How did album covers become an art form all its own? Anton Corbijn looks at one of the medium’s most respected duos in “Squaring The Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis).” Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey “Po” Powell’s art design studio Hipgnosis is behind some of the music industry’s most legendary covers, including Pink Floyd‘s “Dark Side Of The Moon.” And while the pair’s visionary work inspired artists around the world,their story wasn’t without its pitfalls.
The 2023 Sundance Film Festival selection features interviews with a host of music figures, including Paul McCartney, David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Nick Mason, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, Peter Gabriel, Graham Gouldman, Noel Gallagher, Glen Matlock, and Peter Saville.
Here’s the film’s official synopsis:
“Celebrated photographer, creative director and filmmaker Anton Corbijn’s first feature documentary “Squaring The Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis)” tells the story of Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey “Po” Powell, the creative geniuses behind the iconic album art design studio, Hipgnosis, responsible for some of the most recognizable album covers of all time. They formed Hipgnosis in Cambridge during the ferment of the sixties and became rock royalty during the boom time of the seventies. They conjured into existence sights that no one had previously thought possible, produced visuals which popularized music that had previously been considered fringe, and were at the white-hot center of the maddest, funniest and most creative era in the history of popular music.
During this period, record companies didn’t dictate to acts like Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and Paul McCartney what their LP covers should look like – Storm and Po did. They made money; they lost money. They did great things; they did silly things. They fell out bitterly; they made up. They never played a note, but they changed music.
Explore the history of music’s most iconic album covers when “Squaring The Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis)” arrives in theaters next month. The documentary opens June 7 at New York’s Film Forum and June 16 at Los Angeles’ Laemmle Royal; a nationwide expansion follows on June 20. Watch the new red-band trailer for the doc below.