The Shocking Evolution Of Maroon 5 Album Covers: From 'Jane' To The 2025 'Love Is Like' Art

Maroon 5's album covers are more than just packaging; they are visual markers of the band's dramatic evolution, tracing their journey from a soulful pop-rock quartet to a global pop juggernaut. As of December 13, 2025, the band is preparing to release their highly anticipated eighth studio album, Love Is Like, making this the perfect time to look back at the art that has defined their decades-long career.

The transition in their album art—from the minimalist, hand-drawn aesthetic of their debut to the high-concept, digitally influenced designs of their later work—mirrors their shift in sound. Each cover, whether praised or controversial, tells a unique story about the band's creative phase, their influences, and the changing landscape of pop music design. We delve into the complete history, the hidden meanings, and the surprising designers behind every major Maroon 5 studio album cover.

Maroon 5: A Brief Biography and Core Discography

The foundation of Maroon 5 was laid long before their mainstream success. The core members—frontman Adam Levine, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Jesse Carmichael, and bassist Mickey Madden—first formed a band called Kara's Flowers in 1994 while attending high school in Los Angeles, California.

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After a brief stint and one unsuccessful album, the group reformed as Maroon 5 in 2001, adding guitarist James Valentine. Drummer Matt Flynn later replaced Ryan Dusick, and the lineup expanded with keyboardist PJ Morton and multi-instrumentalist Sam Farrar, solidifying the modern, seven-member structure.

Their major studio album discography, which dictates their iconic cover art, includes:

• Songs About Jane (2002)
• It Won't Be Soon Before Long (2007)
• Hands All Over (2010)
• Overexposed (2012)
• V (2014)
• Red Pill Blues (2017)
• Jordi (2021)
• Love Is Like (2025)

The Hidden Stories Behind Maroon 5's Album Cover Art

The visual identity of Maroon 5 has always been dynamic, often choosing abstraction and symbolism over simple band photos. This approach has led to some of the most discussed and debated album covers in 21st-century pop-rock.

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1. Songs About Jane (2002): The Minimalist Debut

The cover for their breakthrough debut, Songs About Jane, is a masterclass in understated design. It features a simple, stylized illustration that avoids showing the band members entirely.

• Design Concept: The art direction was handled by Cey Adams, with the illustration credited to Gregg Gordon (Gg). The design is minimalist and features a distinctive, almost hand-drawn or street art-inspired logo.
• The Jane Connection: The entire album is famously a tribute to Adam Levine's former girlfriend, Jane Herman. The cover’s raw, unpolished aesthetic perfectly captured the raw, emotional energy of the album’s lyrics, which included breakout hits like "Harder to Breathe," "This Love," and "She Will Be Loved."

2. It Won't Be Soon Before Long (2007): The Red-Hot Pop Shift

The second album marked a definitive shift toward a more polished, pop-friendly sound, and the cover reflected this change with a bold, graphic look.

• Design Concept: The art direction and design were managed by Len Peltier, with cover photography by Andrew Zuckerman. The artwork is dominated by a striking red color palette, often featuring a stylized, abstract image or text treatment that signifies a move away from the debut's indie feel toward mainstream pop dominance.
• Visual Entity: The prominent use of the color red became an early visual signature for the band's second era, coinciding with the massive commercial success of singles like "Makes Me Wonder."

3. Hands All Over (2010): The Controversial Flickr Find

Perhaps one of the most surprising stories in their visual history is the cover for Hands All Over. The final artwork is an enigmatic, slightly provocative image of a female torso being embraced by multiple hands.

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• The Artist's Discovery: The image was not commissioned from a major studio but was discovered by the band's management on Flickr. The original photograph was taken by Rosie Hardy, a then-19-year-old hobby photographer from the UK.
• The Concept: The band searched for an image based on the album title, and Hardy’s photo—a self-portrait of her torso wrapped in multiple hands—was the perfect fit. This cover, featuring the hit "Misery" and later "Moves Like Jagger," became a talking point for its unique, crowdsourced origin.

4. V (2014): The Global Design Contest Winner

For their fifth studio album, V (the Roman numeral for five), Maroon 5 turned their cover art into a global event by hosting a design contest.

• The Winner: The competition was won by Bayu Sentosa, who goes by the alias Bayo Gale, a freelance designer from Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
• The Design: The winning artwork is a distinctive, striking image featuring the Roman numeral "V" superimposed over an illustration of a tiger's face. This cover perfectly captured the band's renewed focus and explosive, maximalist pop sound, which included hits like "Maps" and "Sugar."

5. Red Pill Blues (2017): The Filter Fiasco

The cover for Red Pill Blues is arguably Maroon 5's most critically panned visual statement. The artwork features heavily filtered photos of the band members, resembling popular social media filters like those from Snapchat.

• The Controversy: Beyond the design choice, which critics deemed "cringey" and lacking in artistic merit, the album title itself sparked controversy. The phrase "red pill" had been appropriated by various online political and social groups.
• The Band's Response: Adam Levine and the band clarified that the title was intended only as a reference to the choice between the red and blue pills in the 1999 film The Matrix, symbolizing a choice of reality. Nonetheless, the cover remains a key example of a major band utilizing a distinctly modern, digital aesthetic that divided fans and critics.

6. Jordi (2021): A Heartfelt Tribute

The band's seventh album, Jordi, carries a deep personal significance, as the title is a tribute to their late manager and childhood friend, Jordan Feldstein, who passed away in 2017.

• The Design: The album’s art direction and design were handled by Travis Schneider. The cover features a powerful, almost abstract visual that is both modern and somber, reflecting the album’s emotional core. The visual style moves away from the polarizing digital filters of Red Pill Blues toward a more refined, artistic memorial.
• Topical Authority: The album’s entire concept is built around memory and legacy, making the cover a crucial part of the band's topical authority on themes of loss and friendship.

The Next Visual Chapter: What to Expect from Love Is Like (2025)

The biggest news in the Maroon 5 universe is the upcoming release of their eighth studio album, Love Is Like, scheduled for August 15, 2025.

This album is set to be their most current statement, featuring the recent percussive, jazz-chord single "Priceless." While the full visual analysis of the album cover is still unfolding, early promotional materials and the album's title suggest a return to an aesthetic focused on emotion and complexity, moving past the polarizing digital art of the late 2010s.

The cover art for Love Is Like is poised to be a new benchmark for the band. Given the sophisticated pop sound and collaborations (including a track with Blackpink's LISA), the visual design is expected to be sleek, modern, and high-gloss, continuing the band's tradition of matching their evolving sound with a fresh, provocative visual identity. Fans and design critics alike are eagerly awaiting the full reveal to see where Adam Levine and the band place their next visual stake in the pop music landscape.