Daft Punk up for artwork prize

Daft Punk's Get Lucky is one of the year's biggest-selling records

Paul McCartney's New is inspired by the art installations of Dan Flavin

Edwyn Collins used his own lino print of a salmon on the cover of Understated

The cinematic cover of Goldfrapp's Tales Of Us mirrors the noir pop soundscapes of their latest album

Artist Matt Goldman created pictures of animals using industrial architecture for the artwork on Claude VonStroke's Urban Animal

The fifth album by !!! reached 121 in the UK album charts

Atoms For Peace are the side-project of Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke. Their album sleeve was designed by former prize-winner Stanley Donwood

The kaleidoscopic cover for Tunng's Turbines was created by designer Vanessa Da Silva

Elton John chose this decade-old photograph for the cover of his 31st album

Welsh band Sweet Baboo donned face paints for the cover of their record, Ships

Records by Daft Punk, Sir Paul McCartney and Edwyn Collins have been shortlisted for the Art Vinyl prize for the year's best artwork.

Damien Hirst is also nominated, for his work on the Babyshambles' album Sequel To The Prequel, while fashion designer Vanessa Da Silva is noted for the cover of Turbines, by folk band Tunng.

Art Vinyl founder Andrew Heeps said the nominees spanned everything from "mass market appeal to the weird and wonderful".

The winner is decided by public vote.

Sitting alongside big name artists such as Elton John and Goldfrapp are lesser-known acts including US house producer Claude VonStroke and Welsh musician Sweet Baboo.

Daft Punk are nominated for their million-selling single Get Lucky.

The cover art sees the dance duo wearing their trademark robot outfits, silhouetted against the burning ochre of a setting sun, alongside singer Pharell Williams and Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers.

Nine neon tubes spell the title of Paul McCartney's album New - with the cover inspired by the sculptures of artist Dan Flavin.

Scottish rock singer Edwyn Collins used a linocut of a salmon for the sleeve of his album, Understated.

As well as the main image, the former Orange Juice singer - who suffered two brain haemorrhages in 2005 - also designed his own font.

"I do these things for my own pleasure, really, to help my dexterity, my recovery," he said.

Sequel to the Prequel is Pete Doherty's first album with Babyshambles since 2007

Damien Hirst's psychedelic cover for Babyshambles' album Sequel to the Prequel recalls his "spin" paintings, in which wet paint is thrown at a rotating canvas.

Award-winning photographer Chase Jarvis supplied the cover image for Thr!!!er, the fifth album by Californian dance-punk act !!! (pronounced chk-chk-chk).

A perfectly-timed shot of three divers entering the water, it had been spotted online by the band's guitarist Mario Andreoni, who tracked down the original.

"Most of !!!'s sleeves use the big repeating exclamation mark motif, so it wasn't a great leap of the imagination to apply it to this," said designer James Burton.

Canadian art-rock band BRAIDS are also nominated for the striking cover of their Flourish/Perish album.

A mysterious shot of a black sphere floating above the sea, it was created by Montreal's Marc Rimmer.

The orb "represents the records dependence and experimentation with technology," said singer Raphaelle Standell-Preston.

"It's interesting how the black orb kind of consumes the natural background in the image, but the orb is still very inviting. There is no battle going on between the orb and the environment, it's very married."

BRAID's say their cover art reflects the album's "marriage between nature and technology"

Elton John's cover for The Diving Board, meanwhile, is a photograph taken over a decade ago by US artist and curator Tim Barber.

Shot from behind, it depicts a man about to dive off a cliff, somewhere in British Columbia,

"It's a kind of legendary secret swimming spot where some kids had installed a diving board on the side of a cliff," Barber told the New York Times.

"When I took the picture I was thinking, 'This looks amazing'. It was just a special moment and the light was crazy that day. The air was super clear.

"It's also the photo of mine that people always think is fake - like that it's been Photoshopped, or shot on a green screen. I like that."

In previous years, the Art Vinyl prize has been won by the likes of Thom Yorke, whose solo album The Eraser featured artwork from regular Radiohead contributor Stanley Donwood; and The Fleet Foxes' self-titled debut album, which utilised a 16th Century work by Dutch artist Pieter Bruegel.

The 50 nominees for this year's prize will be displayed in the Art Vinyl Gallery in East London's Broadway Market, as well as Malmaison hotels across the UK.

Visitors can vote for their favourite work, with the winner announced on 3 January, 2014.