Famed album artist Ioannis has spoke to Greece’s Rockpages and he discussed his most famous album arts as well as what’s in store for the future.

Talking about future plans he said, “Ah, there’s a lot going on… I will be doing something for the Allan Parson’s Project, but for metal I am working with a band called Trauma. They approached me, I really liked what they are doing. They were Cliff Burton’s original band from San Francisco, they came out at the same time as Metallica.”

If work as a cover artist has become more difficult in the digital age, “My first record covers were in the ‘80s. And we were switching at that time from vinyl to CD. I remember people going ‘well, that’s the end of record covers, people buys CDs now, who cares.’ The point that they miss is what designers like me are brought to do is create a look for the band. The pallet changes, but the mission is the same.

“Iron Maiden was Iron Maiden, but Derek Riggs created a look for them. It didn’t matter if he did it back in the days of vinyl, or if he does it now. Because you are brought in to present a band, so there is the logo designs, it is their way to the market. Merchandising is very big now. Yeah, we don’t sell physical, but merch is huge. So, the priorities have changed. When I am on a meeting with a band, the first word from their managers is ‘what kind of merchandise will you design? What can you come up with for us?’ So, they can sell t-shirts, because that’s where the money is: touring and t-shirts.”