Client

The Verve

Microdot designed and art directed all The Verve’s releases in the 90’s, they were -

All In The Mind
She’s A Superstar
Gravity Grave
The Verve EP
A Storm In Heaven
Blue
Slide Away
Voyager 1
No Come Down
A Northern Soul
This Is Music
On Your Own
History
Urban Hymns
Bittersweet Symphony
The Drugs Don’t Work
Lucky Man
Sonnet

The very first hand rendered mock up for All In The Mind, Verves first release. Drawn during a meeting with the band, their friends and Brian Cannon held at Richard Ashcroft’s flat in Wigan on Tuesday 7th January 1992.

10 Feb was reference to a provisional delivery date for the artwork and Borderline refers to a gig on the 30th January at The Borderline, London.

The sleeve cover image was shot on Wednesday 29th January 1992.

All In The Mind - Verve’s debut release.

Shot in Mesnes Park, Wigan, January 1992.

As with the overwhelming majority of Microdot sleeves NO digitisation was used. All extras and props were in the park that day.

Above left - Scan of original hand rendered Verve logo used on She’s A Superstar artwork.

Left - She’s A Superstar

Shot on the Snake Pass in Derbyshire. Once again no digitisation was used, the neon sign really was in the waterfall (which was only 3 feet high) powered by a generator out of shot.

The blue tint to the river was accomplished by pouring food colouring into the water upstream.

The four band members can be seen in the distance.

Above left & right - The famed Snakeskin record. Only 5 were pressed and given to band members and management.

Left - Gravity Grave CD label. In Verve’s early career Microdot changed the Verve logo each release as they were independant of any album.

Gravity Grave cover image.

Shot on Formby Beach, Merseyside.

A Storm In Heaven - Cover image.

Birth.

The first in the tetraptych visually plotting the journey of life.

Shot in Thor’s Cave, Staffordshire.

Verve lettering was made by a steeel fabricator in Lancashire before being clad in fire resistant fabric which was doused with parafinn and lit.

Storm In Heaven - Interior Image.

Youth.

Shot in Billinge, Wigan.

The burning car was bought from a local scrapyard before being driven under it’s own power to the shoot location.

Each frame had a time span of no more than 15 seconds as the heat from the car became too intense and the band had to move.

Storm In Heaven - Interior image.

Middle age.

Shot in a friends cellar in Wigan.

The middle aged man who has lost his way in life and become disillusioned sits staring at a video relay of himself. Model, Barry Frodsham R.I.P.

Storm In Heaven - Back cover image.

Old age / Death

Shot in Birkdale cemetary, Merseyside.

Note the huge polystyrene hand in the background, added along with the foreground props for the shoot. Model, George Wilson R.I.P.

Slide Away - Cover image.

Shot in West Yorkshire.

Once again no digitisation used, all props in field, sunbed powered by onsite generator.

Blue - Cover image.

Shot in an alley way off King Street, Wigan.

Contrary to popular belief, the person leaning against the wall is not Richard Ashcroft, he appears at the top of the staircase, the model is friend of the band and former Bed Event member Alan Bellis. Dead man on floor is Brian Cannon.

Left & Below - Verve EP, American only release.

All four images shot in Richard Ashcroft’s flat in Orrell, Wigan.

Concept behind the images - the girl sits watching TV, non stop indoctrination from America, which eventually sends her into a wild frenzy.

The ‘bootleg’ Voyager 1.

Intended to look like an unofficial bootleg, Voyager 1 was in fact a Hut Records release.

Intrigue around the record grew when copies destined for America were lost at sea, the remaining number of copies is unknown.