The MadonnaTribe Team has had the pleasure to have a brief chat with Jeri Heiden, the woman in charge of the cover design of many Madonna albums, among them, Like A Virgin, Like A Prayer, You Can Dance and True Blue.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the True Blue album this month, we focused our questions to Jeri on the making of its iconic cover. Let's celebrate!

JH: Sorry if I am busting a myth - but that's my handwriting!

I have used my own handwriting on numerous albums, and have had several different fonts created from it.
So... I guess it was my idea.

MT: Talk about busting a myth, indeed!

Speaking of the front image, there are two different versions of the True Blue cover, there are copies printed in Canada and the U.S. that just have Madonna's face with no logos.

Other copies released in the UK and Europe had the Madonna logo and album title on top. Is there a reason for this?

JH: We used a sticker in the U.S. - thinking it would be really cool if when you took off the shrink-wrap there was nothing left but the gorgeous photo of Madonna. It was so iconic.

Other territories were less confident I suppose, and felt that her name HAD to be on the cover. This isn't unusual at all - for territories to modify artwork for their needs. I remember providing International with the alternate cover.

MT: The cassette version of True Blue presented the full Herb Ritts image while the vinyl album cover had the face close up. Was it hard to crop that powerful image to fit the square size of the vinyl cover?

JH: No, not really. I think the image became more interesting cropped into a square - and at that time we always started with the album cover configuration.
It was like she was floating - her clothing was not visible. She took on the appearance of a marble statue - Goddess like.

In the vertical cropping you see her leather jacket and the wall, and it becomes more typical, editorial, earthly.

MT: From what we hear, the original Herb Ritts photo was in black and white that was then hand tinted with blue tones. Can you tell us more about the process the led to the final result?

JH: That's correct. The image was a 35mm b&w shot. I experimented with a variety of treatments, looking for a good compliment to the album title.

MT: Was that technique applied to other photos? I seem to recall a couple of Herb Ritts shots in the official 1987 calendar having a similar look?

JH: I haven't seen the calendar, so I'm not sure about that.

MT: Several images by Herb Ritts were considered for the True Blue album cover, among them the ones that later became the Papa Don't Preach and True Blue single photos and another amazing image that remains unreleased. Who was responsible in the end for choosing the final cover image?

JH: The final cover image was chosen by Madonna, myself and Jeff Ayeroff - Creative Director at WB at the time. It was so strong, it just became the natural choice.

MT: Obviously you were then involved in the making of the singles' covers, adapting the rejected lp cover shots to the single releases.
Did Madonna had to approve the singles covers?

JH: She approved everything, along with her management. And in the course of designing the album package there are often 2nd or 3rd 'choices' that we hold out for single sleeve artwork.

MT: You also worked on the art direction of the Open Your Heart single cover.
As with Live To Tell it presented an image coming straight from the video set.
Was this a decision made at the last minute to make the image of Madonna in the video coincide with the commercial release or was it planned?

JH: At that time we felt that a very current image, i.e, one that would tie into the video, was a good choice. So much money and energy was expended in the creation of the videos, and she got so much air time, it just made sense. Also - it offered something 'new' to the fan & collector - always a plus.

MT: Your original artworks and logos were slighly modified in some foreign markets.
French singles had to have for some reasons all horizontal writings. Japanese singles had often totally different cover photos and UK picture discs often presented alterated layouts.
Did you work on those "extentions" of the True Blue project as well?

JH: No, typically these modifications were done in each territory. Although I really enjoy seeing them - especially the Japanese versions!

MT: At the time it was rumoured a sixth single after La Isla Bonita was due to be released from True Blue. The rumoured song was Where's The Party. Did you happen to work on a single cover for that song?

JH: I don't believe so.

MT: Right after True Blue you worked again for Madonna for the You Can Dance album. The album presents once again the platinum blond Madonna that was introduced for the first time with True Blue in a Herb Ritts photo.
How did the artwork of You Can Dance come to life?
Was it conceived as a sort of True Blue tie in?

JH: I don't think it was meant to be a tie-in. It was just Madonna's look at the time - Platinum Blond. And of course the handwriting reappears on that album.

MT: Among the many albums you did for Madonna, which is by far your favourite creation and the one you had more fun working on?

JH: True Blue remains my favorite Madonna cover and project.

MT: Jeri, thanks for sharing your time with us.

JH: Thank you.