December 8, 2023
Hipgnosis Documentary is Worth a Watch
Finally caught up with the 2022 documentary SQUARING THE CIRCLE (the story of hipgnosis) by Anton Corbijn. The doc tells the story of the founding of Hipgnosis, the iconic vinyl album art design studio. It's a really compelling, though not too deep look at the relationship between Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell, who worked together to create some of the - maybe all of - the most famous album covers of all time. It's also an interesting look at the creative process. I particularly appreciate that they freely admitted that not all of their ideas had any depth or meaning - some of them were literally just cool visuals that they got the chance (and budget) to bring to life. Most of us can only dream about working with the level of creative freedom combined with the budget, and high-visibility clients that Hipgnosis had access to - but it's absolutely worth checking out regardless.
There's also a good interview with Aubrey Powell from June 2023 in Rolling Stone, if you don't have two hours to watch tv.