Aubrey Powell (designer)

Last updated

Powell giving a talk about his work at St Paul's Gallery in Birmingham, England, in February 2014 Aubrey Powell.jpg
Powell giving a talk about his work at St Paul's Gallery in Birmingham, England, in February 2014
Audio-input-microphone.svg
Powell's voice
recorded February 2014
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Aubrey "Po" Powell (born 23 September 1946) [1] is a British graphic designer. He co-founded the album cover design company Hipgnosis with Storm Thorgerson in 1967. The company ran for 15 years until 1982, and created some of the most acclaimed record cover art of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s for many of the most famous rock bands of the era including Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Paul McCartney, Yes, Genesis, 10cc, Wishbone Ash, Peter Gabriel, UFO, Bad Company, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Scorpions, Styx, Syd Barrett, and Black Sabbath. The company was nominated five times for Grammy Awards.

Contents

Early life

Powell was born in Sussex. [1] His parents lived abroad for most of his formative years and he attended the King's School, Ely, Cambridgeshire. On leaving school he took several jobs including bus conductor, waiter, window dresser and clerk at the London Stock Exchange and he studied at the London School of Film Technique. [2] He also met Storm Thorgerson and members of the nascent Pink Floyd in Cambridge and struck up lifelong friendships and working relationships.

Career

In 1965, he secured a job in London as assistant scenic designer to Nick Pemberton, creating sets for the television series Z-Cars , Dr. Finlay's Casebook , and Emergency Ward 10 . He shared an apartment with Storm Thorgerson where they conceived the idea of Hipgnosis, and in 1968 they produced their first album cover, for Pink Floyd's A Saucerful of Secrets . A studio was acquired at 6 Denmark Street in Soho and Hipgnosis thrived as one of the best-known photo design companies of the era. By the early 1980s, Hipgnosis had diversified into advertising, designing and producing campaigns for Peugeot, Kronenbourg 1664, Levi Jeans, Volvo, Gillette, Stella Artois, Rank Xerox and The Beatles.

Progressing from photo design to moving pictures, Powell, Thorgerson and Peter Christopherson started Greenback Films in 1982, shooting music videos for many of their existing and new clients including "Big Log" for Robert Plant, "Wherever I Lay My Hat" for Paul Young, "Owner of a Lonely Heart" for Yes and "Blue Light" for David Gilmour. The trio wrote, produced and directed three feature films: Incident at Channel Q starring Al Corley (Sony), Train of Thought with Yumi Matsutoya (Toshiba EMI) and Now Voyager starring Michael Hordern and Barry Gibb (Universal). Greenback Films closed in 1984.

Aubrey Powell formed Aubrey Powell Productions in 1985 with Peter Christopherson and producer Fiz Oliver, shooting music videos, long-form music-based films and television commercials. Credits include Coca-Cola (with Robert Plant), Miller Lite (with Randy Quaid and The Who), Budweiser, Nissan, Pan Am, Grolsch, Bristol & West (with Joan Collins) and Le Jardin de Max Factor (with Jane Seymour).

Since 1982 Aubrey Powell has been involved in film-making, first as a producer and writer and then as director. In 2011 he directed a documentary The Bull Runners of Pamplona which took two years to make, and was shot in HD and 3D. The film won the Best Documentary Film 2012 at the New Jersey Film Festival. In 2012 he directed Eric Idle, Russell Brand, Eddie Izzard, Billy Connolly, Tracey Ullman and Jane Leeves in a film of the Eric Idle play What About Dick?

In 1989, Powell was made creative director for The Paul McCartney World Tour, designing the stage set, video wall and filmed images. During his tenure he directed the documentary From Rio to Liverpool for Channel 4 and the feature movie Get Back , co-directed with Richard Lester. For Paul McCartney's 1993 The New World Tour he again designed the visual staging, and directed another documentary Movin' On, and for Fox Network directed McCartney's Live in the New World concert, winning the CableACE Award and a nomination for the Golden Rose of Montreux.

Since 1994, when he created Hipgnosis Ltd, Aubrey Powell has directed documentaries, live multi-camera shoots and corporate films.

In 2013, Powell featured on BBC Radio 2's Sounds of the Seventies with Johnny Walker. He spoke of his career designing album artwork for notable bands, and discussed the major impact on record sleeve design caused by the Sex Pistols. [3]

He returned to album cover designing for Pink Floyd for The Division Bell 's 20th Anniversary box set as well as supervising the artwork for the final Pink Floyd album The Endless River and overseeing the cover for Pink Floyd member David Gilmour's solo album Rattle That Lock . Powell also edited the 2019 reissue of Pink Floyd's 1989 concert film, Delicate Sound of Thunder .

Related Research Articles

<i>The Dark Side of the Moon</i> 1973 studio album by Pink Floyd

The Dark Side of the Moon is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973, by Harvest Records in the UK and Capitol Records in the US. Developed during live performances before recording began, it was conceived as a concept album that would focus on the pressures faced by the band during their arduous lifestyle, and also deal with the mental health problems of the former band member Syd Barrett, who had departed the group in 1968. New material was recorded in two sessions in 1972 and 1973 at EMI Studios in London.

<i>Meddle</i> 1971 studio album by Pink Floyd

Meddle is the sixth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released by Harvest Records on 5 November 1971 in the United Kingdom. The album was produced between the band's touring commitments, from January to August 1971 at a series of locations around London, including EMI Studios and Morgan Studios.

<i>Obscured by Clouds</i> 1972 soundtrack album by the English rock band Pink Floyd

Obscured by Clouds is the seventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 2 June 1972 by Harvest and Capitol Records. It serves as the soundtrack for the French film La Vallée, by Barbet Schroeder. It was recorded in two sessions in France, while Pink Floyd were in the midst of touring, and produced by the band.

<i>Delicate Sound of Thunder</i> 1988 live album by Pink Floyd

Delicate Sound of Thunder is a live album by the English band Pink Floyd. It was recorded over five nights at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, in August 1988, during their A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour, and mixed at Abbey Road Studios in September 1988. It was released on 21 November 1988, through EMI Records in the UK and Columbia Records in the US.

<i>A Collection of Great Dance Songs</i> 1981 greatest hits album by Pink Floyd

A Collection of Great Dance Songs is a compilation album by the English rock band Pink Floyd. It was released on 23 November 1981 in the United Kingdom by Harvest Records and in the United States by Columbia Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hipgnosis</span> English art design group

Hipgnosis were an English art design group, based in London, that specialised in creating album cover artwork for rock musicians and bands. Their commissions included work for Pink Floyd, Def Leppard, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black Sabbath, Wishbone Ash, UFO, 10cc, Bad Company, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Scorpions, the Nice, Paul McCartney & Wings, the Alan Parsons Project, Yes, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Electric Light Orchestra, Rainbow, Styx and Al Stewart.

<i>Shine On</i> (Pink Floyd box set) 1992 box set by Pink Floyd

Shine On is a nine-CD box set by English rock band Pink Floyd, released in 1992 through EMI Records in the United Kingdom and Columbia Records in the United States, to coincide with Pink Floyd's 25th anniversary as a recording and touring band. All CDs were digitally remastered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pink Floyd pigs</span> Inflatable flying pigs used as props by the rock band

Inflatable flying pigs were one of the staple props of Pink Floyd's live shows. The first balloon was a sow, with a male pig balloon later introduced in their 1987 tour. Pigs appeared numerous times in concerts by the band, promoting concerts and record releases, and on the cover of their 1977 album Animals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High Hopes (Pink Floyd song)</span> 1994 single by Pink Floyd

"High Hopes" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd, composed by guitarist David Gilmour with lyrics by Gilmour and Polly Samson. It is the closing track on their fourteenth studio album, The Division Bell (1994); it was released as the second single from the album on 17 October 1994. An accompanying music video was made for the song and was directed by Storm Thorgerson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Storm Thorgerson</span> English graphic designer

Storm Elvin Thorgerson was an English art director and music video director. He is best known for closely working with the group Pink Floyd through most of their career, and also created album or other art for Led Zeppelin, Phish, Black Sabbath, 10cc, the Alan Parsons Project, the Mars Volta and the Cranberries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pink Floyd</span> English rock band

Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments, philosophical lyrics, and elaborate live shows. They became a leading band of the progressive rock genre, cited by some as the greatest progressive rock band of all time.

<i>Oh, by the Way</i> 2007 box set by Pink Floyd

Oh, by the Way is a compilation boxed set by Pink Floyd released on 10 December 2007, by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States through Capitol Records.

Richard Evans is a graphic designer, art director and illustrator. He studied fashion and textile design at Nottingham School of Art and graphic design and illustration at Leicester College of Art.

George Hardie is an English graphic designer, illustrator and educator, best known for his work producing cover art for the albums of rock musicians and bands with the British art design group Hipgnosis.

<i>The Story of Wish You Were Here</i> 2012 British film

The Story of Wish You Were Here is a television documentary about the making of Pink Floyd's 1975 album Wish You Were Here. After being shown on a few television channels, such as BBC Four, it was released on 26 June 2012, on DVD and Blu-ray.

<i>Darkside</i> (radio play) 2013 radio drama

Darkside is a 2013 philosophical comedy radio drama written by Tom Stoppard, produced and directed by James Robinson and based on the themes of Pink Floyd's 1973 progressive rock album The Dark Side of the Moon.

<i>The Endless River</i> 2014 studio album by Pink Floyd

The Endless River is the fifteenth and final studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released in November 2014 by Parlophone Records in Europe and Columbia Records in the rest of the world. It was the third Pink Floyd album recorded under the leadership of the guitarist, David Gilmour, after the departure of the bassist, Roger Waters, and the first following the death of the keyboardist, Richard Wright, in 2008, who appears posthumously.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahmed Emad Eldin</span> Egyptian digital artist

Ahmed Emad Eldin is an Egyptian digital artist who came to prominence as the designer of the sleeve of Pink Floyd's 2014 album The Endless River. In 2015, Emad Eldin was chosen by Adobe for their "25 Under 25" list. Emad Eldin has been described as "an acclaimed digital artist and photo manipulator whose work has been displayed all over, from museums to the sleeve of Pink Floyd's album The Endless River" and who "has made a name for himself in the global digital art space" often producing "commercial work" though "much of his artwork comes from his own dreams." Emad Eldin is an Oniros Film Awards winner. His work has been part of exhibitions, including the "Bad Consumers" exhibition at Doge's Palace, Genoa and "Kahlil Gibran: Guide for our Times" at Sotheby's Gallery in London, "featuring nine Egyptian artists, along with 38 others from across the Middle East."

<i>The Later Years</i> 2019 box set by Pink Floyd

The Later Years is a box set by the English rock band Pink Floyd released on 13 December 2019 by Pink Floyd Records. It follows the 2016 box set The Early Years 1965–1972, and compiles Pink Floyd's work under the leadership of David Gilmour after the departure of Roger Waters in 1985.

Colin Elgie is an English illustrator and former member of Hipgnosis. He has worked with progressive rock bands and musicians such as Pink Floyd, The Hollies, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Renaissance, Genesis, Fumble, Peter Gabriel, Roger Cook, Al Stewart, and Roger Taylor.

References

  1. 1 2 http://www.aubreypowell.com/AUBREY_POWELL_1.html
  2. ↑ The photodesigns of Hipgnosis The Goodbye look. Vermillion Hutchinson Publishing Group. 1982 ISBN   0-09-150641-7
  3. ↑ "Under the Cover" on Sounds of the 70s , broadcast 6 January 2013
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.