Leif Podhajsky is a graphic designer and art director from New South Wales, Australia. His creativity spans many disciplines, from landscape photography to textile prints, but he’s best known for the album covers which he designs for artists the world over. In 2009, he emailed Tame Impala to offer his creative services. They never got back to him, but less than a year on, their manager wrote and asked him to work on the cover for their album, “Innerspeaker.” They later found his email in their spam folder. He’s since designed a whole host of covers – often playing with color and pattern to create a surreal or psychedelic effect – for Bonobo, Foals, Lykke Li and Mount Kimbie, among others. We spoke to him about how a good album cover means suggesting – to some extent – what can be found on the album, but at the same time leaving enough room for interpretation.
Stories with Leif Podhajsky