“Damon bought shares in a greyhound,” says Chris Thompson, the Stylorouge designer who put the ‘Parklife’ sleeve together. “That was taking it totally to extremes – good fun though.”
“By the time we did ‘Parklife’ we were really into appropriating popular imagery,” explains Rob O’Connor, Creative Director at Stylorouge. The designers had previously used a variety of stock photographs and found images for the band's previous two albums, but ideas for the 'Parklife' artwork took them on a ramble around London. Nearly making the cover was a fruit and veg stall in Portobello Road, and for a period of time when the album had the working title of 'Soft Porn', a photo of Buckingham Palace was mooted as the planned image. Can't imagine the LP having as much of an impact if it was called 'Soft Porn'. The little things that change history, eh?
With the cover decided, the band and their crew enjoyed an evening at the now-closed Walthamstow Stadium, where the band had their portrait taken. The track itself provided the inspiration for the album’s color scheme, as well as the themes for the sleeves of the ‘Parklife’ singles.
“The whole idea was what blokes do for entertainment,” O’Connor says. “I’ve always thought of Blur as a boys’ band, but one that also appealed to girls, so that fitted in very well – sex for ‘Girls and Boys’, Beer for the ‘Parklife’ single.”Coxon doesn't regard the band's artwork too highly: “We were being clever, or possibly lazy, or both. I think Blur has always tried to be a bit too clever,” he says. “I’ve since got into having it a bit more vague rather than packaged. I prefer to fantasise a little more about the record in my hand, rather than having it all set out with the imagery. In a way the ‘Parklife’ sleeve is all intellect, and no soul – but it’s also sensational, graphic and perfect.”