Storm Thorgerson (1944-2013)
By Michael J.W. Stickings
Storm Thorgerson, the brilliant graphic designer who is most famous for creating the iconic covers of almost all Pink Floyd albums, and for providing most of the band's visual artwork generally, has died at the age of 69.
Indeed, while he worked (both as a founder of Hipgnosis and as the head of Storm Studios) with many musicians over the years, including Led Zeppelin, Peter Gabriel, Wings, Genesis, and Muse, and while he did other work besides, he is, to me as to so many others, inseparable from Pink Floyd, so much so that it's hard to imagine our beloved band without him. I was certainly very sad when I heard the news yesterday.
I encourage you to take a look at his great work. You probably know what the covers of Dark Side of the Moon and Animals look like, but there is so much else. Check out his website (click on "Work," then surf by artist -- he did much more than just album covers, and so much of it is incredibly beautiful), and his books (Taken By Storm: The Album Art of Storm Thorgerson, For the Love of Vinyl: The Album Art of Hipgnosis, and Mind Over Matter: The Images of Pink Floyd, among others), and read this November 2011 interview with him at Brain Damage, the leading Pink Floyd fan website.
Amazing, amazing stuff.
I've been thinking about what images to post. Dark Side's prism? Animals's flying pig? Wish You Were Here's burning man? Atom Heart Mother's cow? A Momentary Lapse of Reason's beds? The Division Bell's giant steel head(s)? Well, here are some others, a few of my favourites, some non-covers taken from his website.
First, the gloriously sexy poster for the release of Pink Floyd's remastered back catalogue (1997).
Second, the poster for the 25th anniversary of Wish You Were Here (2000):
Third, the "Picasso Heads" version of the Division Bell cover (1994):
Storm Thorgerson, the brilliant graphic designer who is most famous for creating the iconic covers of almost all Pink Floyd albums, and for providing most of the band's visual artwork generally, has died at the age of 69.
Indeed, while he worked (both as a founder of Hipgnosis and as the head of Storm Studios) with many musicians over the years, including Led Zeppelin, Peter Gabriel, Wings, Genesis, and Muse, and while he did other work besides, he is, to me as to so many others, inseparable from Pink Floyd, so much so that it's hard to imagine our beloved band without him. I was certainly very sad when I heard the news yesterday.
I encourage you to take a look at his great work. You probably know what the covers of Dark Side of the Moon and Animals look like, but there is so much else. Check out his website (click on "Work," then surf by artist -- he did much more than just album covers, and so much of it is incredibly beautiful), and his books (Taken By Storm: The Album Art of Storm Thorgerson, For the Love of Vinyl: The Album Art of Hipgnosis, and Mind Over Matter: The Images of Pink Floyd, among others), and read this November 2011 interview with him at Brain Damage, the leading Pink Floyd fan website.
Amazing, amazing stuff.
I've been thinking about what images to post. Dark Side's prism? Animals's flying pig? Wish You Were Here's burning man? Atom Heart Mother's cow? A Momentary Lapse of Reason's beds? The Division Bell's giant steel head(s)? Well, here are some others, a few of my favourites, some non-covers taken from his website.
First, the gloriously sexy poster for the release of Pink Floyd's remastered back catalogue (1997).
Second, the poster for the 25th anniversary of Wish You Were Here (2000):
Third, the "Picasso Heads" version of the Division Bell cover (1994):
Labels: music, obituaries, Pink Floyd
posted by Michael J.W. Stickings at
1:30 PM
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