L to R: 100C, How Dare You! gatefold postcard; The Cranberries, Bury the Hatchet; Audioslave; Muse, Absolution; Pink Floyd. Msh You Were Here; Megadeth, Rude Awakening; Peter Gabriel, Hands
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Along with his friend Aubrey Powell he formed a graphic design company. llipgnosis. Their surrealist work upped the ante for album cover designs. changing the way the world looked at the music of everyone from Paul McCartney and Peter (iabriel to Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. More recently. 'l‘horgerson has designed covers for Audioslave. The Cranberries and Biffy (‘lyro as well as a programme for Scottish ()pera.
‘Brian lino said one of the things he likes to do is think. and I feel the same.' he says. ‘We often play the intisic at the same time as we talk. so there's a lot of talk. listen. scribble . . . and then scribbles become drawings. We work for music. with music and because of music.
‘Since I cannot draw for toffee. I work with photography. but just because I can't draw. it doesn‘t mean I can‘t take the flight of the imagination. It may occur in a flash or take weeks of arduous bits and pieces. It‘s usually a mixture.‘
From the burning businessman on the cover of ll'i's/i You Were Here to the giant pig flying over London's Battersea Power Station. Thorgerson went on to design almost every Pink Floyd album sleeve. although it is his memorable work on l973‘s The Dark Side of
‘A FLIGHT OF THE IMAGINATION MAY OCCUR IN A FLASH'
The Moon that left the biggest mark. llis prism design has mesmcrised fans ever since.
‘The idea itself was cobbled from a standard physics textbook. which illustrated light passing through a prism.‘ he says. 'Rick Wright suggested we do something simple. elegant and graphic — not photographic. Subsequently we decided to connect it to ambition and madness. which were themes Roger was exploring in the lyrics . . . hence the prism. the triangle and the pyramids. Somehow. it all connects.~
When it came to shooting the cover of
.‘lnimuls things took on a touch of the Spinal 721/). ‘Roger Waters was very fond of Battersea Power Station. and they had this gigantic inflatable pig that was part of the Floyd live show. The first day of the shoot the pig escaped from its moorings directly into the flight paths of Heathrow Airport. You couldn‘t have paid for all the newspaper coverage it got: "Airline Pilots See Flying Pigs." The pig floated with
STORM THORGERSON
the wind and landed up somewhere in Kent.‘
His latest project is Taken By Storm: The Album Art ofSturm Tito/germ”. a sumptuoUs handmade limited edition book and box set. It comes with what has been described as ‘a treasure chest of rare and exclusive objects d‘art’. Although it also comes with a hefty price tag of £500. 'l‘horgerson believes people should not take it too seriously.
‘lt would be a shame if people treat this thing with such reverence that they daren‘t play around with it. There‘s a sense of fun. a playfulness that people often miss with a lot of what we do. Anyway. who takes our work seriously. or are you suggesting that they shouldn’t? We got 500 teacups and took individual pictures of each one for each set. mainly because they‘re easier to get than Slit) swans or 500 girls. £500 is not bad for a cup of tea. lt‘s Storm in a teacup.’ he chuckles.
Taken By Storm: The Album Art of Storm Thorgerson - the handmade limited edition book of 500 copies - is available through Genesis Publications; www.genesis-publications.com; 01483 540 970. Collector copies are priced at £500.
30 Apr—14 May 2009 THE LIST 21