For the Love of Vinyl: The Album Art of Hipgnosis

by Storm Thorgerson, Aubrey Powell, Paula Scher

Hipgnosis was the biggest and best graphic design firm for the biggest and best bands of the 60s and 70s. Formed by Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell in London in 1968 (with the addition of Throbbing Gristle's Peter Christopherson in 1974), Hipgnosis specialized in creative photography for the music business, making classic album covers for bands and musicians like Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Electric Light Orchestra, Genesis, 10cc, Yes, Peter Gabriel, The Gods, Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Paul McCartney, Syd Barrett, Scorpions and Styx, among others. Over the course of its 15 year existence, Hipgnosis produced timeless rock iconography--everybody knows at least one Hipgnosis cover, thanks to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon . The firm's inventive takes on the themes or titles of any given album opened up a new visual language in album cover art, one in which theatrical tableaux, trick photography and logo design played notable roles. For the Love of Vinyl is the first book to survey Storm and Powell's output in detail, focusing on more than 60 package designs--from cover to label--described with entertaining detail by the team who created them. Also included are short essays by musicians (such as Pink Floyd's Nick Mason and artists (British Pop artist Peter Blake) and fellow designers (Paula Scher) on their favorite Hipgnosis covers, as well as previously unseen photographs and ephemera. Complementing all this material is a lengthy critical-historical text examining Hipgnosis and its legacy. For the Love of Vinyl is the rock book of 2008.
Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell are award-winning graphic designers and the founders of Hipgnosis.

Genres: Music, Art, Photography, Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2008

Reviews

[Manuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great great historic material!, not only for the fans of Rock music but for graphic designers (and artists?).

The book is full of stories and anecdotes recounted by Storm and Po involving the inception and materialization of Hipgnosis ideas into iconic and unforgettable music album covers.

Po's puns are ultra-witty :D

[DJ Yossarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were points in this book when it actually made me appreciate the work of Hipgnosis *less*, since a number of visual elements and techniques appear over different album covers throughout their career, hinting that there might have been some prolonged lags in inspiration.

However, the fact of the matter is that they created some innovative, timeless album packaging (I say "packaging" rather than just "covers", because they paid close attention to all the components of a release, from front cover to back, and from the spreads in gatefold interiors to the record sleeves. For example, the sleeve for Peter Gabriel's third album is at least as evocative of the music as the pioneering cover image showing Gabriel's face melting).

The book features recollections from the two principle designers, whether about the origins and assembly of some of their best known work or glimpses into their lives operating out of a dingy walk up on Denmark St in the 70. It also includes commentary by people outside the company, some of which is less than illuminating.

So their best work -- Gabriel's first three solo albums, a bunch of Floyd, XTC's "Go 2", some Zeppelin (although not Physical Graffiti, which is visually and sonically my favorite of theirs), Trees' "On The Shore", T. Rex's "Electric Warrior", and others --far outweighs the less inspired work they did to put food on the table.

Also I learned that they did the cover for Human Sexual Response's "Fig 14", which you'd think I'd have known, but there you have it.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hipgnosis created some of the most remarkable album covers ever. Would Pink Floyd have that success without the legendary covers of their LPs? What about Led Zeppelin, T-Rex, Peter Gabriel, AC/DC, 10cc, Paul McCartney and many more? If you have a look at the pictures you will fully agree with me. Things didn't get better over the years and their works are still as good as back then. Iconic covers, full stop. Here you'll find out more about the ideas behind and the background. Highly recommended!

[Eric]

A great companion to the recent documentary Squaring the Circle. Pretty good on its own, too.

[Daniel A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't actually have a lot to say about For the Love of Vinyl: The Album Art of Hipgnosis, a compilation of the "greatest hits", so to speak, of graphic design team Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell, other than that it was a fascinating peek behind the scenes of one of the premier teams of designers of album art ever. However, For the Love of Vinyl is more than that; both Thorgerson and Powell provide detailed thoughts on each and every one of the albums presented, along with ancillary packaging and promotional materials as well as similar artwork by similar artists, which in turn provides a unique glimpse not merely at the what of Hipgnosis' album covers, but of the how and the why. In general, a greatly worthwhile art book.

[Jamil · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book deserves four stars simply for its great design and layout, the texture of the cover & the quality of the reproductions. Hipgnosis' output itself, is hit or miss for me, though its hits - Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon , Animals , Ummagumma , XTC's Go 2 , Peter Gabriel 2 among them, are so amazing, they are rightfully called genius.

[Pal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up at Domy in Austin... it was one of those deign/record collector nerd combo books that almost made my head explode. A retrospective of Hipgnosis's work, which basically adds up to a mind blowing collection of classic record covers. Check it out if it's your sort of thing.

[Dave Hofer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must-read if you're a fan of LP's or music art. Very, very cool.

[Paul Manieri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reading from some very talented people any one who is at all interested in this art form should get a copy

[wildct2003 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many familiar covers.

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a trip back. I used to stare at these covers for hours. Now I know what they were thinking (sometimes).