Dead facts
This archive represents the complete creative development of Winston Smith's artwork for Who Needs the Truth? by Dead Facts (1990), released by Starving Missile Records in West Germany.
The archive includes:
The original hand-assembled collage artwork created by Winston Smith in 1990.
Original camera-ready mechanicals (paste-up boards) for both the front and back covers, prepared for commercial printing.
The finished commercially released LP, allowing direct comparison between the original production materials and the final manufactured record.
The camera-ready boards are particularly significant. Created before digital publishing became standard, these mechanical layouts were the actual production masters supplied to the printer. Visible on the boards are original crop marks, printer registration notes, layout instructions in German ("Nur Layout" and "Schrift beim Einkopieren so positionieren"—"layout only" and "position the lettering during paste-up"), placement guides, and the production specifications used to manufacture the album sleeve. These working annotations document the collaboration between artist, designer, and printer and provide an authentic record of the pre-press production process.
The finished album closely matches these mechanicals, confirming that the boards served as the direct production artwork for the 1990 release.
Who Needs the Truth? appears in Winston Smith's documented discography as one of the numerous record covers he designed during the 1980s and 1990s, a prolific period that also included artwork for Alternative Tentacles releases and collaborations with Jello Biafra.
