Storm Thorgerson

Storm Thorgerson was a graphic designer from England who designed album art for artists such as Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Biffy Clyro, Led Zeppelin, Muse and many more. When it comes to album artwork, Strom Thorgerson is one of the most famous album artwork designers of all time.

Thorgerson’s Creative Process

1. The Brief2. Roughs3. Tests4. Shoot5. Editing6. Artwork

The Brief

Storm listened to the music and read the lyrics to the songs that he was designing a album cover for. He would also talk to the artist or band to get their ideas and opinions on what the album cover should look like. From this, Storm would then create a ‘brain soup’.

Roughs

During this stage, Storm would hold multiple meetings over a series of days with the artist or band to go into more detail about the idea for the album artwork. This stage gets everyone involved and allows everyone to be creative and get their ideas across. The ideas which are considered the best are then converted into drawings or ‘roughs’.

Tests

When one ‘rough’ idea has been selected and the budget for the artwork has been set, a prototype of the final product can be made to ensure that the artwork will work and everyone is in agreement. If the prototype is given the okay, the final product can be created.

Shoot

A location would be selected for the artwork to be based. Everything is then put into position and photographs are taken all with different styles.

Editing

Out of all the photographs taken, one photo is selected to be the final product.

Artwork

The chosen photograph is then put on a computer where the final edit takes place before the final product is complete.