Colin Elgie is an English

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

and former member of

Hipgnosis Hipgnosis were an English art design group based in London, that specialised in creating album cover artwork for rock musicians and bands. Their commissions included work for Pink Floyd, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black Sabbath, UFO, 10cc, Ba ...

. He has worked with progressive rock bands and musicians such as

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

The Hollies The Hollies are a British pop rock band, formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Allan Clarke (singer), Allan Clarke and Graham ...

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

Fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

, Roger Cook,

Al Stewart Alastair Ian Stewart (born 5 September 1945) is a Scottish born singer-songwriter and folk-rock musician who rose to prominence as part of the British folk revival in the 1960s and 1970s. He developed a unique style of combining folk-rock so ...

, and

Roger Taylor Roger Taylor may refer to: *Roger Taylor (Queen drummer) (born 1949), drummer for Queen *Roger Taylor (Duran Duran drummer) (born 1960), drummer for Duran Duran *Roger Taylor (author), author of epic fantasy Hawklan series *Roger Taylor (college pr ...

. Elgie's clients consisted primarily of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, England, natives and Hipgnosis members

Aubrey Powell Aubrey Powell may refer to: *Aubrey Powell (designer) Aubrey Powell (born 23 September 1946) is a British graphic designer. He co-founded the album cover design company Hipgnosis with Storm Thorgerson in 1967. The company ran for 15 years un ...

, and later

Peter Christopherson Peter Martin Christopherson (also known as Sleazy, 27 February 1955 – 25 November 2010) was an English musician, video director, commercial artist, designer and photographer, and former member of British design agency Hipgnosis. He also found ...

, as well as

Storm Thorgerson 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 a ...

and

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1967, shortly before the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. P ...

History

In 1971, Elgie met Thorgerson and Powell for the first time. He began his work by illustrating three albums for

: ''Distant Light'' and ''Romany'' in 1972, and ''Out on the Road'' in 1973. In the same year he also worked on the album ''

A Nice Pair ''A Nice Pair'' is a compilation album by Pink Floyd, re-issuing their first two albums—''The Piper at the Gates of Dawn'' and '' A Saucerful of Secrets''—in a new gatefold sleeve. The album was released in December 1973 by Harvest and Ca ...

'' together with

and

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-so ...

of Pink Floyd. In 1974, Elgie and Powell illustrated covers of ''Thunderbox'', and

's album ''Poetry In Lotion''. In the 1970s, Elgie illustrated the covers for Strife's album ''Rush'' (1975),

' album ''

A Trick of the Tail ''A Trick of the Tail'' is the seventh studio album by English progressive rock band Genesis. It was released in February 1976 on Charisma Records and was the first album to feature drummer Phil Collins as lead vocalist following the departure ...

'' (1976), and in 1977, for

10cc 10cc are an English rock band formed in Stockport in 1972. The group initially consisted of four musicians – Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme – who had written and recorded together since 1968. The group featured t ...

's album ''

Deceptive Bends ''Deceptive Bends'' is the fifth studio album by rock band 10cc, released in 1977. History The band started recording sessions for the fifth album in late summer of 1976 with the song " People in Love", at that time referred to as "Voodoo Boo ...

'' and ''Songwriter'' by

Justin Hayward David Justin Hayward (born 14 October 1946) is an English musician best known as the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the rock band the Moody Blues. Hayward became the group's principal lead guitarist and vocalist over the 1967–1974 ...

. In 1978, he met

Jon Anderson John Roy Anderson (born 25 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassist Chris Squire. He was a member of the band across thre ...

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talente ...

and created the covers for their album ''

Tormato ''Tormato'' is the ninth studio album by English progressive rock band Yes. It was released on 22 September 1978 on Atlantic Records, and is their last album with singer Jon Anderson and keyboardist Rick Wakeman before their departure from the ...

'', on which Jon sang '

Don't Kill the Whale "Don't Kill the Whale" is a single by the band Yes, released from their 1978 album ''Tormato''. It reached number 36 on the UK Singles Chart. Content The song, as with most of the album's tracks, was short compared to the songs on Yes's 1973 a ...

'. In the same year, he illustrated

's new album ''Scratch''. In 1981, he created the album cover for

James Ingram James Edward Ingram (February 16, 1952 – January 29, 2019) was an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He was a two-time Grammy Award-winner and a two-time Academy Awards, Academy Award nominee for Academy Award for Best Original ...

's ''Zingara''.

Discography

Compilations: *''Hot 'N' Nasty: The Anthology'' *''Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath 1970–1978'' *''Sense Of Direction'' *''1976–1982'' *''Back To Back: Sense Of Direction / Stamp Album'' (2xCD, Comp + Box) *''The Lot'' *''The Ten Year War'' (Box, Comp, Ltd, Num, RM, Art + LP, Album, RE, RM, ) *''The A&M Vinyl Box-Set 1970–1975'' (9xLP, Album, RE, RM + Box, Comp, Ltd)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elgie, Colin English graphic designers Design writers Album-cover and concert-poster artists Pink Floyd Genesis (band) Peter Gabriel Artists from Cambridge Living people Year of birth missing (living people)