Released on October 20th, 2014 in the UK and Europe (and November 11th in North America) is Hipgnosis Portraits, a new book from Aubrey "Po" Powell looking at the history of the legendary album artwork design team.

In just fifteen years, Hipgnosis (Storm Thorgerson, Po, and Peter Christopherson) established themselves as the most important design collective in music history. Their innovative cover art defines the albums of the biggest names of the late 1960s, 70s and early 80s: AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Peter Gabriel, The Police, Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, T. Rex, Wings, Yes and XTC, to name just a few. Their iconic designs (which include The Dark Side of the Moon, Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy and The Who's Who's Next) grace a staggering number of major releases. Their boundary-breaking conceptual approach earned them five Grammy nominations for package design, and their influence today can be seen in all creative fields from advertising to fashion.

This new book is divided into two main sections. Part I, Imagination, tells the story behind the cover artwork from germination through to the final sleeve design, supported by a wide array of previously unseen archival materials and text from Aubrey Powell. Part II, Realization, showcases the band portraits themselves, whether album covers or otherwise, in beautiful, large-scale reproductions.

The book promises to be a real treat and showcases many rare pictures, including different shots from Syd Barrett photo sessions, and the creation of the picture-within-picture image for the cover of Pink Floyd's Ummagumma album.

If you want to place your order now, for despatch to you on release, you can do so through these direct links: Amazon UK, Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon France, Amazon Germany, Amazon Espana and Amazon Italy. Don't forget, these will all qualify for their pre-order price guarantee, ensuring you pay (automatically) the lowest price they have the item on offer for between your order, and the release date. Using our Amazon links also helps us hugely!