The Stevie Wonder paradox. Why do a blind man's album sleeves match the quality of the music inside?

I'm obsessed by the fact that Stevie Wonder is blind, but the quality of graphic design on his album sleeves almost exactly matches the quality of the music inside. Why? How? I need answers.

To prove I’m not making it up, here’s what I’m talking about, starting in 1972*:

Music of my Mind (1972)

Sleeve 8/10 – Classy photo. Great 70s type in the shadow of this face. Gatefold sleeve with wild, full bleed collage inside.

Music 8/10 - Voted one of the 500 greatest albums ever made by Rolling Stone.

Talking Book (1972)

Sleeve 8/10 – Iconic afro-centric cover shot in a stylish “sort of letterbox” format. Interesting type.

Music 9/10 - One of the 100 greatest albums ever made according to Rolling Stone.

Innervisions (1973)

Sleeve 9/10 - Ace gatefold sleeve with beautiful illustrated cover and groovy 70s typography.

Music 10/10 - 9 brilliant tracks, including Too High, Living for the City and Higher Ground. One of the 50 greatest albums ever made according to Rolling Stone.

Fulfillingness’ First Finale (1974)

Sleeve 8/10 – Beautiful illustrated gatefold sleeve. Cool hippy 70s typography.

Music 8/10 – Another great record, including You Haven’t Done Nothin’ and They Won’t Go When I Go.

Songs in the Key of Life (1976)

Sleeve 6/10 - The exception that proves the rule. Odd sleeve concept, slightly corny typography. But nowhere near as bad as some of the 80s sleeves.

Music 9/10 – Number 4 on Rolling Stone’s list of the greatest albums ever made. Docked a point by me due to dated synth keyboards and a couple of hammy instrumentals.

Journey Through "The Secret Life of Plants" (1979)

Sleeve 2/10 – Oh dear. Looks like a rough concept sketch that accidentally went to print.

Music 3/10 - A largely instrumental double LP that bombed on release and hasn't dated well. Berry Gordy reputedly said that "the one million copies I pressed turned out to be 900,000 too many."

Hotter Than July (1980)

Sleeve 5/10 – Corny 80s typography and graphic design. Plus, a strange clash between the colourful, summer party vibe of the cover and the serious, graphically violent, black and white inner (which is a memorial to Martin Luther King Jr.). A deliberate juxtaposition?

Music 6/10 – Not bad, but only Lately and Happy Birthday really stick.

In Square Circle (1985)

Sleeve 3/10 – Baffling cover shot of Stevie sitting in front of a giant record. Why? Who knows. Is he on the moon? I’ve no answers for you. Corny, totally unrelated portrait on the back.

Music 5/10 – Slick, funk light production and bland tunes. Part-time Lover and Land of La La are decent though.

Characters (1987)

Sleeve 2/10 – Contrived cover concept and dated 80s typography.

Music 2/10 – More stinky 80s production and forgettable singles.

Conversation Peace (1995)

Sleeve 1/10 – I can’t think of a worse sleeve by a mainstream artist. Honestly, what a stinker. Actually hard to read.

Music 3/10 - Dated 90s drum machines. An ill-advised reggae excursion. A few decent ballads trying to fight their way through the syrupy backing vocals.

A conclusion with no answers

So there you have it. Stevie Wonder sleeves from the wonderful to the not-so-wonderful, all in perfect sync with the music they contain. Why would that be? Why would the two be so closely related? Or have I lost my mind? Hit me with your best theories on this phenomenon in the comments, as I genuinely can’t come up with a viable one myself. Thanks for humouring me.

*Yes I know he released several albums before 1972. But Music of my Mind feels like the start of Stevie Wonder the auteur to me. It’s the point where the sleeves stopped looking like generic Motown content. So that’s where I started.