media

1. Storm
Thorgerson
Artist & Designer
I have produced a Power Point
presentation highlighting they key
aspects of Storm Thorgerson’s career
and achievements.

2. Fact file
• Storm Elvin Thorgerson (28 February 1944 –
18 April 2013) was an English graphic designer,
best known for his work for rock artists such
as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and
Biffy Clyro.
• In 1968 along with Aubrey Powell he founded
the graphic art group Hipgnosis, and between
them they designed many famous single and
album covers.

3. The stages of creating an album cover
Stage 1: The Brief
The designer listens to the music (possibly only
demos at this stage), reads the lyrics, and talks
to the band. These create a ‘brain soup’, from
which ideas can be extracted to form the brief.
Stage 2: Roughs
Over a number of meetings/days, the designer
meets the band again for discussions, in an attempt
to pin-down a theme or big idea. This stage is
creative, with word-play, honest thoughts, and
scribbling's. The best are converted to more
complete illustrations (the ‘roughs’).

4. The stages of creating an album cover
Stage 3: Tests
Once a rough is accepted and a budget agreed, a
prototype is often created to ensure that the idea
works. Depending on the idea, this could involve
the creation of scale models from clay or
polystyrene. If everything works, the final models
are constructed.
Stage 4:
A location is researched and booked, possibly for
a long-time if outdoors and in uncertain
weather. Models are erected and positioned,
with help from volunteers if the shoot is big and
complex. A wide range of photographs are then
taken, under varying light/weather conditions
and filters.

5. The stages of creating an album cover
Stage 5:
This could be called ‘selection’, where the best
shot from the shoot is chosen. This can take
several days, if hundreds of similar shots need to
be compared.
Stage 6:
Artwork. Finally, having chosen the perfect shot,
any cleaning-up or final computer editing is
performed, before handing over the final
product.

6. Later work:
The Gathering Storm – A Quartet in
Several Parts was the final book Storm
worked on with his team and it was
completed just before his death in April
2013. The book was released in
September 2013 and includes album
covers artwork, photographs, and
anecdotes, spanning five decades from
Storm's early work with Hipgnosis through
to Storm Studios. In accordance with
Storm's wishes, the studio will .continue
to work

7. In 2003, Thorgerson suffered a stroke,
from which he was partially paralysed.
He was later diagnosed with an
undisclosed form of cancer, which he
battled for several years, but which
eventually led to his death on 18 April
2013, at the age of 69. After
Thorgerson's death, David Gilmour
released a statement describing him as
"a constant force in my life, both at
work and in private, a shoulder to cry
on, and a great friend".