For the past few months, Andie Airfix (responsible for DEF LEPPARD's iconic album covers of Pyromania, Hysteria, Adrenalize and Euphoria, as well as most artwork used for single releases of those albums) has been keeping a blog called 'B*b G#ld*f Stole My Sunglasses?, in which he tells stories about his work, the artists he works with, and everything that comes with it.

Part 6 is now available. The following is an excerpt:

Well, here we go with the last DEF?LEPPARD?blog – though I’m sure they’ll crop up again later. Promise.

"Euphoria…

This was the album where the band were joined by Vivian Campbell. I can’t imagine what that must have been like for him – it must have taken guts that’s for sure.

Euphoria was a difficult one, but challenge is always to be welcomed and is usually beneficial. I hadn’t worked with the guys for seven years. They’d decided to use another graphic designer after Adrenalize, which is entirely their prerogative of course. When it first happened to me – a band changing their designer – I was upset. You soon realise though – not to take it personally. With experience you learn that a combination of factors contributes to those kind of decisions. Things change that’s all – priorities, record labels, management, trends, record sales and visual styles. Change is the one thing that’s inevitable.

Of course, I was disappointed. I’d worked with Def Leppard through exciting, tragic and wonderful times and I knew I would miss working with them hugely. It sounds cleched I know but after working with them for so long and enjoying it so much, it took a while to adjust to – professionally and emotionally. It’s weird though – writing the blog about working with Def Leppard made me realise there were things I probably didn’t fully appreciate at the time. The ease of the way the design process worked with the band was, in some ways, taken for granted working on ‘Pyromania’, ‘Hysteria’ and ‘Adrenalize. Now, I see what a fortunate, mutually creative and luxurious process it was for all of us.

In 1998 I was asked to do Euphoria. I knew it was going to be tough – I’d checked out the interim releases – Retro Active (a collection of ‘B’-sides and unreleased material from 1983/4) Vault (their first collection of greatest hits and Slang (a serious musical departure) and the artwork for each was as disparate as the three concepts. ‘Euphoria’, we all felt, had to re-establish some ground rules. The band had returned to its classic sound with the album and it was logical to do the same with the graphics – back to basics. We decided, almost from the beginning, to pare right down and concentrate on their iconic (and established) logo. In many ways it was frustrating but also a real challenge.

Check out the rest of the blog at this location.