The artwork for '' Lightning Bolt '' was made by Don Pendleton , who is best known as a skateboard graphic artist . Ament bought some of Pendleton 's paintings " in 2008 or 2009 " and later asked the artist to do a logo for their upcoming album , which would later develop into all the illustrations . The bassist then kept in contact with Pendleton to guide his work , sending him the song lyrics , some sketches he had done and an unmastered copy of the album . The intention was to " make something that was a total package " , according to Pendleton , who said that there was an attempt to bring back " these classic LPs in the days where you would read the lyrics . You related the band to the imagery to the song to the lyrics . " Pendleton tried to " keep it iconic with some symbols but also really heavy with archetypes " , given the body of images could be used consistently with all of the promotion . While some of the graphics evolved directly from Ament 's sketches , Pendleton took some inspiration from his past work , such as a series of skateboards he painted " based around icons and logos " , and the very first image sent to Ament , an eye with a lightning bolt which Pendleton made back in 2006 for a failed project , that evolved into the album cover . Said cover was painted by hand as Pendleton wanted " something so geometric that there would be some flaws in it , especially compared to the vector/computer stuff " . Republic Records art designer Joe Spix then handled the presentation , with particular detail in the vinyl packaging . Pendleton also painted Ament 's bass , Pearl Jam-themed shirts for Volcom , and posters for the Barclays Center concerts in October 2013 . At the 57th Annual Grammy Awards in February 2015 , the album won the award for Best Recording Package
57th Annual Grammy Awards
57th Annual Grammy Awards
Lightning Bolt (Pearl Jam album)