History Creator / Hipgnosis

* Music/{{Genesis}}

** 1977 - ''Music/{{Animals}}''

* CueTheFlyingPigs: Literally, with the inflatable pig designed for the cover of Pink Floyd's ''Music/{{Animals}}''.

* CreepyOldFashionedDivingSuit: The artwork for Music/TenCc's ''Deceptive Bends'' album has both the band members and an unknown guest star character wearing old diving suits. In the book ''The Work of Hipgnosis: Walk Away Rene'', Thorgerson explains how he and his partners decided to make the cover image a VisualPun based on "the bends of a diver", which led them to [[ExploitedTrope exploit this trope]].

* {{Surrealism}}: Creator/ReneMagritte was a major influence on Hipgnosis' work.

* EverythingsBetterWithCows: Music/PinkFloyd's ''Music/AtomHeartMother'' sleeve. There's a single cow on the front cover, a herd of cows on the back cover, and a long shot of a pasture in the inner gatefold. As intended, none of it has anything to do with the music.

Where are these scenes from? Old movies, or some forgotten GenreAnthology series? Actually, they're all from the work of a studio that designed album covers for some of England's best known bands. (In order, they're the covers of Music/PinkFloyd's ''Music/WishYouWereHere'', Music/UFOBand's ''[[http://hipgnosiscovers.com/ufo/phenomenon.html Phenomenon]]'' and Audience's ''[[http://hipgnosiscovers.com/audience/thehouseonthehill.html The House on the Hill]]''.) Welcome to the world of Hipgnosis.

* Music/UFOBand

Where are these scenes from? Old movies, or some forgotten GenreAnthology series? Actually, they're all from the work of a studio that designed album covers for some of England's best known bands. (In order, they're the covers of Music/PinkFloyd's ''Music/WishYouWereHere'', UFO's ''[[http://hipgnosiscovers.com/ufo/phenomenon.html Phenomenon]]'' and Audience's ''[[http://hipgnosiscovers.com/audience/thehouseonthehill.html The House on the Hill]]''.) Welcome to the world of Hipgnosis.

* Music/{{UFO}}

After Hipgnosis, Storm Thorgerson formed [=STd=] (Storm Thorgerson Design), then [=StormStudios=], and continued doing album covers (and eventually CD booklets); although he mostly designed for younger bands like Music/{{Muse}}, Music/BiffyClyro, Music/CatherineWheel and Music/TheCranberries, he still worked on most Music/PinkFloyd-related projects. He died in 2013, and [[AuthorExistenceFailure he was active until the very end]]. (In accordance with [[http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=30adec2edf9e7e995a3ac90d0&id=c1255d04bf&e=a725bb81ce Thorgerson's wishes]], [=StormStudios=] has carried on without him.) Aubrey Powell is currently a film director and has co-written two books with Thorgerson. Peter Christopherson continued making music (with Music/ThrobbingGristle, and later with Psychic TV and Music/{{Coil}}), as well as directing music videos and TV commercials, until his death in 2010. In 2014 and 2015 Powell, who owns the Hipgnosis name, [[{{Revival}} revived]] it for Pink Floyd's GrandFinale ''Music/TheEndlessRiver'' and David Gilmour's solo album ''Rattle That Lock''; in 2019, he used it again for another Floyd project, the massive BoxedSet ''The Later Years 1987-2019''. These will likely be the final projects credited to the studio.

* TextlessAlbumCover: They did a few, such as Pink Floyd's ''The Dark Side of the Mooon'' and ''Wish You Were Here'' and Led Zeppelin's ''In Through the Out Door''. Another Led Zeppelin album, ''Presence'', offers a variation: the text is there, but it's embossed in white on a white background, making it difficult to see unless you look closely.

''Saucerful'' turned out so well that Hipgnosis was offered more work by the Floyd's label and booking agent. Throughout TheSeventies, the studio's reputation grew as they were commissioned by some of the biggest names in British music (see the list below); along with artist Roger Dean, they helped create the look of ProgressiveRock and HeavyMetal. Their work is notable for its use of {{surrealism}}; in those pre-Photoshop days, their enigmatic images had to be created in RealLife, or through retouching and other trickery, instead of clicking on a mouse. Hipgnosis is also remembered for the stories their vivid images told, often using ScienceFiction tropes. (Speaking of sci-fi, Hipgnosis designed covers for Creator/DouglasAdams' ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' albums and Norman Spinrad's novel ''Literature/BugJackBarron'').

After Hipgnosis, Storm Thorgerson formed [=STd=] (Storm Thorgerson Design), then [=StormStudios=], and continued doing album covers (and eventually CD booklets); although he mostly designed for younger bands like Music/{{Muse}}, Music/BiffyClyro, Music/CatherineWheel and Music/TheCranberries, he still worked on most Music/PinkFloyd-related projects. He died in 2013, and [[AuthorExistenceFailure he was active until the very end]]. (In accordance with [[http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=30adec2edf9e7e995a3ac90d0&id=c1255d04bf&e=a725bb81ce Thorgerson's wishes]], [=StormStudios=] has carried on without him.) Aubrey Powell is currently a film director and has co-written two books with Thorgerson. Peter Christopherson continued making music (with Music/ThrobbingGristle, and later with Psychic TV and Music/{{Coil}}), as well as directing music videos and TV commercials, until his death in 2010. In 2014 and 2015 Powell, who owns the Hipgnosis name, [[{{Revival}} revived]] it for Pink Floyd's GrandFinale ''Music/TheEndlessRiver'' and David Gilmour's solo album ''Rattle That Lock''; in 2019, he used it again for another Floyd project, the massive BoxedSet ''The Later Years 1987-2019''. These will likely be the studio's final projects.

** 1977 - ''Music/{{Peter Gabriel|1977}}'' (nicknamed ''Car'')
** 1978 - ''Music/{{Peter Gabriel|1978}}'' (nicknamed ''Scratch'')
** 1980 - ''Music/{{Peter Gabriel|1980}}'' (nicknamed ''Melt'')

''Saucerful'' turned out so well that Hipgnosis was offered more work by the Floyd's label and booking agent. Throughout TheSeventies, the studio's reputation grew as they were commissioned by some of the biggest names in British music (see the list below); along with artist Creator/RogerDean, they helped create the look of ProgressiveRock and HeavyMetal. Their work is notable for its use of {{surrealism}}; in those pre-Photoshop days, their enigmatic images had to be created in RealLife, or through retouching and other trickery, instead of clicking on a mouse. Hipgnosis is also remembered for the stories their vivid images told, often using ScienceFiction tropes. (Speaking of sci-fi, Hipgnosis designed covers for Creator/DouglasAdams' ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' albums and Norman Spinrad's novel ''Literature/BugJackBarron'').

* Music/PeterGabriel[[note]]All are self-titled, but nicknamed for the immediate attribute in each cover[[/note]]
** 1977 - ''Music/{{Car}}''
** 1978 - ''Music/{{Scratch}}''
** 1980 - ''Music/{{Melt}}''

** 1971 - ''Music/TheElectricLightOrchestra'' (1971)

** 1977 - ''Music/{{Car}}'' (1977)
** 1978 - ''Music/{{Scratch}}'' (1978)
** 1980 - ''Music/{{Melt}}'' (1980)

** 1973 - ''Music/HousesOfTheHoly'' (1973)
** 1976 - ''Film/TheSongRemainsTheSame'' (the film's soundtrack album) (1976)

** ''Music/DirtyDeedsDoneDirtCheap'' (1976) (international release only; the original Australian release has a different cover)

** ''Music/IRobot'' (1977)

** ''Music/TheMadcapLaughs'' (1970)

** ''Music/TheElectricLightOrchestra'' (1971)

* Music/PeterGabriel
** ''Music/{{Car}}'' (1977)
** ''Music/{{Scratch}}'' (1978)
** ''Music/{{Melt}}'' (1980)

** ''Music/TheLambLiesDownOnBroadway'' (1974)
** ''Music/ATrickOfTheTail'' (1976)
** ''Music/WindAndWuthering'' (1977)
** ''Music/AndThenThereWereThree'' (1978)

** ''Music/HousesOfTheHoly'' (1973)
** ''Film/TheSongRemainsTheSame'' (the film's soundtrack album) (1976)
** ''Presence''
** ''In Through The Out Door''

** ''Music/BandOnTheRun'' (1973) (Storm Thorgerson was the art director)

** ''Music/ASaucerfulOfSecrets'' (1968)
** ''Music/{{Ummagumma}}'' (1969)
** ''Music/AtomHeartMother'' (1970)
** ''Music/{{Meddle}}'' (1971)
** ''Music/ObscuredByClouds'' (1972)
** ''Music/TheDarkSideOfTheMoon'' (1973)
** ''Music/WishYouWereHere'' (1975)
** ''Music/{{Animals}}'' (1977)
** ''Music/TheEndlessRiver'' (2014)

** ''Music/ElectricWarrior'' (1971)

* Music/UmphreysMcGee

* Music/UmphresyMcGee

!!Tropes present in Hipgnosis' work:

** ''Music/WindAndWuthering'' (1976)

http://hipgnosiscovers.com/ has an extensive archive of images created by Hipgnosis and their friends. [[http://aubreypowell.com/HOME.html Aubrey Powell]] also has an official website. (Storm Thorgerson once had one too, but it's offline.) The studio also participated in several books about its work; the 2017 publication ''Vinyl. Album. Cover. Art. The Complete Hipgnosis Catalogue'' lists all the album covers from the classic period. (It doesn't include the two revivals mentioned above, singles bags, music-related memorabilia like posters and adverts, or any of their non-music related work, but you can't have everything...)

After Hipgnosis, Storm Thorgerson formed [=STd=] (Storm Thorgerson Design), then [=StormStudios=], and continued doing album covers (and eventually CD booklets); although he mostly designed for younger bands like Music/{{Muse}}, Music/BiffyClyro, Music/CatherineWheel and Music/TheCranberries, he still worked on most Music/PinkFloyd-related projects. He died in 2013, and [[AuthorExistenceFailure he was active until the very end]]. (In accordance with [[http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=30adec2edf9e7e995a3ac90d0&id=c1255d04bf&e=a725bb81ce Thorgerson's wishes]], [=StormStudios=] has carried on without him.) Aubrey Powell is currently a film director and has co-written two books with Thorgerson. Peter Christopherson continued making music (with Music/ThrobbingGristle, and later with Psychic TV and Music/{{Coil}}), as well as directing music videos and TV commercials, until his death in 2010. In 2014 and 2015 Powell, who owns the Hipgnosis name, [[{{Revival}} revived]] it for Pink Floyd's GrandFinale ''Music/TheEndlessRiver'' and David Gilmour's solo album ''Rattle That Lock''; these will likely be the studio's final projects.