Andy Vella on working with The Cure and his favourite album covers
Photographer and designer Andy Vella, best known for his long‑running creative collaboration with The Cure, has shaped some of the most distinctive album cover artwork in modern music.
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For this year’s Teenage Cancer Trust shows at the Royal Albert Hall, Andy revisited his iconic silhouette of Robert Smith from the cover of Boys Don’t Cry to craft bold, collage‑driven visuals inspired by the venue, the bands, and his love of the charity.
In this exclusive Q&A, Andy discusses his creative process, how he collaborates with artists, and the inspiration behind the vibrant artwork for our 2026 shows. He shares the experimental approach behind his album covers, the thrill of responding to music and lyrics, and his passion for the work that Teenage Cancer Trust does to support young people with cancer.
How is creating album covers different to ‘regular’ photography?
“When I go off walking with my camera I am in a particular zone and armed with the intention to create certain images revolving around my memorised narrative. Well, that’s the idea anyway, but often I just go completely off on a tangent.
“When I’m shooting an album cover, the process is maybe a little more controlled. Or if that fails, it falls into a welcome creative chaos: this is where I lose myself into a spiral of experimentation; it’s like photographing with my eyes closed, shooting in a dark room looking in between light and dark, soft and sharp.”
How do you go about collaborating with bands on their album covers?
“Working with bands and collaborating is very special; I relish and love responding to the music, vibes and especially the lyrical content – this informs which way forward we are likely to go. It is such a privilege to be able to represent someone’s art in this way. I am very lucky!”
Do you have a favourite cover that you’ve created?
“Every sleeve I have created or collaborated on has a special place for me; the story behind it, what it was and what it has become. But designing sleeves is not necessarily easy: there is actually beautiful extreme pain in creating these record sleeves.
“Do I have a favourite? Hmmm… I always look forward to creating the next sleeve.”
What was your process for creating the art for this year’s Royal Albert Hall shows?
“I created a whole bunch of collages of the bands’ names, fonts and deconstructed images that I’d taken of the Royal Albert Hall, then physically collided them all together to create posters and artwork. Then and only then did I play with them on the faithful Macintosh!”
With the design, my aim was to trigger something bright, cheerful and positive with strong flashes of visual spontaneity. I jumped into it with all my creativity.
What was your inspiration?
“I’ve always loved how Teenage Cancer Trust looked and this charity feels extra special and important to me – the help and difference they make to so many young people is amazing and really inspiring.
“With the design, my aim was to trigger something bright, cheerful and positive with strong flashes of visual spontaneity. I jumped into it with all my creativity to create this campaign, spurred on by Robert’s involvement with the Cureating.
“When I set to work, it just occurred to me to make Robert’s silhouette swoosh up from the original image of his silhouette that I took for the ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ album sleeve back in 1986. My aim was to show him introducing the bands like some kind of magical cool magician. The silhouette of Robert has now become such a well-known shot and such a celebrated image of him that it was brilliant to bring it to life in this way and inject it with a vivid new energy.”
Which band has surprised you most to work with and why?
“The Cure always have and always will surprise me. I’ve also been lucky enough to have worked with so many surprising artists, across many genres from punk to reggae to electronic and rock: collaborating with all this talent has allowed me to push and surprise myself creatively, too.
Some of the highlights have given me the chance to collaborate with everyone from Atari teenage riot X Alec Empire, Jonathan Harvey, Peter Hook (New Order), TV Smith (The Adverts), Jan Holzman-Bruce (Botnick-Elektra records), Glen Matlock (the Sex Pistols), Pavement, Congo Natty (Tribal Bass), Mike Rutherford (Genesis), Swervedriver… and the one of the craziest shoots I was ever involved with for a sleeve was with Mogwai (Rock Action) – what a band!
Then there was Jeff Buckley, Gene, shooting Mick Rock’s portrait (he was famous for photographing the 70s) even working with John Tavener on his Akathist of Thanksgiving and being introduced by him to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I in Westminster Abbey was definitely an amazing and unexpected highlight!
“I am always looking for the next beautiful collaboration and I do have quite a wish list of people I’d love to work with: there really is so much amazing new music popping up everywhere – why not send me an email!
What advice would you give to a young person wanting to get into design and photography in the music industry?
“If you want to get into it, I would say that it’s so important to go to local pubs and bars where music is performed (we need to support these small venues) to see up-and-coming bands, take photos, create art. Try and get to talk to them and build up a relationship, and maybe show them some of the work you have created based on their look or songs, be inspired and show them how good you are. Be passionate! And it will happen.
“Also – be surprising! Always come up with something special and unique, take risks and don’t get bogged down with design from the past. Design right now seems to be obsessed with nostalgia. Design for tomorrow and not for today! Be inventive, create away from a computer, play the music loud! And dance while you create. I hop around my studio to demos – luckily I don’t have any neighbours.”