Leif Podhajsky is an Australian graphic designer and art director, well known for his distinctive

album art An album cover (also referred to as album art) is the front packaging art of a commercially released studio album or other audio recordings. The term can refer to either the printed paperboard covers typically used to package sets of and 78-rpm ...

working with artists such as

Tame Impala Tame Impala is the psychedelic music project of Australian multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker. In the recording studio, Parker writes, records, performs, and produces all of the project's music. As a touring act, Tame Impala consists of Parke ...

, Bonobo, Foals, Kylie Minogue, Of Monsters and Men,

Lykke Li Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson (born 18 March 1986), known as Lykke Li (), is a Swedish singer. Her music often blends elements of indie pop, dream pop and Electronic music, electronic. Her debut studio album, ''Youth Novels'', was released in 2008 ...

Toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pet ...

The Horrors The Horrors are an English rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea in 2005, consisting of lead vocalist Faris Badwan, guitarist Joshua Hayward, keyboardist and synthesizer player Tom Furse, bassist Rhys Webb, and drummer and percussionist Joe Spu ...

Mount Kimbie Mount Kimbie is an English electronic music duo consisting of Dominic Maker and Kai Campos. Formed in 2008, the duo expanded on the musical template of the UK dubstep scene, releasing early EPs '' Maybes'' and '' Sketch on Glass'' to critical ...

Kelis Kelis Rogers-Mora (; born August 21, 1979), known mononymously as Kelis, is an American singer, songwriter and a professionally trained chef. At age 14, she was admitted to New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Perform ...

London Grammar London Grammar are an English indie pop band formed in Nottingham in 2009. The band consists of Hannah Reid, Dan Rothman and Dominic “Dot” Major. Their debut extended play, '' Metal & Dust'', was released in February 2013 by Metal & Dust R ...

and

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

. Podhajsky has emerged as a promising photographer, with his brooding landscape photography attracting a large following through his popular Instagram and Facebook accounts. In addition to creating album art, has also created artwork for a number of

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

s around the world, such as

Warp Records Warp Records (or simply Warp) is a British independent record label founded in Sheffield in 1989 by record store employees Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell and record producer Robert Gordon.Southern, Richard (2003) "Label of Love: WARP", X-RAY, ...

Modular Recordings Modular Recordings (known simply as Modular) is an Australian record label founded in 1998 by Steve Pavlovic that is currently owned by Universal Music Australia. It has released music from local artists such as Eskimo Joe, Ben Lee, The Avalan ...

, Sub Pop and

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainme ...

, with tour posters, T-shirts and other merchandise. Podhajsky's work explores themes of connectedness, love, fear, magic, the relevance of nature and the psychedelic or altered experience, and uses techniques such as

pattern A pattern is a regularity in the world, in human-made design, or in abstract ideas. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner. A geometric pattern is a kind of pattern formed of geometric shapes and typically repeated li ...

recursion Recursion (adjective: ''recursive'') occurs when a thing is defined in terms of itself or of its type. Recursion is used in a variety of disciplines ranging from linguistics to logic. The most common application of recursion is in mathemati ...

, balance, symmetry and repetition. By utilizing these subjects he attempts to "coerce the viewer into a realignment with themselves and their surroundings".

Tame Impala

Podhajsky has also worked with Australian psychedelic rock project

on numerous occasions, creating art for his album ''

Innerspeaker ''Innerspeaker'' is the debut studio album by Australian musical project Tame Impala. Recorded at a remote beach shack in Western Australia during the winter of 2009, the album was released on 21 May 2010 by Modular Recordings. ''Innerspeaker'' ...

'' and its follow-up ''

Lonerism ''Lonerism'' is the second studio album by Australian musical project Tame Impala, released on 5 October 2012 by Modular Recordings. Like the band's debut studio album, ''Innerspeaker'' (2010), ''Lonerism'' was written, recorded, performed, and p ...

'', and also creating art for his singles "

Solitude Is Bliss "Solitude Is Bliss" is a song by Tame Impala, released as a single in April 2010. It was recorded during the sessions for the ''Innerspeaker'' album in 2009, and released as the first single from that album. The single features artwork from Austr ...

", " Lucidity", " Expectation", "

Why Won't You Make Up Your Mind? "Why Won't You Make Up Your Mind?" is a song by the Australian band Tame Impala, released as a single in 2011. It was recorded during the sessions for the ''Innerspeaker'' album in 2009, and released as the fourth single from that album. The singl ...

", "Apocalypse Dreams" and "

Elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...

Style

Podhajsky's work has been described as "striking abstractions of nature – mirrored vistas, engulfing waves, rippling, melting cosmic landscapes". Conceptually, Podhajsky believes "the concepts I explore are universal to all humans and I believe we have lost touch with a lot of these in our modern lives. We're all secretly searching for answers to true happiness and contentment." Podhajsky's personal philosophy on working with musical artists is "I try and work with artists who I respect - whose music I would want to listen to. A lot of albums that have my work on them are on solid rotation. Ideally I like to spend a lot of time with the music working out a story and concept which I can capture the whole albums feel and flow." Podhajsky also uses album art to "create one image which encompasses an entire album of story and emotion". Music also inspires Podhajsky in "not just work for record labels or bands, but across everything I do. I find it helps me turn the part of my brain that over analyses and makes things logical switch off. This helps as it lets me form compositions in a more natural and fluid way, so it felt really organic to begin creating artwork for musicians. I have always loved album art and think it can really add to the whole experience of an album."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Podhajsky, Leif Living people Australian graphic designers 20th-century births People from New South Wales Australian art directors Australian people of Czech descent Year of birth missing (living people) Album-cover and concert-poster artists