Carin Goldberg, Graphic Designer For Classic Albums And Books, Dead At 69
![](https://static.stereogum.com/uploads/2023/02/Madonna-1675275546-1000x992.jpg)
Carin Goldberg, an acclaimed graphic designer who worked on numerous memorable album and book covers, has died. The New York Times reports that Goldberg died Jan. 19 at her home in Stanfordville, NY of a glioblastoma brain tumor. She was 69.
Goldberg was born in Manhattan in 1953 and grew up in New York and New Jersey. She’s widely known for designing the covers of books such as Oliver Sacks’ The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat and the 1986 reissue of James Joyce’s Ulysses. Her work helped to set trends in the publishing industry in the 1980s, tweaking the industry’s modernist template.
Before her work in books, she was a graphic designer at CBS Records, and she continued to design album covers long after making waves in publishing. Some of her most recognizable album art includes Madonna’s 1983 self-titled debut (pictured) and the Wallflowers’ 1996 breakout Bringing Down The Horse. She also designed album covers for Simon & Garfunkel, Sly & The Family Stone, Steve Reich, J. Geils Band, Chic, Charles Mingus, Peter Wolf, Janis Ian, Maggie and Terre Roche, and many more.
Goldberg is survived by her husband, the architect James Biber, plus their son, Julian, and Goldberg’s brother, Stuart Goldberg.