Closer was produced by Martin Hannett. The Atrocity Exhibition by J.G. Ballard was an influence on the album, and the novel shares its title with the opening track. The album cover was designed by Martyn Atkins and Peter Saville, with photography by Bernard Pierre Wolff. The photograph on the cover is of the Appiani family tomb in the Cimitero Monumentale di Staglieno in Genoa, Italy. When Closer came out, Sounds' Dave McCullough remarked that there were "dark strokes of gothic rock".