Storm Thorgerson

Thorgerson in July 2010

Storm Thorgerson (born 1944) is an English graphic designer, known for his work for rock bands such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, 10cc, Dream Theater, The Mars Volta, Muse, The Cranberries, and Biffy Clyro.

Biography

Storm Thorgerson was born in Potters Bar, which was in Middlesex at the time and is now in Hertfordshire. He was a key member of the British graphic art group Hipgnosis, and designed many of their most famous single and album covers. Of late, he runs a design studio called StormStudios - a loose group of freelancers. The current line up includes - Rupert Truman (Photographer), Peter Curzon (Designer), Finlay Cowan (Designer and Illustrator), Daniel Abbott (Designer and Artist), Lee Baker (Designer, Retoucher and Artist), Jerry Sweet (Designer) along with Storm's Personal Assistant, Laura Truman (Prints) and Charlie Barnes (when she is not one the other side of the World).

Perhaps Thorgerson's most famous designs are those for Pink Floyd. His design for The Dark Side of the Moon has been called one of the greatest album covers of all time. (Designed by Thorgerson, the cover itself was drawn by Hipgnosis designer George Hardie). Many of his designs are notable for their surreal elements. He often places objects out of their traditional contexts, especially with vast spaces around them, to give them an awkward appearance while highlighting their beauty. To quote Thorgerson, "I like photography because it is a reality medium, unlike drawing which is unreal. I like to mess with reality...to bend reality. Some of my works beg the question of is it real or not?"

Several books have been devoted to surveying Thorgerson's work which spans more than four decades.

Solo works

• 10cc:
  • Mirror Mirror (1994)
• Anthrax
  • Stomp 442 (1995)
• Audioslave
  • Audioslave (2002)
• Catherine Wheel:
  • Chrome (1993)
  • Happy Days (1995)
  • Like Cats and Dogs (compilation) (1996)
  • Adam And Eve (1997)
  • Wishville (2000)
• Biffy Clyro:
  • Puzzle (2007)
    • "Saturday Superhouse" (2007)
    • "Living is a Problem Because Everything Dies" (2007)
    • "Folding Stars" (2007)
    • "Machines" (2007)
  • Only Revolutions (2009)
    • "That Golden Rule" (2009)
    • "The Captain" (2009)
• The Cranberries:
  • Bury the Hatchet (1999)
  • Wake Up and Smell the Coffee (2001)
• Bruce Dickinson
  • Tattooed Millionaire (music video) (1990)
  • All the Young Dudes (music video) (1990)
  • Skunkworks (1996)
• Disco Biscuits:
  • Planet Anthem (2010)
• Dream Theater:
  • A Change of Seasons (1995)
  • Falling into Infinity (1997)
  • "Once in a LIVEtime" (1998)
  • "5 Years in a Livetime" (1998)
• Ian Dury and The Blockheads
  • Mr. Love Pants (1998)
• Ellis, Beggs, & Howard
  • Homelands (1989)
• Ethnix
  • Home Is Where The Head Is (2002)
• Europe
  • Secret Society (2006)
• Genesis
  • ...And Then There Were Three... (1978)
• David Gilmour
  • About Face (1984)
    • "Blue Light" and "All Lovers Are Deranged" music videos (1984)
  • David Gilmour in Concert DVD (2002)
• Helloween
  • Pink Bubbles Go Ape (1991)
• Led Zeppelin
  • Presence (1976)
  • In Through the Out Door (1979)
• The Mars Volta:
  • De-Loused in the Comatorium (2003)
    • "Inertiatic ESP" single (2003)
    • "Televators" single (2003)
  • Frances the Mute (2005)
    • "The Widow" single (2005)
• Megadeth:
  • Rude Awakening DVD (2002)
• Steve Miller Band:
  • Bingo! (2010)
  • Let Your Hair Down (2011)
• Muse:
  • Absolution (2003)
    • "Butterflies and Hurricanes" single (2004)
  • Black Holes and Revelations (2006)
  • "Uprising" single (2009)
• The Offspring
  • Splinter (2003)
• Alan Parsons:
  • Try Anything Once (1993)
  • On Air (1996)
  • The Time Machine (1999)
• Pendulum
  • Immersion (2010)
• Phish
  • Slip Stitch and Pass (1997)
• The Pineapple Thief
  • Someone Here Is Missing (2010)
• Pink Floyd:
  • A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)
  • Ummagumma (1969)
  • Atom Heart Mother (1970)
  • Animals (1977)
  • The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
  • Delicate Sound of Thunder (1988)
  • The Division Bell (1994)
    • "High Hopes" music video (1994)
  • Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd (2001)
  • Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980–81 (2000)
  • A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987)
    • "Learning to Fly" music video (1987)
  • Shine On (1992)
  • Oh, by the Way (2007)
  • P*U*L*S*E (1995), including the blinking LED light that was featured in early CD packaging.
  • Wish You Were Here (1975)
• Powderfinger
  • Golden Rule (2009)
• Program the Dead
  • Program The Dead (2005)
• Rainbow
  • Bent Out of Shape (1983)
    • Street of Dreams music video (1983)
• Rival Sons
  • Pressure & Time (2011)
• Shpongle
  • Ineffable Mysteries from Shpongleland (2009)
• Styx
  • "Cyclorama" (2003)
• Thornley
  • Come Again (2004)
  • Tiny Pictures (2009)
• Umphrey's McGee
  • Safety In Numbers (2006)
  • The Bottom Half (2007)
• Ween
  • The Mollusk (1997)
• The Wombats:
  • This Modern Glitch (2011)
• Rick Wright
  • Broken China (1996)
• Yes
  • Owner of a Lonely Heart music video (1983)
• Paul Young
  • Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home) music video (1983)
• Younger Brother
  • Last Days of Gravity (2007)
• Yourcodenameis:milo
  • Rapt. Dept. (2005)
  • 17 (2005)
  • Ignoto (2005)

For his work with Hipgnosis, see Hipgnosis discography

External links

• Official website
• Radio interview transcript
• BBC Feature and audio interview
• BBC Article on Thorgerson's work: Audio slideshow: Storm's sleeves
• TateShots: Storm Thorgerson on Magritte The artist talks about the influence of Magritte on his work. 21 July 2011