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Graphic artist Ioannis R.I.P.
Internationally renowned graphic artist and designer Ioannis Vasilopoulos has passed away.
Ioannis was the author of the cover art for Abandon and Rapture of the Deep and graphic designer for Bananas. He also designed numerous other record covers and merchandise for other bands, from Alan Parsons Project to Sepultura.
The following message has been posted on his Facebook page yesterday, April 8, 2025:
We announce with heavy hearts the passing of Ioannis, our beloved artist, husband, father, brother, grandfather, uncle, and friend. He has left us for the great beyond. We find comfort in knowing he is reunited with his father, mother, family, and friends.
Ioannis was an internationally renowned artist and designer born in Athens, Greece. Arriving in the US in 1967, he grew up influenced by comic books, animation, fantasy art, and music. Music inspired his admiration of album cover art, specifically of Roger Dean and Storm Thorgerson (Hipgnosis). While he was in college, he created his first record cover and art directed the music video for the group Art in America, an MTV video breakout in 1983. The cover would later be featured in the book ‘1000 Record Covers’ by Michael Ochs. Ioannis’s work was featured in the books “Fade To Black’ with Martin Popoff and “Get the Led Out” written by Denny Somach with a foreword by Carol Miller.
Over the years, he created award-winning campaigns, logos, and art for his clients. These included Universal Music, Sony Music, Starz, IFC Films, EMI, Virgin, and XM Satellite Radio. Ioannis also has designed over 350 record covers and merchandise for groups like Deep Purple, Allman Brothers, Bon Jovi, Uriah Heep, Styx, Blue Oyster Cult, Dream Theater, King Crimson, Bob Weir, Alan Parsons Project, Starship, Yngwie Malmsteen, VoiVod, Biohazard, Sepultura, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Fates Warning, Quiet Riot, Johnny Winter, Extreme, Jon Anderson (YES), Michael Bolton, and more.
He had several shows of his works throughout the US and continued selling his artwork worldwide until his passing.
Ioannis is survived by his wife Lisa, daughter Maria, son-in-law Conor, grandchildren Henry and Jack, brother George, sister-in-law Gaylene, niece Sophia, and sister Elizabeth.
The outpouring of love for Ioannis and his work is a great comfort. Ioannis wanted to do so many new things, and as a family, we have been tasked with continuing his work. His energy will live on through his incredible art. His bright smile and child-like excitement live on in his works. Ioannis will undoubtedly be remembered as one of rock’s all-time great artists.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Ἀἰωνία ἡ μνήμη αὐτοῦ … (I hope I got that right …)
I liked all three of his covers for Purple,
– Abandon was brilliant (like something Nirvana might have used) – one of the best Purple covers ever and certainly the best one since Burn,
– Rapture Of The Deep was clever*** and
– even the Bananas cover had (for me) quirky appeal in a sort of Captain Beefheart vein.
The Tattoo Convention Rages On cover still ranks as Purple’s worst in my book. Picturing a bowl of spaghetti would have transported the same message as those two conjoined dragons trying to bite each other in an even more vitriolic, yet still elegant way … 😈
Herr MacGregor will damn me, but I generally don’t like dragons on album covers (dinosaurs and living reptiles are fine), especially not Purple ones. The great exception was ASIA’s debut
https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1ad695_f4b51eb40b124cd09470c235ee30c831~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_1000,h_666,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/1ad695_f4b51eb40b124cd09470c235ee30c831~mv2.jpg
but then Roger Dean is something else.
Anyway Ioannis, wherever you are, I hope you don’t run out of motifs.
https://i0.wp.com/iserveafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/boring_heaven-e1542288780346.jpg?resize=400%2C347&ssl=1
*** the drawing of ROTD wasn’t done by Ioannis, but by Tom Swick
https://www.thomasswick.com/bio.html
https://www.thomasswick.com/cartoons.html
More background info here:
https://deeppurplepodcast.com/2024/04/08/episode-260-deep-purple-rapture-of-the-deep-part-1/
QUOTE
Album Art & Booklet Review
Artwork, Design – Ioannis (2), Roger Glover
https://www.thehighwaystar.com/specials/rotd/ioannis.html
I have worked with Deep Purple now close to 8 years. Abandon being my first cover with them and it’s been a very rewarding experience.
The cover drawing is by Tom Swick, it was a color cartoon that Roger Glover saw in a magazine (New Yorker I think, UWE’s EDIT: I remember seeing it first in one of those, uhum, men’s magazines devoted to in depth interviews as well as in depth photography of female genitalia) and thought it was an interesting idea to develop further.
Returning from the tour Roger headed down to my design firm, we worked 8 -9 hour days for about a week or so and designed together the packaging for the new album which includes a 2 disc LP, Two Digipaks (10 and 11 song versions) complete with 16 page booklets different from the CD version. 3 CD jewelcases with a 16 page booklet (10, 11 songs version and a Japanese version) and a promo poster.
We created 17 pieces of original art (with the origin being the cartoon) that I’m really proud of. The cover though is really all Roger’s design. He picked the color, font, title art, and had the cartoon version done as a simple B/W.
Roger and I worked together as art directors which was a blast.
We are talking about doing a book project together and will hopefully work on the 2006 tour merchandise late next month.
Ioannis
Painting – Tom Swick
Only one other entry on discogs.
Ian: ”It´s a phrase coined by Jacques Cousteau to define the confused state you get into as a diver when you get down to three atmospheres, which is 30 metres or a hundred feet. And you go through a feeling of euphoria; it has a strange physiological effect on your mind and your machine function. It´s a bit like being drunk and stoned – not that I would know, of course (laughs).-
A fan sent in a small picture: In a small village in England there was a pond and there was a sign in the water saying “Danger – deep water” and somebody had crossed out “water” and put in “purple” instead. And so it was in the back of our minds and “Rapture of the deep” described very well the way I was thinking at the time: If you are in a condition like that, you start thinking about things in a different way. And there is quite a lot of spiritual content in the underlying theme of the lyrics of four or five songs certainly. It´s not to be taken literally – it´s a word picture.”
Ian and Roger: ”The man is standing with two trees on every side and he´s like a reflection, but if you look into the water, the trees are wobbling and he´s straight. It´s thought-provoking, that´s the idea of it.- Rapture is a happy state, it´s a state you´d like to be in, but the more happier you get, the more dangerous it is!”
UNQUOTE
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April 10th, 2025 at 14:24Abandon certainly has the most well-done cover of the entire Morse era.
April 10th, 2025 at 22:39I agree almost fully, but the Whoosh! cover was great too.
And somewhat prophetic: The album with the astronaut fading/atomizing into nothingness/energy was the last “real album” with Steve, i.e. with own compositions and recorded in a studio by them all together.
It’s also musically a good album, Steve departed with full honors leaving behind a proud body of work.
April 11th, 2025 at 16:32