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Hipgnosis: When record covers become art

The Vinyl record celebrating for years, a Revival is certainly due to the fact, that it is great to hold the record cover in the hands. Especially legendary record sleeves come out of the Design firm Hipgnosis.



Two men in suit on a large production site. Behind them is a pale blue sky shines. The two men shake hands. One of them is burning. Even on the head. This photo is one of the most famous album covers of all time. The Artwork for Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” comes from the legendary British photo-Design Studio “Hipgnosis”. It was founded in 1968 by Aubrey Powell and Storm thorgerson – and very quickly got around in the music scene, the London-based Studio was able to manufacture special Cover. The Bands that could afford to do, ran Hipgnosis, the doors.

The album cover “Wish You Were Here” (1975) by Pink Floyd

1968 – the cultural Revolution

Overall, designed, Powell, Thorgerson and your growing Team on the 350 plate cover – some of them wrote not only because of their musical content in music history, but also because of their exceptional Designs. 1968 was the year in which the cultural landscape changed permanently. The cultural revolt of the wild ‘ 68 had reached the art a long time ago and also became increasingly evident in the Design of record covers.

Here, the Band had to be nicely prepared on the plate cover. The message of the music stand in the foreground. Or just a fancy motif. And suddenly, all forms of artistic expression and freedoms were possible. Hipgnosis set many new standards, was loved by musicians and record companies hated: How should you apply an Album, where the Band was?

Band portrait of the Rolling Stones for a record cover to profane…

Playground Pink Floyd

Powell and Thorgerson provided a seemingly inexhaustible creativity of the day: No idea was too bold. Simple portraits were too boring. This made them even, but playful, like on Pink Floyd’s “Ummagumma” (1969), where the musicians are portrayed in various poses as a surreal “mirror in the mirror”.

The first Cover of the Hipgnosis-forge was the Pink Floyd album “A Saucerful Of Secrets”. We all knew each other from school days and was a close friend. Between 1967 and 1977, they created ten Covers for Pink Floyd.

The cow on Pink Floyd’s Album “Atom Heart Mother” had nothing to do with the Band or the contents of the plate. You should attract attention. She did. Although no band name on it, it was quite clear that it is the store in 1970 in the plate according to the LP with the cows on it had to ask to have the new Pink Floyd-Album.

An eye-catcher, it had to be

In the case of “The Dark Side Of The Moon” (1973) finally, absolutely no frills should be on the Cover. The Band stood still for a long time in front of your Zenith, but played with elaborate light shows on the stage of distract yourself. How should one implement such an attitude in art? Powell and Thorgerson had to ponder a lot, until they discovered the Prism. Pure key problem, on a black Background set the scene – and the famous Cover was created.

Two years later, Wish You Were Here “followed”. Here, it was a rip off in the music industry. Already in the 1970s, it was for Deals, to earn the most money and the one or the other has burned.

The Text of “Have a Cigar” testifies: “Come in, Boy, grab a cigar, you will go far, you’re going to be immortal, they will love you, the Band is fantastic, just tell me, who of you is Pink?”

The record company was less than enthusiastic: The plate cover of the album “Atom Heart Mother” (1970)

“The Me-Too people would call against Hipgnosis to arms”

Much of what made Hipgnosis in front of 40, 50 years, would no longer be possible today. The plate cover of “Lovedrive” by the Scorpions. The Band had a default: Sex, women, and Disturbing should be on the Cover. This is what happened: A well-situated Couple sitting in the back seat of a car, the woman is stuck with the chest exposed, on a large piece of chewing gum. The man pulls him in long pink strips of her way.

In 1979, this was of course a scandal, but not because of misogyny, but because of the subject as such. In a “mirror”Interview, Powell said last June: “It’s supposed to be a surreal scene, a bizarre incident. Nowadays, a motive would be so unimaginable to the Me-Too people would call against Hipgnosis to the weapons.” The Scorpions loved to at least the Cover.

Also, the record sleeve for Led Zeppelin’s Album “Houses Of The Holy” would no longer be conceivable today. Naked children climbing around on a surreal rocky landscape (the “Giant’s Causeway” in Northern Ireland was provided with surreal colors, and a red sky). Although the Cover is famous around the world, the nakedness of the blond girl today, strange.

Led Zeppelin were impressed by Hipgnosis

16 Years Of Music History

Up to 1984, produced by Hipgnosis record covers, the last Cover for The Alan Parson’s Project (“Ammonia Avenue”), Barry Gibb (“New Voyager”) and David Gilmour (“About Face”). 30. September starts in Berlin’s the Browse Gallery, an exhibition with the title “Daring to dream. 50 Years Of Hipgnosis”.

If you want to learn more about the art of London-based Design collective, the book “Vinyl. Cover. Album. Type” is recommended. Here is the entire Hipgnosis’s recorded catalog. To be told a lot of albums Aubrey Powell, the emergence of stories that are exciting, surprising and often very funny. Peter Gabriel comes to word and other Hipgnosis artists.

The book leads to endless scrolling, and Discover, and for sure one or the other will look after the reading at home and in the plate Cabinet, whether a Hipgnosis-disc is the Album, take in Hand, it to expand and notice that neither a CD or even a music streaming service can convey the feeling you had at that time, after the purchase of a gramophone record While the needle for the first Time by the virgin-groove, grub, was folding the plate cover, awesome, considered, studied, and read. The images of Hipgnosis made this experience even more intense.

Aubrey Powell: Vinyl. Album. Cover. Art Hipgnosis – the complete works”, 320 pages. Publisher Of Precious Books. The Hipgnosis exhibition in Berlin until 28. October 2018.

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