ROGER DEAN

Roger Dean (born 31 August 1944) is an English artist, designer, architect, and publisher. He is best known for his work on posters and album covers for musicians, which he began painting in the late 1960s. The covers often feature exotic, fantasy landscapes. His work has sold more than sixty million copies world-wide.

Life and work

Dean was born in Ashford, Kent, but he spent most of his childhood moving around the world with his British Army father. The family returned to England in 1959 where he was educated at Ashford Grammer School. He later earned a National Diploma of Design from the Canterbury College of Art. In 1968, he graduated from the Royal College of Art in London where he was a student of Professor David Pye. His Masters thesis was on, 'The psychology of the built environment'. He has lived in East Sussex since 1972.

Invention vs design

Beginning in the field of design, he preferred to distinguish between design (the reworking of existing models), and invention (making something new). One of his inventions was the "sea urchin chair." It was a foam chair, which, though appearing spherical, would conform to the sitter, who could obtain a seated position of varying angles. Later, he was asked to design a "landscape" of similar seating for a club belonging to Ronnie Scott.^[1] His "retreat pod" chair design was featured in the film A Clockwork Orange.

Album covers

His first album cover work was in 1968 for The Gun. He also did the artwork for Atomic Rooster's album In Hearing of... This album cover hinted at the inimitable style for which he would later become famous. In the same year Dean produced the cover for the first album by the African/Caribbean band Osibisa, which featured a hybrid insect/elephant. This was much closer to Dean's work as we came to know it and it attracted widespread attention. Later that year, he began the partnership with the progressive rock bands Yes (and Asia) for which he is best known. His first design for the band was for their album Fragile. Dean designed the now-classic Yes "bubble" logo, which first appeared on the album Close to the Edge, and continued to create covers for the band until as recently as 2011 (Fly From Here). Yes guitarist Steve Howe said, "There is a pretty tight bond between our sound and Roger's art." In addition to their album covers, Dean also contributed to his brother Martyn Dean's stage set designs for the band.^[2]

Known primarily for the dreamy, other-worldly scenes he has created for Yes, Budgie, Uriah Heep, Gentle Giant and other bands, Dean has said, "I don't really think of myself as a fantasy artist but as a landscape painter." Characteristic landscapes show graceful stone arches (as shown in Arches Mist, below) or floating islands, while many paintings show organic appearing habitats (such as shown in the cover for Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe). Though he primarily works with watercolour paints, many of his paintings make use of multiple media, including gouache, ink, enamel, crayon and collage. In addition to his cover paintings, Dean is respected for his calligraphic work, designing logos and titles to go with his paintings.

Video game art

Beginning in 1985 with the software company Psygnosis, Dean has been responsible for the cover artwork for several video games, including Shadow of the Beast, Tetris Worlds as well as a redesign of the Tetris logo.^[3]

Publishing

Three compilations of his work have been published, including Views (1975)^[1] (the success of which led him to form publishing house Paper Tiger Books), Magnetic Storm (1984),^[2] and Dragon's Dream (2008). In addition, his architectural and furniture work have been exhibited in the Victoria and Albert Museum and in the Royal Academy.

Album and videogame covers

Arches Mist, 1996. Another characteristic image, a moody landscape, showing fantastic natural features.

Album covers

Year	Artist	Album
1968	The Gun	Gun
1969	Earth and Fire	Earth and Fire
1970	Nucleus	Elastic Rock
1970	Lighthouse	One Fine Morning
1970	Dr. Strangely Strange	Heavy Petting
1970	Clear Blue Sky	Clear Blue Sky
1971	Midnight Sun	Midnight Sun
1971	Osibisa	Osibisa
1971	Keith Tippett Group	Dedicated to You but You Weren’t Listening
1971	Ramases	Space Hymns
1971	Mike Absalom	Mike Absalom[4]
1971	Billy Cox	Nitro Function
1971	Osibisa	Woyaya
1971	Pete Dello and Friends	Into Your Ears
1971	Yes	Fragile
1971	Atomic Rooster	In Hearing of Atomic Rooster
1972	John Dummer Band	Blue
1972	Gracious!	This Is...Gracious!!
1972	Yes	Close to the Edge
1972	Uriah Heep	Demons and Wizards
1972	Gentle Giant	Octopus
1972	Babe Ruth	First Base
1972	Budgie	Squawk
1972	Midnight Sun	Walking Circles
1972	Third Ear Band	Music from Macbeth
1972	Uriah Heep	The Magician's Birthday
1972	Paladin	Charge!
1972	Various	Motown Chartbusters Vol. Six
1973	Greenslade	Greenslade
1973	Magna Carta	Lord of the Ages
1973	Yes	Yessongs
1973	Budgie	Never Turn Your Back on a Friend
1973	Yes	Tales from Topographic Oceans
1973	McKendree Spring	Spring Suite
1973	Del Richardson	Pieces Of A Jigsaw
1973	Badger	One Live Badger
1973	Greenslade	Bedside Manners Are Extra
1973	Snafu	SNAFU
1974	Gravy Train	Staircase to the Day
1974	Yes	Relayer
1974	Yes	Yesterdays
1975	Steve Howe	Beginnings
1976	Dave Greenslade	Cactus Choir
1977	John Lodge	Natural Avenue
1979	Steve Howe	The Steve Howe Album
1980	Yes	Drama
1980	Yes	Yesshows
1981	Yes	Classic Yes
1982	Asia	Asia
1983	Asia	Alpha
1983	Barry Devlin	Breaking Starcodes
1984	Nightwing	My Kingdom Come
1985	Asia	Astra
1989	It Bites	Eat Me in St. Louis
1989	Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe	Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe
1990	Asia	Then & Now
1991	Yes	Union
1991	Steve Howe	Turbulence
1991	Yes	Yesyears
1992	Yes	Yesstory
1993	Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe	An Evening of Yes Music Plus
1993		Symphonic Music of Yes
1993	Rick Wakeman	Rick Wakeman’s Greatest Hits
1994	Steve Howe	Not Necessarily Acoustic
1994	Asia	Aria
1995	Uriah Heep	Sea of Light
1995	Various artists	Tales from Yesterday
1996	Various artists	Supernatural Fairy Tales: The Progressive Rock Era
1996	Yes	Keys to Ascension
1996	Budgie	An Ecstasy of Fumbling - The Definitive Anthology
1997	The London Philharmonic Orchestra	Us and Them: Symphonic Pink Floyd
1997	Space Needle	The Moray Eels Eat The Space Needle
1997	Yes	Keys to Ascension 2
1997	Yes	Open Your Eyes
1997	The London Symphony Orchestra	Symphonic Rock: American Classics
1997	The London Symphony Orchestra	Symphonic Rock: The British Invasion, Vol. 1
1998	The London Symphony Orchestra	Symphonic Rock: The British Invasion, Vol. 2
1998	Ad Infinitum	Ad Infinitum
1998	Various artists	Yes, Friends and Relatives
1998	Yes	Keys to Ascension Volumes 1 and 2
1999	Yes	The Ladder
1999	Rick Wakeman	Return to the Centre of the Earth
2000	Various artists	Yes, Friends and Relatives Volume 2
2000	Yes	House of Yes: Live from House of Blues
2001	Uriah Heep	Acoustically Driven
2001	Yes	Keystudio
2001	Uriah Heep	Remasters: The Official Anthology
2001	Atomic Rooster	Resurrection
2001	Asia	Aura
2002	Yes	In a Word: Yes (1969–)
2002	Vermilion	Flattening Mountains and Creating Empires
2003	Birdsongs of the Mesozoic	The Iridium Controversy
2003	Steve Howe	Elements
2004	Yes	The Ultimate Yes: 35th Anniversary Collection
2005	Glass Hammer	The Inconsolable Secret
2005	Yes	The Word Is Live
2006	Alan White	White
2008	Asia	Phoenix
2010	Asia	Omega
2010	Various artist	Wondrous Stories – A Complete Introduction To Progressive Rock
2010	Various artist	Wondrous Stories – 34 Artist That Shaped The Prog Rock Era
2011	Yes	Fly from Here
2011	Ben Craven	Great & Terrible Potions
2011	Yes	In the Present - Live from Lyon
2012	Asia	XXX

Video game covers

• 1986 Brataccas, Mindscape Inc./Psygnosis
• 1987 Barbarian, Psygnosis
• 1987 Terrorpods, Psygnosis
• 1988 Chrono Quest, Psygnosis
• 1988 Obliterator, Psygnosis
• 1989 Shadow of the Beast, Psygnosis/Reflections
• 1989 Stryx, Psyclapse
• 1990 Infestation, Psygnosis
• 1990 Shadow of the Beast II, Psygnosis/Reflections
• 1991 Amnios, Psygnosis
• 1992 Agony, Psygnosis
• 1992 Faceball 2000, Bullet-Proof Software
• 2001 Tetris Worlds, THQ
• 2007 Tetris Splash, Tetris Online, Inc. (title screens)

Publications

• The Flights of Icarus (ISBN 0-905895-16-9 editor, contributor). Large format colour book with numerous paintings by Dean, Martyn Dean and others. Edited by Donald Lehmkuhl, Martyn Dean and Roger Dean.
• Views (1975) (ISBN 978-0061717093) This is a large-format colour book with full page and double page images of Roger Deans works, both architectural and artistic. The text was written by Dominy Hamilton and Carla Capalbo in association with Roger Dean. The architectural section was written by Donald Lehmkuhl.
• Magnetic Storm (1984) (ISBN 978-0061717109) First published in 1984, Magnetic Storm followed in the groundbreaking footsteps of the million-selling Views. Once again employing a large format and lavish production to showcase the unique art and design of Roger Dean, this iconic book was a retrospective of the astonishing breadth of work accomplished since the publication of its predecessor. Embracing designs for record sleeves, rock stages, movie projects, architecture, games consoles, landscapes, and books, Magnetic Storm features everything from innovative aircraft livery to the Yes logo. This new edition streamlines the original format and retains the combination of concept sketches and the finished works. Featuring revised design and typography, a new foreword, and a newly finished painting that Roger supplied especially for the front cover of this edition, Magnetic Storm showcases and celebrates the art that defined an era.
• Dragon's Dream (2008)Dragon's Dream makes up the Roger Dean trilogy. Through Views and Magnetic Storm, Roger Dean established a devoted readership, while Dragon's Dream demonstrates how his visionary work has continued to illuminate an age of digital animation, computer games, and virtual worlds. A more ambitious work than its predecessors, it celebrates Roger's work from the last twenty years. This encompasses a panoramic dreamscape of original paintings; album covers, logos, and stage designs for bands including living legends Yes as they celebrate their 40th anniversary; virtual worlds, characters, and logos for computer games companies such as Psygnosis, Bullet-Proof Software, and Tetris; and concepts and designs for both opera and animated movies. Finally, there is a review of Roger's lifelong and prophetic passion for eco-friendly architecture, featuring the visionary prototypes with which he has addressed the topical issue of sustainable living in the twenty-first century. The first published collection of Roger Dean's work in more than twenty years, Dragon's Dream celebrates the enduring vision of one of the most significant artists of our time.

References

1.      Roger Dean (1975). Views. Reissue: Pomegranate (1993): ISBN 1-56640-448-7

2.      Roger Dean (1984). Magnetic Storm. Reissue: Pomegranate (1993): ISBN 1-56640-449-5.

3.      Roger Dean's profile at MobyGames. Retrieved 17 August 2011.

4.      "Mike Absalom Music Shop". Mikeabsalom.com. Retrieved 9 February 2012.

External links

• Roger Dean's personal web site
• Information about the Floating Islands film project
• BBCi Music Interview, 2002

source:wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Dean_(artist)