Great Album Covers Become GIFs

Studio 360

The Venezuelan artistJB takes album covers from bands including Megadeth, the Smashing Pumpkins, and Beastie Boys and turns them into animated GIFs. The result might be better even than the originals.

JB's BB

JB starting making GIFs after his brother introduced him to the blog of ABVH, who is basically the Terry Gilliam of GIFs. “I said to myself, ‘these GIFs look incredibly good, and I think I can do something like that,'” JB says. “I chose to try it on album covers when I saw Coldplay’s Parachutes cover on the web and thought it would look cool spinning. That was the first one I did.” See that GIF and others below.

At first, JB focused on albums he remembered loving when he was growing up in the 90s. He then branched out, animating covers he thought were graphically suited to the form. Now he takes suggestions on his Tumblr.

Given how adept he is at making highly recognizable works of art move, you’d think JB came to the idea as a Photoshop wizard. Not so. “I knew a little Photoshop and a little After Effects (a video effects program), both self-taught,” he admits. “Now I know a little more, but just a little.”

Parachute

Animated Sadness

La Trola

NoFX

Invest in independent global news

The World is an independent newsroom. We’re not funded by billionaires; instead, we rely on readers and listeners like you. As a listener, you’re a crucial part of our team and our global community. Your support is vital to running our nonprofit newsroom, and we can’t do this work without you. Will you support The World with a gift today? Donations made between now and Dec. 31 will be matched 1:1. Thanks for investing in our work!