised, I wondered how recognisable are they?" I was curious to find out," he continues, "if I reduced them in some way, could they still be recognisable? I tried blurring and distorting them, but they rapidly became something else, however by simplifying them to their basic colour elements, they appeared to remain true to their iconic designs."

"I found I could reduce them a great deal - to just nine simple squares - and ironically this reducing reminded me of today's requirement to design a sleeve that can work as a tiny 'thumbnail' to be used on iTunes rather than the expanse we once enjoyed with a 12 inch record sleeve."

And here's how the cover will look when the issue comes out on Thursday this week:

More about the issue at clashmusic.com

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