Storm Thorgerson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Storm Thorgerson
Thorgerson in 2010
Born	Storm Elvin Thorgerson (1944-02-28)28 February 1944 Potters Bar, Middlesex, England
Died	18 April 2013(2013-04-18) (aged 69) London, England
Known for	Graphic designer, music video director

Storm Elvin Thorgerson (28 February 1944 – 18 April 2013) was an English graphic designer 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, Scorpions, UFO, Peter Gabriel, the Alan Parsons Project, Genesis, Yes, Kansas, Dream Theater, Muse, Audioslave, the Mars Volta, The Cranberries, Helloween, Ween, Shpongle and Catherine Wheel.

Early life

Thorgerson, who was of Norwegian descent, was born in Potters Bar, Middlesex (now part of Hertfordshire). He attended Summerhill School, Brunswick Primary School in Cambridge, and the Cambridgeshire High School for Boys with Pink Floyd founders Syd Barrett, who was in the year below him, and Roger Waters, who was in the year above him. Thorgerson and Waters played rugby together at school, while Thorgerson's mother Vanji and Waters' mother Mary were close friends. He studied English and Philosophy at the University of Leicester, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours, before studying Film and Television at the Royal College of Art, where he graduated with a Master of Arts degree.

He was a teenage friend of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour and best man at Gilmour's wedding to Polly Samson in 1994.

Career

In 1968, along with Aubrey Powell, he founded the graphic art group Hipgnosis, and between them they designed many famous single and album covers, with Peter Christopherson joining them for their later commissions. In 1983, following the dissolution of Hipgnosis, Thorgerson and Powell formed Greenback Films, producing music videos.

Cover of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)

In the early nineties, Thorgerson inaugurated StormStudios along with Peter Curzon—a loose group of freelancers. The line up included Rupert Truman (photographer), Finlay Cowan (designer and illustrator), Daniel Abbott (designer and artist), Lee Baker (creative retoucher and designer), and Jerry Sweet (designer) along with Thorgerson's personal assistants, Laura Truman (prints), and Charlotte Barnes.

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 and Hipgnosis, the artwork for the cover itself was drawn by George Hardie, a designer at NTA Studios. Many of Thorgerson's 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 [sic] of is it real or not?"

Thorgerson's grave

Over the years, Thorgerson and his team designed and released several books about their work. The first, published in 1989, was titled Classic Album Covers of 60s. The Gathering Storm – A Quartet in Several Parts was the final book Thorgerson 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 his early work with Hipgnosis through to StormStudios.

In 2013, Prog Magazine renamed its Grand Design Award after Thorgerson. It is now known as the Storm Thorgerson Grand Design Award and will be given to the designer of the year's best-packaged product. Thorgerson had won the 2012 award for his continued work with Pink Floyd.

In 2015 a film documentary, Taken By Storm, was released on DVD and web streaming.

Health problems and death

In 2003, Thorgerson suffered a stroke, from which he was partially paralysed. He was later diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer which eventually led to his death in London 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". A post on the official Pink Floyd website called him a "graphic genius". Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason said that he was a "tireless worker right up to the end". He is buried on the eastern side of Highgate Cemetery.

Works

Album cover designs (1968–2014)

Music videos

• 10cc – "The Power of Love" (1982)
• Paul Young – "Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)" (1983)
• Rainbow – "Street of Dreams" (1983)
• Robert Plant – "Big Log" (1983)
• Yes – "Owner of a Lonely Heart" (1983)
• Intaferon - "Get Out of London" (1983)
• Kevin Kitchen – "Tight Spot" (1984)
• Nik Kershaw – "Wouldn't It Be Good" (1984)
• David Gilmour – "Blue Light" (1984)
• David Gilmour – "All Lovers Are Deranged" (1984)
• Nik Kershaw – "The Riddle" (1984)
• Nik Kershaw – "Wide Boy (1984)
• Nik Kershaw – "Don Quixote" (1985)
• Barry Gibb – "Now Voyager" (1985)
• Belouis Some – "Imagination" (1985)
• Belouis Some – "Some People" (1985)
• Glass Tiger – "Thin Red Line" (1985)
• Glass Tiger – "Someday" (1985)
• Ministry – "Over the Shoulder" (1985)
• The Cult – "Love Removal Machine" (1987)
• Pink Floyd – "Learning to Fly" (1987)
• Pink Floyd – "The Dogs of War" (1987)
• Wax – "Bridge to Your Heart" (1987)
• Wax – "American English" (1987)
• Wax – "In Some Other World" (1988)
• Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe – "Brother of Mine" (1989)
• Bruce Dickinson – "Tattooed Millionaire" (1990)
• Bruce Dickinson – "All the Young Dudes" (1990)
• Helloween – "Kids of the Century" (1991)
• Alan Parsons – "Turn It Up" (1993)
• Pink Floyd – "High Hopes" (1994)
• Richard Wright – "Night Of a Thousand Furry Toys" (1996)

See also

In Spanish: Storm Thorgerson para niños