Hipgnosis Art Collection
Hipgnosis was the ground-breaking British design studio founded in 1967 by Aubrey “Po” Powell and Storm Thorgerson after friends Pink Floyd asked them to design the cover for their second album, Saucerful of Secrets. It was the beginning of a successful seventeen-year collaboration that became well known for specializing in album artwork for many rock musicians, replacing band portraits with high concept visuals and influencing future graphic design in the music industry.
The name Hipgnosis was adopted after the founders saw the word etched into a door. “Hip” meaning “cool”, and “gnosis” from the Greek meaning wise or “with knowledge”. The studio became the pioneers of surreal, conceptual album art experimenting with innovative photographic techniques and new packaging ideas. Their iconic imagery graced the albums of Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Paul McCartney, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Peter Gabriel, Yes, Def Leppard, Humble Pie, Peter Frampton, 10cc and The Scorpions to name but a few. Hipgnosis was nominated five times for a Grammy for “The Best Album Package” category, won several D&AD awards in the UK and many music awards from Germany to Japan.
After Hipgnosis, Po began producing and directing music videos, continuing to work with many of the same artists, including Paul McCartney, The Who, Page and Plant, 10cc, Judas Priest, Paul Young, David Gilmour, Yes, Barry Gibb, and ELO. He also directed many TV spots for Coca Cola, Max Factor, Nissan cars, Miller Beer, Budweiser, Grolsch Beer and Pan Am. Po began to write and direct films, and in 2011 he won the Best Documentary Film at the New Jersey Film Festival for “The Bull Runners of Pamplona,” and in 2012 he directed the Eric Idle script “What About Dick?” starring Russell Brand, Billy Connelly, Jane Leeves, Tracy Ullman, and Eddie Izzard. In 2013 Pink Floyd asked Po to work as Creative Director designing the exhibition Pink Floyd “Their Mortal Remains”, opening in 2017 at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London with an audience of 415,000. In 2023 he redesigned the 50th Anniversary of “The Dark Side of The Moon” campaign and in 2025 the 50th Anniversary of “Wish You Were Here”.
Po continues to work on Pink Floyd projects and David Gilmour’s solo work. He recently wrote a best-selling biography called “Through The Prism” of his life and times in the rock’ n roll world, and in 2022 participated in the critically acclaimed documentary “Squaring The Circle – The Art of Hipgnosis”, directed by Anton Corbjn and nominated for a PGA Award for Academy Award actor Colin Firth for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Pictures.
