# Roots Reggae Sleeve Art & Rasta Iconography

> The record sleeves of roots reggae, from Catch a Fire (1973) until dancehall took over in the 1980s. They carry Rastafari faith and pan-African politics in a fixed lexicon: red, gold and green with black, the Lion of Judah, Haile Selassie, Marcus Garvey, maps of Africa and African flags. Reverent painted portraits and documentary photographs of the artists sit under 1970s display lettering and tricolour bands. Neville Garrick's Tuff Gong covers set the canon, and Island's budgets made a few sleeves into objects: a printed burlap ground, an embossed gold jacket, die-cut windows, a lighter case.

- Period: 1973–1985
- Where: Latin America & Caribbean, Western Europe
- Origin: Kingston, Jamaica, and London: Jamaican labels, Island Records' international reggae releases and, from 1978, Virgin's reggae label Front Line, with Neville Garrick as art director of Bob Marley's Tuff Gong label from 1974 (the end date is approximate: dancehall took over Jamaican sleeves during the 1980s)
- Branch: Counterculture
- Also known as: Roots reggae cover art, Rasta sleeve art, Tuff Gong sleeve design, Red, gold and green graphics
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/roots-reggae-sleeve/

## Use it with care

Rastafari is a living faith of an estimated 700,000 to one million people: Haile Selassie I is venerated as divine, the Lion of Judah and the red, gold, green and black mark belief and let Rastas recognise one another, and many Rastas were angered when reggae's popularity commercialised their religion. Do not use these signs, dreadlocks or ganja as generic 'island' or party decor, use an African flag only for what it stands for, commission and credit Jamaican and Rastafari designers, and remember that Garrick's and other sleeves, and Marley's image, are still in copyright and licensed.

## How it works

- Carry the faith in a fixed set of signs, each used for what it means: red, gold and green with black, the Lion of Judah, the map of Africa and African flags.
- Put the artist at the centre, as a documentary photograph or a reverent painted portrait, never as a caricature.
- Settle the album's concept before the picture, so the sleeve states the record's message (repatriation, survival, the fall of Babylon) without needing the word for it.
- Title it in a 1970s display face or hand lettering, often in the three colours, and frame or band the image with red, gold and green stripes.
- On the bigger Island releases, make the sleeve imitate a roots material or become an object: a printed burlap ground (sackcloth, 'the roots of Rasta'), a title embossed on a metallic gold jacket, die-cut windows, a hinged lighter case.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Central symmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/central-symmetry/) (characteristic)
- [Full bleed](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-bleed/) (characteristic)
- [Framed panels](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/framed-panels/) (characteristic)
- [Modular grid](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/modular-grid/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Single focal point](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/single-focal-point/) (defining)
- [Measured density](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/measured-density/) (characteristic)
- [Repetition & rhythm](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/repetition-and-rhythm/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Ornamented display](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornamented-display/) (defining)
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (characteristic)
- [All caps](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/all-caps/) (characteristic)
- [Eclectic mixing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/eclectic-mixing/) (occasional)
- [Slab serif](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/slab-serif/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (characteristic)
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (characteristic)
- [Earth & mineral](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/earth-and-mineral/) (characteristic)
- [Full polychrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-polychrome/) (occasional)
- [Jewel & metallic](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/jewel-and-metallic/) (occasional)
- [Dark ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/dark-ground/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Naturalistic depiction](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/naturalistic-depiction/) (characteristic)
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (characteristic)
- [Rectilinear](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rectilinear/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Painterly brushwork](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-brushwork/) (characteristic)
- [Skeuomorphic material](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/skeuomorphic-material/) (occasional)

### Ornament
- [Folk & sacred symbols](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/folk-and-sacred-symbols/) (defining)
- [Emblems & badges](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/emblems-and-badges/) (characteristic)
- [Borders & frames](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/borders-and-frames/) (characteristic)
- [Rules & bars](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rules-and-bars/) (characteristic)
- [Restrained accents](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/restrained-accents/) (characteristic)

### Imagery
- [Straight photography](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/straight-photography/) (defining)
- [Painterly illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-illustration/) (characteristic)
- [Treated photography](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/treated-photography/) (occasional)
- [Diagram & data](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/diagram-and-data/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Offset printing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/offset-printing/) (defining)
- [Hand-painted](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-painted/) (characteristic)

### Tone & intent
- [Spiritual & sacred](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/spiritual-and-sacred/) (defining)
- [Utopian & idealistic](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/utopian-and-idealistic/) (characteristic)
- [Rebellious & subversive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rebellious-and-subversive/) (characteristic)
- [Agitational & persuasive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/agitational-and-persuasive/) (characteristic)
- [Communal & popular](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/communal-and-popular/) (occasional)

Avoids: Distortion & exaggeration, Ironic & self-aware, Rational & objective, Ornament-free, Pastel, Fluorescent & neon, Non-representational

Palette: #da121a, #f2b705, #078930, #141414, #b08a5a, #5b3a21

Typefaces: Banco (the Natty Dread title, 1974), Rustic No. 2 (Man in the Hills, 1976), Profil and Japanesque (Africa Must Be Free by 1983, 1978), City (the Survival title, 1979), Pluto-style tube lettering (Babylon by Bus, 1978), Hand lettering pasted up with set type (Neville Garrick's pre-computer artwork), ITC Souvenir (back-cover track lists and credits)

Known for: The Wailers, Catch a Fire (Island, 13 April 1973): the first 20,000 copies in a hinged, hand-riveted Zippo-lighter sleeve by Rod Dyer and Bob Weiner; later pressings, credited to Bob Marley and the Wailers, used John Bonis's cover with Esther Anderson's portrait of Marley; Bob Marley and the Wailers, Natty Dread (Island/Tuff Gong, 25 October 1974): cover art by Tony Wright, the title in Banco in red, gold and green; Neville Garrick (1950–2023), art director of Tuff Gong from 1974: Rastaman Vibration (Island, April 1976), a watercolour wash over a photocopied photograph of Marley cut out and mounted on burlap; the printed jacket reproduces the burlap (embossed on the US issue), which Garrick chose because it 'symbolise[s] sack cloth, the roots of Rasta'; Neville Garrick, sleeves for Bunny Wailer, Blackheart Man (Solomonic/Island, 1976) and Burning Spear, Man in the Hills (Island, 1976); Neville Garrick (art direction), Exodus (Island, 3 June 1977): the red title embossed on a plain metallic-gold jacket, the band's name small in black, with no picture; Neville Garrick, Babylon by Bus (1978): a bus with die-cut windows showing scenes on the inner sleeve; Neville Garrick, Survival (2 October 1979): 48 African flags and that of Papua New Guinea, made by hand from construction paper, the title in white City over a detail of the Brookes slave-ship diagram; Neville Garrick, Confrontation (23 May 1983): his painting of Marley as St George slaying the dragon of Babylon, with the 1896 Battle of Adwa in the gatefold; Garrick painted the Italians at Adwa in profile, as Ethiopian painters show the enemy

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Influenced by: [Ethiopian Ge'ez Manuscript & Haräg Illumination](https://stylogeny.com/styles/ethiopian-manuscript.md) (c. 500–present)
- Alike in its design choices: [Lebanese Civil War Party Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/lebanese-civil-war-poster.md) (1975–1990), 67% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Palestinian Resistance Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/palestinian-resistance-poster.md) (1965–1993), 67% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Iranian Revolutionary & Sacred Defence Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/iranian-revolutionary-poster.md) (1978–1988), 64% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Giallo Mondadori Covers (I Libri Gialli)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/giallo-mondadori.md) (1929–present), 60% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Indian Calendar & Bazaar Art](https://stylogeny.com/styles/calendar-art-india.md) (1878–present), 60% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Mexican Calendar Chromo (Cromos calendáricos)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/mexican-calendar-chromo.md) (1930–1970), 58% alike

## Sources

- Chris Morrow, 'Reputations: Neville Garrick', Eye 41 (Autumn 2001), https://eyemagazine.com/feature/article/reputations-neville-garrick
- Neville Garrick and Chris Morrow, 'Survival', Eye 41 (Autumn 2001), https://eyemagazine.com/feature/article/survival
- 'Neville Garrick coloured the music, lives', Jamaica Observer, 18 November 2023, https://jamaicaobserver.com/2023/11/18/neville-garrick-coloured-the-music-lives
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neville_Garrick
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch_a_Fire
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natty_Dread
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survival_(Bob_Marley_and_the_Wailers_album)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confrontation_(Bob_Marley_%26_the_Wailers_album)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackheart_Man
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handsworth_Revolution
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rastafari
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exodus_(Bob_Marley_and_the_Wailers_album)
- Island Records store, Exodus LP, reissued 'in original artwork featuring the original gold metallic jacket with embossed lettering', https://www.islandrecords.com/products/exodus-lp
- uDiscover Music, Rastaman Vibration 50th-anniversary reissue, 'a special textured LP jacket that honors the original printed hemp-like cover', https://www.udiscovermusic.com/news/bob-marley-rastaman-vibration-limited-edition-vinyl/
- Shuga Records listing of the 1976 US Rastaman Vibration, 'issued in an embossed/textured gatefold sleeve', https://www.shugarecords.com/products/bob-marley-the-wailers-rastaman-vibration-vg-lp-record-1976-usa-original-vinyl-reggae-roots-reggae
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Garvey_(album)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_of_the_Congos
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_Line_(record_label)
- Victoria and Albert Museum, Jamie Reid archive S.797-1990, proof for Jah Lloyd's 'The Black Lion' record cover (1978), https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1154671/
- Stuart Baker and Steve Barrow (eds), introduction by Steve Barrow, Reggae Soundsystem: Original Reggae Album Cover Art: A Visual History of Jamaican Music from Mento to Dancehall (Soul Jazz Books, 2012), https://artbook.com/9780955481789.html
- Fonts In Use: Natty Dread (https://fontsinuse.com/uses/36273), Babylon by Bus (https://fontsinuse.com/uses/5063), Man in the Hills (https://fontsinuse.com/uses/73811), Africa Must Be Free by 1983 (https://fontsinuse.com/uses/77200), Survival (https://fontsinuse.com/uses/36323), Heart of the Congos (https://fontsinuse.com/uses/17600)

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