Hipgnosis

Hipgnosis founder Storm Thorgerson in 2010

Hipgnosis was a British graphic design agency that existed from 1968 to 1985.

history

Hipgnosis was founded by Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell. The name "Hipgnosis" is said to come from a graffito that Syd Barrett left on Powell and Thorgerson's door. They found the word combination of “hip” (German: “cool, hip”) and the mystical-religious “ gnosis ” as an original corruption or play on words of the word “ hypnosis ” to designate their future graphics studio.

The agency made record covers for Pink Floyd , Led Zeppelin , Genesis and other artists who were under contract with the record label Harvest . The distinguishing feature and main element of the cover design were mostly surrealistic photographs. The company was based in London .

From 1974 on, the workforce also included the photographer Peter Christopherson , who later became known as a musician with Throbbing Gristle , Psychic TV and especially Coil .

In 1983 Storm Thorgerson left the company to continue working as an independent artist.

With the advent of music videos, Hipgnosis began making video clips in 1983.

In 1985 Hipgnosis had to file for bankruptcy.

Especially in the 1970s, Hipgnosis set standards in the innovative design of the appearance of rock and above all art rock albums, which was elevated to an art form in its own right here. This merit has an impact in compendia and rock encyclopedias to this day.

Cover designs

The covers designed by Hipgnosis include:

A Saucerful of Secrets , Pink Floyd , 1968 Ummagumma , Pink Floyd, 1969 Horizons , The Greatest Show on Earth , 1970 Cochise , Cochise , 1970 The Madcap Laughs , Syd Barrett , 1970 Atom Heart Mother , Pink Floyd, 1970 Toe Fat , Toe Fat 1970 Electric Light Orchestra, No Answer (US) , Electric Light Orchestra , 1971 Meddle , Pink Floyd, 1971 Electric Warrior , T. Rex , 1971 Elegy , The Nice , 1971 Tightly Knit , Climax Blues Band 1971 Obscured by Clouds , Pink Floyd, 1972 Prologue , Renaissance , 1972 Trilogy , Emerson, Lake and Palmer , 1972 Argus , Wishbone Ash , 1972 Houses of the Holy , Led Zeppelin , 1973 The Dark Side of the Moon , Pink Floyd, 1973 Bad Co , Bad Company , 1974 Past, Present and Future , Al Stewart , 1974 The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway , Genesis , 1974 Thunderbox , Humble Pie , 1974 Poetry in Lotion , Fumble , 1974 A Nice Pair , Pink Floyd, 1974 Phenomenon , UFO , 1974 Venus and Mars , Wings , 1975 (inner cover only)

Unorthodox Behavior , Brand X , 1975 Wish You Were Here , Pink Floyd, 1975 Force It , UFO, 1975 The Original Soundtrack , 10cc , 1975 Modern Times , Al Stewart , 1975 Savage Eye , The Pretty Things , 1975 Cunning Stunts , Caravan , 1975 Presence , Led Zeppelin, 1976 Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap , AC / DC , 1976 Technical Ecstasy , Black Sabbath , 1976 Tales of Mystery and Imagination , The Alan Parsons Project , 1976 A Trick of the Tail , Genesis, 1976 Jump On It , Montrose , 1976 Year of the Cat , Al Stewart, 1976 How Dare You! , 10cc, 1976 I Robot , The Alan Parsons Project, 1976 Moroccan Roll , Brand X, 1977 I , Peter Gabriel , 1977 Wind & Wuthering , Genesis, 1977 Sammy Hagar , Sammy Hagar , 1977 Going for the One , Yes , 1977 Quark, Strangeness and Charm , Hawkwind , 1977 Animals , Pink Floyd, 1977 Deceptive Bends , 10CC, 1977 Cords, Synergy , 1978 And Then There Were Three , Genesis, 1978

Pyramid , The Alan Parsons Project, 1978 II , Peter Gabriel, 1978 Wet Dream , Richard Wright , 1978 Pieces of Eight , Styx , 1978 Tormato , Yes, 1978 Bloody Tourists , 10cc, 1978 Time Passages , Al Stewart, 1978 Back to the Bars , Todd Rundgren , 1978 David Gilmour , David Gilmour , 1978 Desolation Angels , Bad Company , 1979 Correlations , Ashra , 1979 Eve , The Alan Parsons Project, 1979 In Through the Out Door , Led Zeppelin 1979 Live Herald , Steve Hillage , 1979 Lovedrive , Scorpions , 1979 Freeze Frame , Godley & Creme , 1979 Danger Money , UK , 1979 Animal Magnetism , Scorpions, 1980 III , Peter Gabriel, 1980 Difficult to Cure , Rainbow , 1980 Do They Hurt , Brand X, 1980 Fun in Space , Roger Taylor , 1981 A Collection of Great Dance Songs , Pink Floyd, 1981 Sakuban oai shimasho , Yumi Matsutoya , 1981 Tug of War , Paul McCartney , 1982 Eye in the Sky , The Alan Parsons Project, 1982

literature

• Storm Thorgerson, Aubrey Powell: 100 Best Album Covers. Dk Pub, 2004. ISBN 0-7894-4615-4 .
• Storm Thorgerson: Mind Over Matter: The Images of Pink Floyd. Sanctuary Publishing, 2000. ISBN 1-86074-268-8 .
• Storm Thorgerson: Classic Album Covers of the 60s. Edition Olms, 2000. ISBN 3-283-00236-3 .
• Storm Thorgerson, Peter Curzon, Jon Crossland: Eye of the Storm: The Album Graphics of Storm Thorgerson. Sanctuary Pub Ltd, 1999. ISBN 1-86074-258-0 .
• Storm Thorgerson, Roger Dean, Vaughan Oliver: Album Cover Album. The Book of Record Sleeves. Edition Olms,
  • 1997, Vol. 6. ISBN 3-283-00261-4 .
  • 1997, Vol. 5. ISBN 3-283-00235-5 .
  • 1987, Vol. 4. ISBN 3-283-00232-0 .
• Aubrey Powell: Classic Album Covers of the 70s. Edition Olms, Zurich 1994. ISBN 3-283-00262-2 .
• Aubrey Powell: Vinyl. Album. Cover. Art: Hipgnosis - The Complete Works. Edel Books, Hamburg 2018. ISBN 978-3-8419-0608-3

Web links

• Storm Thorgerson's homepage with many examples

Individual evidence

1. ^ Aubrey Powell: Vinyl. Album. Cover. Art: Hipgnosis - The Complete Works . 2nd Edition. Edel Books, Hamburg 2018, ISBN 978-3-8419-0608-3 , pp. 19 .
2. ↑ The Work of Hipgnosis - Walk Away Rene. A&W Visual Library, 1978, ISBN 0-89104-104-4 .
3. ↑ Jens Uthoff: Exhibition on record covers in Berlin: How a dairy cow became a pop star . In: The daily newspaper: taz . October 9, 2018, ISSN  0931-9085 ( taz.de [accessed October 30, 2018]).