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born in Chicago

40

enrolls at the Chouinard Art Institute, Los Angeles

Chouinard Art Institute. © California Institute of the Arts.

Photo of a lecture in Chouinard Art Institute. A lecturer points at the Pig'n'Whistle poster

50

moves to New York 

55

starts working at Esquire magazine

56

hired as principal LP artwork designer by Blue Note

Co-founder of Blue Note Records Alfred Lion and photographer Francis Wolff. © Francis Wolff / Blue Note Records.

Co-founder of Blue Note Records Alfred Lion and photographer Francis Wolff

Jimmy Smith—At The Organ (Volume 3), 1956.

Cover for At The Organ (Volume 3) by Jimmy Smith
Created with Sketch.

50 bucks an album.—reid miles on his fixed commission at blue note




Cover by Reid Miles for Midnight Special record by Jimmy Smith

Jimmy Smith—Midnight Special, 1961.

blp 1509

In the 1950s, the independent music label Blue Note began issuing modern jazz albums as 12-inch LPs. Unlike 78-rpm discs packaged in brown envelopes, 10- and 12-inch long-playing records required proper covers. That is how the era of sleeve art started, and Reid Miles was one of the pioneers who perfected the format.

Miles’ first record was Milt Jackson and the Thelonious Monk Quintet (also known as BLP 1509). Over the next decade, Miles created a distinctive style for hard bop records, using tinted black-and-white photographs, sans-serif fonts (sometimes printed by letterpress) and a limited palette that, except for black and white, often consisted of a single color. Miles’ major influence came from all the usual suspects: the Bauhaus and the Swiss.

Cover by Reid Miles for Milt Jackson and the Thelonious Monk Quintet record

Milt Jackson and The Thelonious Monk Quintet, 1955.

Created with Sketch.

i think typography in the early ‘50s was in a renaissance period. it happened especially on album covers because they were not so restrictive as advertising. —reid miles

Cover by Reid Miles for Art Taylor—A.T.'s Delight
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