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Hugh Syme
Canadian graphic designer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Hugh Syme is a Canadian Juno Award-winning graphic artist and member of the Premier Artists Collection (PAC), best known for his artwork and cover concepts for rock and metal bands. He is also a musician and has contributed as a keyboard player on several Rush albums.
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Career
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Syme has been responsible for all of Rush's album cover art since 1975's Caress of Steel and is the creator of Rush's famous Starman logo. In 1983, he told Jeffrey Morgan that he never imagined the band would use it as their main logo.[1] Syme also plays piano on the album Thrilling Women, which Morgan recorded with Dean Motter.[2]
His client base includes major record companies such as Geffen Records, EMI Records, Mercury Records, RCA Records, Capitol Records, Sony Music, Atlantic Records, Warner Records, and A&M Records.[3]
Iron Maiden fans remember him best as the designer of The X Factor cover, which depicts the band's mascot Eddie in a dissection. It is noted for its gritty realism. While all previous Maiden albums featured oil paintings, the X Factor Eddie was a puppet with some digital enhancements to improve its appearance. In some countries, the cover was deemed so gruesome that a less graphic alternative was offered (the alternative cover is actually the back of the original CD booklet).
Def Leppard's Retro Active album cover, which he co-designed with Nels Israelson, features a woman sitting at a dressing table, gazing into a mirror. From another perspective, the image takes the form of a skull (a type of vanitas art), with the woman's head forming the left eye socket and her reflected head in the mirror creating the right eye socket. The mirror itself shapes the skull, while the accessories on the dressing table form the nose, nostrils, and teeth. This design was inspired by Charles Allan Gilbert's most famous work, All Is Vanity (1892).
Other bands for which Syme has created artwork include Megadeth, Saga, Styx, Altered State, Fates Warning, Whitesnake, Queensrÿche, Aerosmith, and Dream Theater.
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Album cover art
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Chronological list of Hugh Syme's album cover art (including studio, live, compilation and extended play LPs).
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Discography
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Syme has contributed as a musician with Ian Thomas Band,[32] Rush and Tiles.
with Ian Thomas Band
- Delights - piano, Fender Rhodes, Mellotron and background vocals
- Calabash - keyboards, background vocals and creative companionship and album cover artwork
- Still Here - keyboards and background vocals (co-arrangement on "I Really Love You" and "Tinkerbell")
- Glider - keyboards and all songs arranged with Ian Thomas
- The Runner - keyboards and background vocals
with Rush
- 2112 - ARP synthesizer intro to "2112: Overture" and Mellotron and ARP Odyssey on "Tears" [6]
- Permanent Waves - piano on "Different Strings" [33]
- Moving Pictures - synthesizers on "Witch Hunt" [11]
with Tiles
- Window Dressing - keyboards on "Slippers in the Snow"
- Fly Paper - keyboards on "Crowded Emptiness" and solo piano on "Passing Notes"
with Alice in Chains
- 2112 - 40th Anniversary Deluxe Reissue - Mellotron, string arrangement, woodwinds, and boy's choir on Geddy Lee's re-released song "Tears"
with Jim McCarty
- Walking in the Wild Land - Piano, nylon and steel string acoustic guitar, synths, string arrangements, boy's choir, Mellotron on "Changing Times", "Dancing Leaves" and "So Many Questions". James Stanley McCarty (born 25 July 1943) is an English musician, best known as the drummer for the Yardbirds and Renaissance.
Awards
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Juno Awards: 5 wins and 18 nominations.[34]
- 1999: Best Album Design nomination - Different Stages by Rush, with Geddy Lee and Andrew MacNaughtan
- 1993: Best Album Design nomination - Dear Dear by 54-40
- 1992: Best Album Design nomination - Big House by Big House
- 1992: Best Album Design win - Roll the Bones by Rush
- 1991: Best Album Design nomination - Oceanview Motel by Mae Moore
- 1991: Best Album Design nomination - Snow in June by The Northern Pikes
- 1990: Best Album Design win - Presto by Rush
- 1990: Best Album Design nomination - Rockland by Kim Mitchell
- 1989: Best Album Graphics win - Levity by Ian Thomas
- 1986: Best Album Graphics nomination - Robot Man and Friends by Peter Shelly, with Heather Brown and Peter Shelly
- 1986: Best Album Graphics win - Power Windows by Rush, with Dimo Safari
- 1985: Best Album Graphics nomination - At the Feet of the Moon by Parachute Club, with Deborah Samuel
- 1983: Best Album Graphics nomination - Signals by Rush
- 1983: Best Album Graphics nomination - One False Move by Harlequin
- 1982: Best Album Graphics nomination - Exit...Stage Left by Rush, with Deborah Samuel
- 1982: Best Album Graphics win - Moving Pictures by Rush, with Deborah Samuel
- 1981: Best Album Graphics nomination - Lookin' for Trouble by Toronto, with Michael Gray
- 1978: Best Album Graphics nomination - A Farewell to Kings by Rush
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Controversy
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Artificial intelligence usage allegations
In 2025, Syme's artwork for Dream Theater's Parasomnia raised questions regarding Syme's possible usage of artificial intelligence and the integrity of the album's visual representation.[35] Users on Dream Theater social media communities such as Facebook and Reddit heavily criticized the album's artwork for containing many mistakes common with AI-generated imagery, such as errors in lighting and shadow directions, and hands with the incorrect number of fingers. One reviewer slammed Syme's alleged use of AI generated imagery, chalking it up to "laziness" and "sloppiness".[36] While artificial intelligence tools allow artists to augment creativity with AI, many criticisms surround artificial intelligence visual art, including ethical considerations and copyright and plagiarism concerns. [37]
Clip art and stock imagery usage
Syme has been criticized for his usage of clip art and stock imagery. In 2011, heavy metal music-themed news website MetalSucks called attention to the clip art Syme used for Dream Theater's A Dramatic Turn of Events, as well as noted the same clip art image appears on Norwegian progressive metal band Circus Maximus's 2005 album The 1st Chapter.[38][39] As written by MetalSucks: "[Hugh Syme] might’ve gotten away with it if wasn’t for those pesky kids in Circus Maximus, whose 2005 album featured the very same $15.00 clip art image on the cover."[38]
Double-selling artwork allegations
Upon release of Dream Theater's Parasomnia in February 2025, allegations quickly emerged of Syme potentially double-selling artwork, as his Parasomnia artwork appeared identical to his artwork on Orion's The Lightbringers,[40] released six-months prior on August 16, 2024.[41] Taking to social media on February 7, 2025, Orion's Ben Jones called out Syme in a Facebook post: "Is this for real?! A piece of artwork in the new Dream Theater deluxe edition is the EXACT same piece of artwork that was in The Lightbringers booklet for the song 'The Ghosts Among Us' ... Hugh Syme did the artwork for my album and theirs, so I think I can see where this is going..."[42] While Syme remained silent on the matter, Jones followed up: "I’ve never suggested plagiarism – in fact, I’ve repeatedly emphasized that Dream Theater are also victims of Hugh’s negligence." As Dream Theater's manager Frank Solomon reached out privately to Jones, Jones recalled: "We had a very amicable exchange ... Despite owing me nothing, Frank made a very kind offer, which I plan to accept. I want to be clear – Dream Theater committed no wrongdoing in this situation."[43]
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References
External links
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