Description
The complete, definitive, and never-before-published catalogue of album covers created by the legendary design agency Hipgnosis, this volume finally does justice to the work of the most important design collective in music history. Founded in 1967 by Storm Thorgerson, Aubrey “Po” Powell, and Peter Christopherson, Hipgnosis gained a legendary status in graphic design, transforming the look of album art forever and winning five Grammy nominations for package design. Their revolutionary cover art departed from the conventional group shots favored by record companies of the day, resulting in groundbreaking, often surreal designs inextricable from the major albums of many of the biggest names in the history of popular music: AC/DC, Black Sabbath, The Police, Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, Syd Barrett, The Who, Wings, Yes, and XTC, to name but a few.
Arranged chronologically, Hipgnosis: The Complete Album Covers features stunning reproductions of every single Hipgnosis cover—more than 300 in total—for the first time, along with pertinent insights from the rock ’n’ roll legends whose albums are featured and behind-the-scenes photography. The text, written by Powell, and with contributions by Peter Gabriel, Robert Plant, and Nick Mason, brims with information that illuminates the album art and the compelling stories behind each cover’s creation.
Contributors
Aubrey Powell
Author
Aubrey Powell co-founded the design agency Hipgnosis with the late Storm Thorgerson in 1967. Their stunning and often surreal work established them as the most important design collective in music history. In 1989, Po was made creative director for The Paul McCartney World Tour, designing the stage set, video wall and filmed images. He is the author of numerous books, including Hipgnosis | Portraits, and is the current creative director for Pink Floyd.