The Artist Behind Radiohead's Album Covers | Work In Progress with Stanley Donwood
Ойын-сауық
Stanley Donwood, alongside Thom Yorke, has designed the artwork for every single Radiohead album since The Bends. He is also an author and his most recent book, Bad Island, is out now: amzn.to/30JmP25
A wild seascape, a distant island, a full moon. Gradually the island grows nearer until we land on a primeval wilderness, rich in vegetation and huge, strange beasts. Time passes and things do not go well for the island. Civilization rises as towers of stone and metal and smoke, choking the undergrowth and the creatures who once moved through it. This is not a happy story and it will not have a happy ending.
Working in his distinctive, monochromatic lino-cut style, Stanley Donwood carves out a mesmerizing, stark parable on environmentalism and the history of humankind.
0:00 Intro
0:52 Radiohead
4:39 Ness
6:38 Bad Island
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Пікірлер: 510
He looks exactly like how the guy who does the covers for Radiohead would look.
@hollovvist
3 жыл бұрын
He almost looks like the mannequin in the bends
@vhenan
3 жыл бұрын
this makes so much sense but at the same time it doesn't
@littleatwork
3 жыл бұрын
lol
@melwin4913
3 жыл бұрын
bald
@jonathanbaxter8053
3 жыл бұрын
‘Cause of Phillip?😝
I love that he has blue paint marks on his head
@sethrenville798
4 жыл бұрын
When he said he went by other names, one of them is a member of the Blue Man Group
@andreylucass
4 жыл бұрын
Is it a disease?
@Toppu
4 жыл бұрын
@@andreylucass yes, Kandinskiy syndrome
@smartyjonez5470
4 жыл бұрын
I thought it was liver spots lol
@JLokeHume
4 жыл бұрын
I'm afraid he just blue himself
The X on OK Computer makes so much more sense now
@plasticwrapcharlie
4 жыл бұрын
Isn't that X the X for poisons in household chemicals?
@plasticwrapcharlie
4 жыл бұрын
@Late to the Game can't tell if you're being serious
@glipk
3 жыл бұрын
I agree
@Deadsea_1993
3 жыл бұрын
I've always imagined that The album represented the fear of computers with countries like Russia, China, and USA all using them for nuclear weapons. Then after the fallout, there would be advanced robots that would be built by the computers and they would take the roles of Humans. Hence, Paranoid Android with "God (main computer mind) loves his children". OK Computer to me seemed to be inspired by Gary Numan, who is famous for his songs about human annihilation and despair.
@erukei_
3 жыл бұрын
@@plasticwrapcharlie Answer at 2:40
This guy is a living Radiohead album
@heisenrizz
6 ай бұрын
💀💀💀
Of course the only cover he didn't do was Pablo Honey lmao
@traze2963
4 жыл бұрын
Wise man
@sneedsfeed5752
4 жыл бұрын
Pablo honey's cover was actually assisted by Thom Yorke's late partner Rachel Owens.
@beasterbunny4836
4 жыл бұрын
No sane person would make that one and say, “yeah this looks great post it”
@shnpio
4 жыл бұрын
Isaac Clark I think Pablo honey cover is alright and actually had some good grunge songs especially compared to other american grunge bands that were outside of the big 4
@leonlawson2196
4 жыл бұрын
But it’s not bad
pretty much has the same attitude about art that radiohead has with music. good chemistry
His drum work on Hail to the thief is amazing
@believerbaeha1764
4 жыл бұрын
The song Weird Fishes that he made was fantastic
@florisrobert6221
4 жыл бұрын
Wait he made weird fishes? As in the drums or the entire song?
@ashley09691
4 жыл бұрын
@@florisrobert6221 no that'd be Phil Selway, the drummer for RH, who's bald as well. This is Stanley Donwood who makes the album artwork. The others are just messing about hahah
@lilo5437
4 жыл бұрын
anamitra das I think he’s joking lol
@gayazucker4604
4 жыл бұрын
Hahahha this comment made my day
It wasn't really mentioned but his artwork for Thom Yorke's first solo album "The Eraser" is incredible as well.
@LR_84
4 жыл бұрын
I initially thought he was going to discuss that
@benbeasant3443
4 жыл бұрын
His best work imo
@arturhours
4 жыл бұрын
wow! he did that too? it’s incredible!
@rossselby-salazar6029
4 жыл бұрын
at 0:52 , the way ‘Radiohead’ is portrayed is similar to the cover art of The Eraser
@Richs_reef
4 жыл бұрын
I have a lovely print of his in my study for the eraser - amazing album and phenomenal artwork
God bless any artist able to support themselves with art. God bless those that aren't.
@oscarfernandezrivera
3 жыл бұрын
Felt that.
@AlexB-zw4bs
3 жыл бұрын
oof
Him calling Radiohead’s music visual is probably the most accurate thing I’ve ever heard, I am the exact same way
@worrywirt
4 жыл бұрын
Same, when he said that I exclaimed aloud bc I’ve used that before to describe Radiohead to other people. It’s so cool that Stanley himself feels the same way!
@Deadsea_1993
3 жыл бұрын
There is a reason Why they are my favorite band. They have something that I call "The Radiohead Effect". Their new music will sound bizarre and awful. But after repeated listens, it all clicks and becomes amazing. I started with Kid A when I was discovering them and I remember not liking it or hating it, yet there was something there. After listening to it every night, it all clicked. Then I listened to their other albums and the same thing happened, lmao.
He Is a member imo
@Guercinator
4 жыл бұрын
1000%
@alexbeastav
4 жыл бұрын
Like Nigel
@ekinacc343
4 жыл бұрын
Probably drummer
@micsunday14
4 жыл бұрын
Yep. Him and Nigel
@dws49
4 жыл бұрын
@@micsunday14 and Clive
I loved this man already after the first 30 secs.
What we see when we hear Radiohead is Stanley's vision. Total genius.
@KianMillz
4 жыл бұрын
@Angela Pequeno yes
@apaleguy
4 жыл бұрын
I love how he gets involved too. Saying how he listens to the songs and music and to what the band says and he processes that all into a vision and shows it. I've always loved album art and wondered how artists create or go about it and this video of him talking about the process is so interesting.
This is guy is so british that he drinks his coffee as tea
@Moodboard39
5 ай бұрын
Than how u supposed to drink coffee? How that make any sense .
This is just your average bloke from Brighton. Source: From Brighton
@seanfitz81
4 жыл бұрын
kzread.info/dash/bejne/eIWusc2cda_HZaQ.html
@theshamanarchist5441
4 жыл бұрын
Gay and votes Labour?
@quadle5225
4 жыл бұрын
@@theshamanarchist5441 Depends. If he's from the pavilion constituency, then Green.
@f.f5771
4 жыл бұрын
Quadle still gay though?
@nalimlattarai2873
4 жыл бұрын
The Shamanarchist why you roast
so the bends cover was a self portrait huh
@tofubaba1315
3 жыл бұрын
lol
@DuncanUdaho67
3 жыл бұрын
Lmaooooo
he's got paint on his brain. literally and figuratively.
even the way he talks is weirdly creative. love his art
His art for In Rainbows is my favorite. Wish he would’ve talked about it.
@elrabeechum5180
4 жыл бұрын
T V Me too! Especially since he had a completely different set of visuals at first, themed around suburbia, but then the music he heard them working on influenced him towards the more bright, toxic images that we know and love. An amazing example of collaboration.
I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that AMSP’s artwork is paint! It has always looked to me like somebody got a high res still of water splashing with special lighting. This man truly is a skilled artist!
@eamonsherry2185
4 жыл бұрын
I think it was photographs of chemical reactions at a micro scale
@deyfuck
4 жыл бұрын
@@eamonsherry2185 you think or you thought? He made pools of paint and let the weather move the paint around.
He's a very talented writer too - Slowly Downwards is a wonderful read.
@pedrovisgueira
4 жыл бұрын
I'll check it out for sure
@picasmo103
4 жыл бұрын
I was about to say, he’s amazing at expressing his experiences and thoughts through words, too.
@GasparLewis
4 жыл бұрын
"Condiments" from Humor (or, for others, one of Radiohead's old website versions) has stuck with me a very, very long time.
@berkeskaya
4 жыл бұрын
GasparLewis Is it possible to read it now somehow?
@heisenrizz
6 ай бұрын
Slowly Downwards Stanley Donwood
seems just as cool as the band
The sixth member
@makkietakkie
4 жыл бұрын
*seventh
@nameless9302
4 жыл бұрын
@@makkietakkie why seventh tho?
@chlc23
4 жыл бұрын
@Nameless Nigel Godrich
@nameless9302
4 жыл бұрын
@@chlc23 Right
@homieknightskerk3800
4 жыл бұрын
Nice Blur profile picture
Why isn't this a series? I love docuseries on bizarre, successful artists.
It really did always feel like the album covers LOOKED like how the music sounded, this guy fucking gets it, this absolute genius
i can't thank enough the algorithm for putting this in my home
Still blows my mind how he madeThe Moon Shaped Pool cover. Incredible detail and precise color theme.
Stanley - love the art, love the covers.
Stanley is exactly the archetypal artist I imagined I wanted to be as a kid. He is so experimental his oeuvre of work is so vsried because it is his conceptual quality of thinking that ties it together over the aesthetic. It is a rare thing to find success in the arts world with such variation. A true role model to DIY heroics.
i can't picture anyone else doing the artwork. Like, he's pretty much what i had in mind when i imagine the person behind the artwork.
i love his humbleness about his art. Such incredible artworks with such well curated design elements. A true artist who doesn't justify his work with empty arguments but solid work
I clicked the video thinking... hmm let's see how this brilliant mind comes up with all this amazing artwork. Right off the bet: "I used to get a lot of mileage from magic mushrooms and cannabis" Aaah, now I understand everything.
As someone from former Yugoslavia, I appreciate OK Computer even more.
Goddamn, Phil cloned himself AGAIN
@aatsista
4 жыл бұрын
No, Portishead drummer is Philip's clone. 😌
This man is exactly what I think of when "artistic" is mentioned somewhere.
This guy has made some of my favorite album covers ever. Ever better to know he’s a chill and humble guy too.
I love everything about this video
So that’s what the x means
Bro he LOOKS like a Radiohead album cover
@godfather3357
3 жыл бұрын
Bro you're right!
5:40 Harry Patch (In Memory Of)
Somehow he fits the title of "the guy who did all the radiohead album covers" like a glove
"Nowadays, you can undo, like... _into the past."_ That's the dream, innit, Tchock
Great interview
He’s amazing, thank you guys for this interview 💙💙
Such a brilliant man
Daniel!!! Thank u for this!
This is the video I have been waiting for my whole life -truly one of the greats - thank you very much penguin!
I love this so much! Really cool hearing about old graphic design techniques and artistic processes.
THANK YOU THIS IS MAGIC
The editing of this video is beautiful as well
He kinda looks like Maynard James Keenan from Tool
@pocketpicker6613
4 жыл бұрын
I thought it was him when I saw the thumbnail lol
@emie1170
4 жыл бұрын
a tall and skinny mjk
@superneko99
4 жыл бұрын
Just less of an twat
@HenrySylvester01
4 жыл бұрын
mae MJK might be a twat, but he’s the best kind of twat
Props to you for making some of my all time favorite album covers for one of my favorite bands my man, rock on.
Thank you for this interview. I couldn’t imagine anyone else doing Radioheads artwork!
The In Rainbows cover is so beautiful 😭❤ Thank you so much.
Without a shadow of a doubt this is the best video I've seen in a very long time of an artist talking about what he does. I wish it were much longer.
I had never before heard the man speak. I thought he'd be somewhat introspective, which he is, but I didn't think he'd have such a sense of humour.
@bakedbeings
4 жыл бұрын
I can see it being a requirement for any artist to live past 40 :) Spending that long trying to strip away any illusions about the world is not good workplace safety.
Found Stanley fascinating. I knew he did Radiohead’s album artwork but didn’t realise his collaboration with Robert Macfarlane, thinking of getting that book now. Another connection with this is W G Sebald.
@khenry070
4 жыл бұрын
are you referring to the vignette of the painter in The Emigrants?
@iandalziel7405
4 жыл бұрын
Didn't he also do the cover of Macfarlane's excellent book - _Underland_ - too (and maybe the spot illustrations)
@raskolnnikov
4 жыл бұрын
Ian Dalziel Yes, the cover design is by Donwood.
@raskolnnikov
4 жыл бұрын
khenry070 No, I’m referring to The Rings Of Saturn, I think Sebald walked to Orford Ness. Are you a reader of Sebald?
hearing about moon shaped pool and the process behind the art for that was really neat!
This guy belongs in art history books. He’s a genius!
Truly brilliant
wow youtube!! Didn’t know KID A cover was inspired by the war in Yugoslavia. Being an ex-Yugoslavian and a RH fan I find it double-awesome!
FINALLY!!!! I've been waiting YEARS for this
Impressive stuff!!
Starting out well. I'm in. Excellent.
love stanley, great video
Thank you. It was like hearing some of the most impactful artwork of my teens and 20’s speak.
I have been waiting for this forever. What a gem of a creator. His imagery is spot on and like all great albums, shapes the way you hear the music. They merge for the sublime. Radio-who....? I kid, A-:)
Excellent ending to an excellent video
Nice to finally meet the guy from The Bends Album cover
I love that he keeps all his mime work quiet too.
What a weird and interesting man. I understand why Radiohead picked him.
@q1s2e3w
4 жыл бұрын
Him and Thom also went to school together and were friends pre-Radiohead-albums
Total hero - will always admire his work
I adore his voice :3. Such a lovely gallery he's created
He is an amazing, amazing writer.
Love Radiohead & have always wanted to meet the artist behind their album covers
@Moodboard39
5 ай бұрын
They don't get credit obviously. Always the musician ...is pathetic
He talks like my old photography professor, the real explanation to creating the art and the "gunk" to it, the way it feels. I love this interview.
I'm glad the pablo honey cover wasnt his
@d.rabbitwhite
4 жыл бұрын
I agree. I never cared for that cover, always wondering why it wasn't as interesting as the others, until I looked into who did the art.
@ghazypangerang6118
4 жыл бұрын
@@d.rabbitwhite who did it?
He's delightful
Not even 5 seconds in and he already said he used to do recreative drugs to have inspiration xD Damn that's good
What’s with radiohead and bald people lol
@mostertrucks
4 жыл бұрын
We have Stan and Phil, and I bet Thom will be bald by their next album based on how fast his hairline is receding
@NoUploadJustComment
4 жыл бұрын
@@mostertrucks Don't forget Clive Deamer (touring second drummer). He is in perfect symmetry with Phil onstage.
@thedystopyansociety
4 жыл бұрын
@@mostertrucks "their next album" made me happy to read
@Davidwv97
4 жыл бұрын
@@thedystopyansociety will be out in 2025
@owkrikki
4 жыл бұрын
David if that’s true, I’m going to freak out
1:12 i thought that was part of his studio for a sec and was like wtf dude clean up a bit
I have always loved and appreciated Radiohead's art direction.
Fucking awesome... Dare to not take yourself too seriously and your work will be unforgettable! Thank you for a very inspirational piece!
What a character!
Legend
the fact that there is the how they did this art the filming the whole work of the paintings and at the computer too the explanation of stuff on the painting the why and all the rest make me happy because now they have sense and we know how to create similar art
@simorto
3 жыл бұрын
or the mix between computer and realty
Loved working with this guy
chill video
I could just listen to this guy all day
Love the blue paint on his head
Hes my favourite painter his art is genius and is incorpirated in theyre music its incredible
I'd do quarantine with this creative genius
I love this guy!
Inspiring, frankly
he's a genius.
@silverblue73
4 жыл бұрын
how?
@Ruby-eq1qg
3 жыл бұрын
I gotta say, his album cover work for radiohead is literally perfect. They fit the albums sound so well and they add to the timeless of the music to have such iconic and representative album covers while also not sticking to a specific style. And just in general I think he draws inspiration from interesting places and is good at making art representative of what its for. Plus he's a weird and interesting guy.
what a great guy
Love them
love this guys work, face of radiohead
thank you donwood
He is definitely an interesting and very influential artist