Hipgnosis

Not to be confused with Hipnosis or Hypnosis.

Hipgnosis was an English art design group based in London^[1] that specialised in creating cover art for the albums of rock musicians and bands. Notable commissions included work for Pink Floyd, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black Sabbath, UFO, 10cc, Bad Company, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Scorpions, Yes, The Nice, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Def Leppard, Paul McCartney & Wings, the Alan Parsons Project, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Electric Light Orchestra, the Police, Rainbow, Styx, Pezband, XTC and Al Stewart.

Hipgnosis consisted primarily of Cambridge natives Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell, and later Peter Christopherson.^[2] The group dissolved in 1983, though Thorgerson worked on album designs until his death on 18 April 2013, and Powell works in film and video, most notably with Paul McCartney, The Who, and Monty Python's Flying Circus, and is the creative director for both Pink Floyd and its member David Gilmour.

Contents

• 
  1 History
  


• 
  2 Style
  


• 
  3 Discography
  


• 
  4 See also
  


• 
  5 References
  


• 
  6 External links
  

History

In 1968, Thorgerson and Powell were approached by their friends in Pink Floyd to design the cover for the group's second album, A Saucerful of Secrets. This led to additional work for EMI, including photos and album covers for the Pretty Things, Free, Toe Fat and the Gods. Being film and art school students, they were able to use the darkroom at the Royal College of Art, but when they completed school, they had to set up their own facilities. They built a small darkroom in Powell's bathroom, but shortly thereafter, in early 1970, rented space and built a studio located at 6 Denmark Street.^[3]

When first starting out, Powell and Thorgerson adopted their name from graffiti they found on the door to their apartment. Thorgerson said they liked the word, not only for punning on "hypnosis," but for possessing "a nice sense of contradiction, of an impossible co-existence, from Hip = new, cool, and groovy, and Gnostic, relating to ancient learning."^[4]

Hipgnosis gained major international prominence in 1973 with their famed cover design for Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon. The final design was one of several versions prepared for the band to choose from, but according to drummer Nick Mason, the 'prism/pyramid' design was the immediate and unanimous choice. The record itself was wildly successful—it became one of the biggest-selling and longest-charting albums of all time, putting it in the hands of millions of fans, and it has since been hailed as one of the best album covers of all time (VH1 rated the cover as No. 4, in 2003). After that, the firm became in-demand, and did many covers for high-profile bands and artists such as Led Zeppelin, Genesis, UFO, Black Sabbath, Peter Gabriel, the Alan Parsons Project, and Yes. They also designed the cover for the original UK paperback edition of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Adams would describe Thorgerson as "The best album designer in the world"),^[5] as well as the original UK hardcover edition of Norman Spinrad's Bug Jack Barron.^[6]

Peter Christopherson joined Hipgnosis as an assistant in 1974, and later became a full partner. The firm employed many assistants and other staff members over the years. Of particular note were freelance designers and illustrators Richard Evans,^[7]George Hardie,^[8] and Richard Manning.^[9]

One notable fact was that Hipgnosis did not have a set fee for designing an album cover but instead asked the artists to "pay what they thought it was worth",^[10] a policy that only occasionally backfired according to Thorgerson in his book on album cover design.^{[citation needed]}

Style

Hipgnosis' approach to album design was strongly photography-oriented, and they pioneered the use of many innovative visual and packaging techniques. In particular, Thorgerson & Powell's surreal, elaborately manipulated photos (utilizing darkroom tricks, multiple exposures, airbrush retouching, and mechanical cut-and-paste techniques) were a film-based forerunner of what would, much later, be called photoshopping. Hipgnosis used primarily Hasselblad medium format cameras for their work, the square film format being especially suited to album cover imagery.

Hipgnosis covers were noted for their quirky humour, such as the cover for the Pink Floyd double-LP compilation A Nice Pair, which featured an array of visual puns. Such humour once angered Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, when Hipgnosis created a visual pun based on "(tennis) racquet"/"(noise) racket" for the album Houses of the Holy. Hipgnosis almost lost Led Zeppelin as a client as a result.^{[citation needed]}

Another trademark was that many of their cover photos told "stories" directly related to the album's lyrics, often based on puns or double meanings of words in the album title. Since both Powell and Thorgerson were film students, they often used models as "actors" and staged the photos in a highly theatrical manner. Hipgnosis covers rarely featured artists' photos on the outside, and most were in a gatefold cover format to provide ample space for their slickly photographed tableaux.

Many of Hipgnosis' covers also featured distinctively "high tech" pen and ink logos and illustrations (often by graphic designer George Hardie), stickers, fancy inner sleeves, and other packaging bonuses. One of the unique extras created by Hipgnosis was the specially printed inner sleeve for Led Zeppelin's In Through the Out Door LP, a "black and white" affair that magically turned to colour when dampened with water (tying in with the main cover's photographic theme).

Discography

Year	Artist	Album
1968	Pink Floyd	A Saucerful of Secrets
1968	Alexis Korner	A New Generation of Blues
1968	The Gods	Genesis
1968	Pepe Jaramillo	Till There Was You
1968	The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation	The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation
1969	Pink Floyd	More
1969	The Gods	To Samuel a Son
1969	Pink Floyd	Ummagumma
1969	Panama Limited Jug Band	Panama Limited Jug Band
1969	Humble Pie	Town and Country
1969	Various artists	You Can All Join In
1970	The Greatest Show on Earth	Horizons
1970	Pink Floyd	Atom Heart Mother
1970	Quatermass	Quatermass
1970	The Pretty Things	Parachute
1970	The Greatest Show on Earth	The Going's Easy
1970	Syd Barrett	The Madcap Laughs
1970	The Nice	Five Bridges
1970	Toe Fat	Toe Fat
1970	Cochise	Cochise
1970	Harvest Records artists	Picnic – A Breath of Fresh Air
1970	Panama Limited	Indian Summer
1970	Sounds Nice	Love at First Sight
1970	Gravy Train	Gravy Train
1970	Syd Barrett	Barrett
1970	The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation	Remains to Be Heard
1970	Argent	Ring of Hands
1970	Jackson Heights	King Progress
1970	Twink	Think Pink
1971	T. Rex	Electric Warrior
1971	Toe Fat	Toe Fat 2
1971	Trees	On the Shore
1971	Marvin, Welch & Farrar	Marvin, Welch & Farrar
1971	The Nice	Elegy
1971	Pink Floyd	Meddle
1971	Electric Light Orchestra	The Electric Light Orchestra
1971	Audience	House on the Hill
1971	Edgar Broughton Band	Edgar Broughton Band
1971	Wishbone Ash	Pilgrimage
1971	Climax Blues Band	Tightly Knit
1971	Tear Gas	Tear Gas
1971	Stackridge	Stackridge
1971	Daddy Longlegs	Oakdown Farm
1971	The Masters Apprentices	Master's Apprentices
1971	John Williams	Changes
1971	Pink Floyd	Piper at the Gates of Dawn (Italian reissue)
1971	Rory Gallagher	Rory Gallagher
1972	Flash	Flash
1972	Wishbone Ash	Argus
1972	The Nice	Autumn '67 – Spring '68
1972	Fumble	Fumble
1972	The Hollies	Distant Light
1972	Renaissance	Prologue
1972	Edgar Broughton Band	Inside Out
1972	Audience	Lunch
1972	The Pretty Things	Freeway Madness
1972	Pink Floyd	Obscured by Clouds
1972	Blue Mink	A Time of Change
1972	Roger Cook	Meanwhile...Back at the World
1972	Glencoe	Glencoe
1972	Danta	Danta
1972	The Hollies	Romany
1972	Olivia Newton-John	Olivia
1972	Labi Siffre	Crying Laughing Loving Lying
1973	Electric Light Orchestra	ELO 2
1973	Pink Floyd	Dark Side of the Moon
1973	Roger Cook	Minstrel in Flight
1973	Electric Light Orchestra	On the Third Day
1973	Edgar Broughton Band	Oora
1973	Al Stewart	Past, Present and Future
1973	Argent	In Deep
1973	Led Zeppelin	Houses of the Holy
1973	Audience	You Can't Beat 'em
1973	Roy Harper	Lifemask
1973	Renaissance	Ashes Are Burning
1973	Wishbone Ash	Wishbone Four
1973	Wishbone Ash	Live Dates
1973	Flash	Out of Our Hands
1973	Various artists	Music from Free Creek
1973	Humble Pie	Thunderbox
1973	Emerson, Lake & Palmer	Trilogy
1973	Vinegar Joe	Rock 'n Roll Gypsies
1973	Babe Ruth	Amar Caballero
1973	Pink Floyd	A Nice Pair
1973	Public Foot The Roman	Public Foot The Roman
1973	The Shadows	Rockin' with Curly Leads
1974	Sharks	Jab It in Yore Eye
1974	Uno	Uno
1974	Genesis	The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
1974	Wishbone Ash	There's the Rub
1974	Nazareth	Rampant
1974	Renaissance	Turn of the Cards
1974	Roy Harper	Valentine
1974	Peter Frampton	Somethin's Happening
1974	Roy Harper	Flashes from the Archives of Oblivion
1974	Bad Company	Bad Company
1974	Blue Mink	Fruity
1974	Fumble	Poetry in Lotion
1974	Syd Barrett	Syd Barrett
1974	10cc	Sheet Music
1974	The Pretty Things	Silk Torpedo
1974	UFO	Phenomenon
1974	Cyril Havermans	Mind Wave
1974	The Hollies	Hollies
1974	Sweet	Desolation Boulevard
1975	UFO	Force It
1975	The Pretty Things	Savage Eye
1975	Pink Floyd	Wish You Were Here
1975	Bad Company	Straight Shooter
1975	Renaissance	Scheherazade and Other Stories
1975	Roy Harper	HQ
1975	Edgar Broughton Band	A Bunch of 45s
1975	The Greatest Show on Earth	The Greatest Show on Earth
1975	10cc	The Original Soundtrack
1975	The Pretty Things	S.F. Sorrow / Parachute, double reissue (UK version only)
1975	Al Stewart	Modern Times
1975	Wings	Venus and Mars
1975	Alberto y Lost Trios Paranoias	Alberto y Lost Trios Paranoias
1975	Caravan	Cunning Stunts
1975	Sassafras	Wheelin 'n' Dealin
1975	Bob Sargeant	First Starring Role
1975	Strife	Rush
1975	The Winkies	The Winkies
1975	Solution	Cordon Bleu
1975	Dave Edmunds	Subtle as a Flying Mallet
1975	The Shadows	Specs Appeal
1976	AC/DC	Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (International edition)
1976	Golden Earring	To the Hilt
1976	Montrose	Jump on It
1976	Kevin Coyne	Heartburn
1976	Wings	Wings at the Speed of Sound
1976	Al Stewart	Year of the Cat
1976	The Alan Parsons Project	Tales of Mystery and Imagination
1976	Black Sabbath	Technical Ecstasy
1976	Genesis	A Trick of the Tail
1976	10cc	How Dare You!
1976	Led Zeppelin	The Song Remains the Same
1976	Led Zeppelin	Presence
1976	Brand X	Unorthodox Behaviour
1976	Wings	Wings over America
1976	Jon Anderson	Olias of Sunhillow
1976	Nazareth	Close Enough for Rock 'n' Roll
1976	UFO	No Heavy Petting
1976	Wishbone Ash	New England
1976	Genesis	Wind & Wuthering
1976	John Miles	Stranger in the City
1976	The Hollies	Russian Roulette
1977	Wishbone Ash	Front Page News
1977	Justin Hayward	Songwriter
1977	UFO	Lights Out
1977	The Alan Parsons Project	I Robot
1977	10cc	Deceptive Bends
1977	Roy Harper	Bullinamingvase
1977	Brand X	Moroccan Roll
1977	Brand X	Livestock
1977	Sammy Hagar	Sammy Hagar
1977	Al Stewart	The Early Years
1977	Sammy Hagar	Musical Chairs
1977	Bad Company	Burnin' Sky
1977	Pink Floyd	Animals
1977	Electric Light Orchestra	The Light Shines On
1977	Peter Gabriel	Peter Gabriel (I) (aka "Car")
1977	Yes	Going for the One
1977	Fabulous Poodles	Mirror Stars
1977	Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel	Face to Face: A Live Recording
1977	Hawkwind	Quark, Strangeness and Charm
1977	Space	Deliverance
1977	Status Quo	Live!
1977	Strawbs	Deadlines
1977	The Moody Blues	Caught Live + 5
1977	Paul McCartney (as "Percy 'Thrills' Thrillington")	Thrillington
1977	Wishbone Ash	Classic Ash
1978	Pezband	Laughing in the Dark
1978	Be-Bop Deluxe	Drastic Plastic
1978	Richard Wright	Wet Dream
1978	David Gilmour	David Gilmour
1978	Styx	Pieces of Eight
1978	Wings	Wings Greatest
1978	Todd Rundgren	Back to the Bars
1978	XTC	Go 2
1978	Robin Trower	Caravan to Midnight
1978	Yes	Tormato
1978	Genesis	…And Then There Were Three…
1978	Wishbone Ash	No Smoke Without Fire
1978	Peter Gabriel	Peter Gabriel (II) (aka "Scratch")
1978	Al Stewart	Time Passages
1978	The Alan Parsons Project	Pyramid
1978	Black Sabbath	Never Say Die!
1978	Renaissance	A Song for All Seasons
1978	Synergy	Cords
1978	UFO	Obsession
1978	10cc	Bloody Tourists
1978	The Motors	Approved by the Motors (version 2)[11]
1978	John Miles	Zaragon
1978	Hot Chocolate	Every 1's a Winner
1978	The Walker Brothers	Nite Flights
1978	Wings	London Town
1978	Gerry Rafferty	Gerry Rafferty
1979	UFO	Strangers in the Night
1979	Scorpions	Lovedrive
1979	The Alan Parsons Project	Eve
1979	Bad Company	Desolation Angels
1979	The Dukes	The Dukes
1979	Edgar Broughton Band	Parlez-Vous English (as The Broughtons)
1979	10cc	Greatest Hits 1972–1978
1979	Led Zeppelin	In Through the Out Door
1979	Brand X	Product
1979	Gary Brooker	No More Fear of Flying
1979	Steve Hillage	Live Herald
1979	Godley & Creme	Freeze Frame
1979	UK	Danger Money
1979	Mick Taylor	Mick Taylor
1979	Ashra	Correlations
1979	Ralph McTell	Slide Away the Screen
1979	Throbbing Gristle	20 Jazz Funk Greats
1979	Judie Tzuke	Welcome to the Cruise
1980	The Michael Schenker Group	The Michael Schenker Group
1980	The Pretty Things	Cross Talk
1980	Brand X	Do They Hurt?
1980	Mike Rutherford	Smallcreep's Day
1980	10cc	Look Hear?
1980	Peter Gabriel	Peter Gabriel (III) (aka "Melt")
1980	Scorpions	Animal Magnetism
1980	UFO	No Place to Run
1980	John Wetton	Caught in the Crossfire
1980	Wishbone Ash	Just Testing
1980	Leo Sayer	Living in a Fantasy
1980	The Police	De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
1980	Wishbone Ash	Live Dates 2
1981	UFO	The Wild, the Willing and the Innocent
1981	Pink Floyd	A Collection of Great Dance Songs
1981	Rainbow	Difficult to Cure
1981	Nick Mason	Fictitious Sports
1981	Roger Taylor	Fun in Space
1981	Def Leppard	High 'n' Dry
1981	Yumi Matsutoya	Sakuban Oaisimashō
1981	Herman Rarebell	Nip in the Bud
1981	Cozy Powell	Tilt
1981	Rick Wakeman	1984
1982	John McLaughlin	Music Spoken Here
1982	Paul McCartney	Tug of War
1982	Rainbow	Straight Between the Eyes
1982	The Alan Parsons Project	Eye in the Sky
1982	Bad Company	Rough Diamonds
1982	Led Zeppelin	Coda
1983	Rainbow	Bent Out of Shape

See also

• Category:Album covers by Hipgnosis


• Category:Albums with cover art by Hipgnosis

References

1. 
   ^ "Helen Donlon interviews Hipgnosis". londongrip.co.uk..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
   


2. 
   ^ The photodesigns of Hipgnosis The Goodbye look. Vermillion Hutchinson Publishing Group. 1982
   ISBN 0 091506417
   


3. 
   ^ Gioia, Ted (8 December 2014). "The Golden Age of Rock Album Covers". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
   


4. 
   ^ Thorgerson, S: Hipgnosis • Walk Away René, page 87. Paper Tiger, 1978.
   


5. 
   ^ Sweeting, Adam (18 April 2013). "Storm Thorgerson dies aged 69: 'the best album designer in the world' – Art and design – guardian.co.uk". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
   


6. 
   ^ "Bug Jack Barron – book 1970". Hipgnosiscovers.com.
   


7. 
   ^ "Biography". rdevans.com. 2011. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
   


8. 
   ^ "George Hardie | Alumni and associates | Arts and Humanities". Arts.brighton.ac.uk. 2016-01-22. Retrieved 2017-04-29.
   


9. 
   ^ discogs, list of albums artists retouched
   


10. 
    ^ Perrin, Jean-Éric; Rey, Jerôme; Verlant, Gilles (2009). Les Miscellanées du rock (in French). Paris: Éditions Fetjaine / La Martinière. p. 154. ISBN 9782354251307. [L]es deux de Hipgnosis avaient la particularité de ne pas réclamer de cachet fixe, mais de demander aux groupes de leur payer ce qu'ils estimaient être la valeur de leur travail! (The italics are present in the original.)
    


11. 
    ^ Version 1 of the album shows an image of all four members. This first cover was designed by Cooke Key Associates. After Ricky Slaughter and Bram Tchaikovsky left The Motors the album was reissued with a new cover. That new cover is designed by Hipgnosis.
    

External links

• Allmusic album credits


• Unofficial Hipgnosis website

v t e Pink Floyd
Nick Mason Roger Waters Richard Wright Syd Barrett David Gilmour
Studio albums	The Piper at the Gates of Dawn A Saucerful of Secrets More Ummagumma Atom Heart Mother Meddle Obscured by Clouds The Dark Side of the Moon Wish You Were Here Animals The Wall The Final Cut A Momentary Lapse of Reason The Division Bell The Endless River
Live albums	Ummagumma Delicate Sound of Thunder Pulse Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980–81
Singles	"Arnold Layne" / "Candy and a Currant Bun" "See Emily Play" / "The Scarecrow" "Flaming" / "The Gnome" (US) "Apples and Oranges" / "Paint Box" (UK) "It Would Be So Nice" / "Julia Dream" "Let There Be More Light" / "Remember a Day" (US) "Point Me at the Sky" / "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" (UK) "One of These Days" / "Fearless" (US) "Free Four" "Money" / "Any Colour You Like" (US) "Time" / "Us and Them" (US) "Have a Cigar" / "Welcome to the Machine" (US) or "Shine On You Crazy Diamond Part I" (Europe) "Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)" / "One of My Turns" "Run Like Hell" / "Don't Leave Me Now" (Europe/some US) or "Comfortably Numb" (later US) "Comfortably Numb" / "Hey You" (US) "Pink Floyd The Wall - Music From The Film" ("When the Tigers Broke Free" / "Bring the Boys Back Home") "Not Now John" / "The Hero's Return (Parts 1 and 2)" "Learning to Fly" / "Terminal Frost" and/or "One Slip" "On the Turning Away" / "Run Like Hell (live)" (UK) "One Slip" / "Terminal Frost" / "The Dogs of War" (UK) "Take It Back" / "Astronomy Domine (live)" (US) "High Hopes" / "Keep Talking" / "Marooned" "Wish You Were Here (Live)" / "Coming Back to Life (live) / "Keep Talking (live)" (UK) "Louder than Words"
Compilations	The Best of the Pink Floyd Relics A Nice Pair A Collection of Great Dance Songs Works 1967: The First Three Singles Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd The Best of Pink Floyd: A Foot in the Door 1965: Their First Recordings
Box sets	Shine On Oh, by the Way Discovery The Early Years 1965–1972
Films	Concerts London '66–'67 Live at Pompeii Delicate Sound of Thunder Pulse Narratives The Wall The Final Cut Documentaries The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story London '66–'67 The Story of Wish You Were Here
Soundtracks	San Francisco The Committee Tonite Lets All Make Love in London More Zabriskie Point Obscured by Clouds Pink Floyd – The Wall La Carrera Panamericana
Tours	World Tour 1968 The Man and The Journey Tour Atom Heart Mother World Tour Meddle Tour Dark Side of the Moon Tour 1974 Wish You Were Here Tour In the Flesh The Wall Tour A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour The Division Bell Tour
Related media and tributes	19367 Pink Floyd The Amazing Pudding The Australian Pink Floyd Show Barn Jams Brit Floyd The Dark Side of the Moo "Grantchester Meadows" "Embryo" Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd The Man and The Journey Music from The Body Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets Pinkfloydia "Proper Education" Synalpheus pinkfloydi Umma gumma Their Mortal Remains
Other topics	Discography Videography Song list Unreleased material Members Bootleg recordings Pink Floyd live performances The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream Azimuth Co-ordinator Blackhill Enterprises Britannia Row Studios Dark Side of the Rainbow Games for May Pink Floyd pigs Publius Enigma Why Pink Floyd...? Live at the Empire Pool
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