The Cover Art of Reinforced Records

From: FACT

The Cover Art of Reinforced Records is a new book celebrating, you guessed it, the cover art of Reinforced Records.

Founded by 4Hero’s Dego, Marc Mac, Gus Lawrence and Ian Bardouille, Reinforced was one of 1990s club music’s most important labels, with a discography spanning hardcore, jazz/soul-fuelled drum ‘n bass and broken beat, including stone cold classics by Rufige Cru, Manix and Seiji. 2011 marks the 20th anniversary of the imprint’s formation, and to celebrate 4Hero have put together this ‘Collectors Guide’.

Available in hardback (£29.95) and paperback (£19.95) editions, The Cover Art of… exists thanks to Blurb, a boutique web service that allows users to design their own books and have them manufactured. The book will be available exclusively from Blurb, and for a limited time only. As well as images of more than 200 records in the Reinforced catalogue, the book includes a full discography, and it’ll make a fine addition to the bookshelf of the rave survivor/aficionado in your life. From a design perspective, it’s interesting to see how punchy hand-drawn cover art gradually gave away to fussy computer-generated imagery as the label grew older and technology evolved – there are easily as many monstrous sleeves in the Reinforced catalogue as there are beauties, which only serves to make the book more enjoyable.

For more information, and to thumb through an online preview of the book, click here.