Don’t Let Your Print Make You Blue

Today is classed as ‘Blue Monday’, so to cheer you up we thought you might like this print story about New Order’s iconic but expensive ‘Blue Monday’ single cover.

It’s been 35 years since the original ‘Blue Monday’ single by New Order was released (I know scary!) and it is still the best selling 12” UK single of all time.

There’s an interesting tale, (possibly an urban myth) about the print and packaging on the record cover for those who don’t know about it. It was said to have lost Factory Records around 10p for every copy of the first release they sold which cost them at least £50,000. The more popular the record was the more they lost!

The singles’ original sleeve, created by Factory designer Peter Saville was designed to look like a 5 ¼” floppy disk. Unusually it had no mention of the band name, title or label name on it, with “FAC SEVENTY THREE” the only text written on the spine. Instead “FAC 73 BLUE MONDAY AND THE BEACH NEW ORDER” is represented in code by a series of coloured blocks that could later be deciphered on the album ‘Power, Corruption and Lies’.

The printed sleeve was die cut to resemble the floppy disk design, used special colours for the coding and had a silver inner sleeve that could only be seen properly when the record was removed. As many of you will know – this was at a time when the cover was as coveted as the vinyl within it.

Over the years the design and printing process has been updated to make each record profitable.

So, whether Factory Records did lose money on ‘Blue Monday’, or if it was a bit of clever marketing to get people to buy the record – we aren’t sure. We do know that it is still one of the most sought after music items to buy and the all time best-selling 12” single – so not too blue an ending to the story..

For great print advice that will keep you looking good without breaking the bank give us a call on 0114 399 8866.

And for those who are still having a bit of a ‘Blue Monday’ – have a listen to the track here…

Myprint Partners are a commercial printing business servicing Sheffield, Doncaster, Rotherham, Chesterfield, Barnsley, Wakefield, Nottingham and Mansfield.