Watch Behind The Cover: Permanent Waves where Hugh Syme, longtime artist and illustrator for Rush, describes delving into the world of the visual pun. 

Billboard has posted a comprehensive interview with Rush’s longtime Art Director Hugh Syme detailing some of the stories behind the band’s iconic album covers.

The Art of Rush is a 272 page coffee table book that delves into the 40 year relationship with Rush and their longtime artist and illustrator Hugh Syme. Pre-orders start March 27 at 10AM Eastern.

Hugh Syme is a graphic artist best known as the man responsible for all but the first 2 of Rush’s album cover art, including the brand new 2112 5.1 cover. He also created Rush’s famous starman logo, though he never imagined the band would use it, nor that it would gain such international recognizably as their main logo. He collaborated with Ian Thomas as both keyboardist and songwriter from 1973 to 1980, eventually leading to his alliance with Rush, as they were both then managed by SRO/Anthem. Other musicians he has designed and created artwork for include Iron Maiden, Bon Jovi, Whitesnake, Aerosmith, Def Leppard, Scorpions, Meatloaf, Megadeth, Styx, Queensrÿche, …