in your first sentence

There has always been more of a DIY ethic in British music. This manifests itself in many ways, one of which is low production values.

tend to understate everything.. so if bad artwork can be seen as understating then maybe theres an answer.

or at least by British band; whether or not they worked with American (madison avenue) counterparts I don't know, but I can tell you most people didn't give two shits about cover art or record packaging till Sgt. Peppers- after that, they were off to the races.

That's my well informed and generally brilliant opinion on the matter.

on the subject of nice cover art or beautiful packaging "it shouldn't matter, but it kind of does"

There's loads of bands will killer cover art and have a knack for sweet creativeness...just have to look around.....just not in everyones faces like the examples of dpt and hf.

Try looking at this cover art here by this band here. When the top of the page loads up.... anthropromorphic mammoth versus shark. V.cool.

www.myspace.com/tothebones

I actually bought 'Sing Song' by The Little Ones because it reminded me of 'Chutes Too Narrow' and it turned out to be by the same artist. That's the only time I've ever bought a record purely on the strength of the cover. It turned out alright.