Hipgnosis Portraits

A journey into the archives of the most important design agency in music history, including never-before-seen photos of the biggest names in rock rock 'n' roll

Hipgnosis created some of the most innovative and surreal cover art of the 1960s, 70s, and early 80s for the biggest names of the era―Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Wings, Yes, Genesis, 10cc, Peter Gabriel, Bad Company, Syd Barrett, and Black Sabbath, to name just a few. The sublime prism cover for Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon continues to be one of the most pervasive images in all popular culture. Hipgnosis’s highly conceptual approach and graphic appeal earned them five Grammy nominations for cover design, and they profoundly influenced not only the history of music, but also all other creative fields from advertising to fashion.

Hipgnosis Portraits explores an endless stream of creative ideas in two sections. Part I, "Imagination," tells the story behind the artwork from germination through to the final sleeve design, supported by a wide array of archival materials. Part II, "Realization," contains beautiful and extremely photographic portraits of the musicians the agency counted as clients. Several of these images were taken but not used for projects and have remained buried in archives ever since. The book is filled with playful, abstract compositions from a remarkably prolific collective that redefined the possibilities of concept-driven art and design. 366 illustrations in color and black-and-white