A bad album cover is like a baggy suit...the special jacket enhances the group's position in the business; it adds to their image and maintains the aura.
James Ladwig
Jim Ladwig was a pioneer of album design and co-founder of the influential and prominent Album Graphics, Inc. (AGI). After studying at the Chicago Academy of Art and serving in the army, he joined Mercury Records in 1955, eventually serving as art director during his tenure. He designed album covers for the likes of Quincy Jones, Cannonball Adderley and Sarah Vaughn. In 1968, the founder of AGI, Don Kosterka, invited Ladwig to join his fledgling company, which would eventually become one of the biggest publishers of album covers in the world, printing over 200 million jackets a year at their peak.
While at AGI, Ladwig and his team changed the business with innovative approaches to design, materials and the manufacturing process. Ladwig was nominated for the Grammy in album packaging six times, winning in 1975 for Honey by The Ohio Players. That year, six of the nine albums nominated in the category were published by AGI. Ladwig would go on to create the Digipak, a wildly successful alternative to jewel cases for CDs.
The Collection of James and Paula Ladwig show their professional and personal passion for not just music, but how imagery can impact and elevate the music to a total experience — memorable, iconic and felt.
The collection of Grammy Award winning designer James Ladwig and his wife Paula, also a designer, reflects a remarkable life together doing what they loved — traveling, collecting, racing vintage cars and being immersed in the world of music. Wright is proud to present this diverse and intriguing collection.
