The Artist Behind Radiohead's Album Covers | Work In Progress with Stanley Donwood
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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He looks exactly like how the guy who does the covers for Radiohead would look.
He almost looks like the mannequin in the bends
this makes so much sense but at the same time it doesn't
lol
bald
‘Cause of Phillip?😝
I love that he has blue paint marks on his head
When he said he went by other names, one of them is a member of the Blue Man Group
Is it a disease?
@@andreylucass yes, Kandinskiy syndrome
I thought it was liver spots lol
I'm afraid he just blue himself
This guy is a living Radiohead album
💀💀💀
The X on OK Computer makes so much more sense now
Isn't that X the X for poisons in household chemicals?
@Late to the Game can't tell if you're being serious
I agree
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.
@@plasticwrapcharlie Answer at 2:40
Of course the only cover he didn't do was Pablo Honey lmao
Wise man
Pablo honey's cover was actually assisted by Thom Yorke's late partner Rachel Owens.
No sane person would make that one and say, “yeah this looks great post it”
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
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
The song Weird Fishes that he made was fantastic
Wait he made weird fishes? As in the drums or the entire song?
@@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
anamitra das I think he’s joking lol
Hahahha this comment made my day
God bless any artist able to support themselves with art. God bless those that aren't.
Felt that.
oof
It wasn't really mentioned but his artwork for Thom Yorke's first solo album "The Eraser" is incredible as well.
I initially thought he was going to discuss that
His best work imo
wow! he did that too? it’s incredible!
at 0:52 , the way ‘Radiohead’ is portrayed is similar to the cover art of The Eraser
I have a lovely print of his in my study for the eraser - amazing album and phenomenal artwork
Him calling Radiohead’s music visual is probably the most accurate thing I’ve ever heard, I am the exact same way
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!
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.
This is just your average bloke from Brighton. Source: From Brighton
kzhead.info/sun/ebWzf8-bfH6XaHk/bejne.html
Gay and votes Labour?
@@theshamanarchist5441 Depends. If he's from the pavilion constituency, then Green.
Quadle still gay though?
The Shamanarchist why you roast
He Is a member imo
1000%
Like Nigel
Probably drummer
Yep. Him and Nigel
@@micsunday14 and Clive
This is guy is so british that he drinks his coffee as tea
Than how u supposed to drink coffee? How that make any sense .
so the bends cover was a self portrait huh
lol
Lmaooooo
What we see when we hear Radiohead is Stanley's vision. Total genius.
@Angela Pequeno yes
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.
I loved this man already after the first 30 secs.
he's got paint on his brain. literally and figuratively.
His art for In Rainbows is my favorite. Wish he would’ve talked about it.
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.
even the way he talks is weirdly creative. love his art
He's a very talented writer too - Slowly Downwards is a wonderful read.
I'll check it out for sure
I was about to say, he’s amazing at expressing his experiences and thoughts through words, too.
"Condiments" from Humor (or, for others, one of Radiohead's old website versions) has stuck with me a very, very long time.
GasparLewis Is it possible to read it now somehow?
Slowly Downwards Stanley Donwood
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!
I think it was photographs of chemical reactions at a micro scale
@@eamonsherry2185 you think or you thought? He made pools of paint and let the weather move the paint around.
Why isn't this a series? I love docuseries on bizarre, successful artists.
The sixth member
*seventh
@@makkietakkie why seventh tho?
@Nameless Nigel Godrich
@@chlc23 Right
Nice Blur profile picture
It really did always feel like the album covers LOOKED like how the music sounded, this guy fucking gets it, this absolute genius
seems just as cool as the band
i can't thank enough the algorithm for putting this in my home
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.
Still blows my mind how he madeThe Moon Shaped Pool cover. Incredible detail and precise color theme.
Goddamn, Phil cloned himself AGAIN
No, Portishead drummer is Philip's clone. 😌
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 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.
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.
As someone from former Yugoslavia, I appreciate OK Computer even more.
5:40 Harry Patch (In Memory Of)
This guy has made some of my favorite album covers ever. Ever better to know he’s a chill and humble guy too.
"Nowadays, you can undo, like... _into the past."_ That's the dream, innit, Tchock
I love everything about this video
What’s with radiohead and bald people lol
We have Stan and Phil, and I bet Thom will be bald by their next album based on how fast his hairline is receding
@@mostertrucks Don't forget Clive Deamer (touring second drummer). He is in perfect symmetry with Phil onstage.
@@mostertrucks "their next album" made me happy to read
@@thedystopyansociety will be out in 2025
David if that’s true, I’m going to freak out
This man is exactly what I think of when "artistic" is mentioned somewhere.
He kinda looks like Maynard James Keenan from Tool
I thought it was him when I saw the thumbnail lol
a tall and skinny mjk
Just less of an twat
mae MJK might be a twat, but he’s the best kind of twat
Bro he LOOKS like a Radiohead album cover
Bro you're right!
So that’s what the x means
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.
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.
I'm glad the pablo honey cover wasnt his
wym thats the best of the album covers
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.
@@d.rabbitwhite who did it?
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.
are you referring to the vignette of the painter in The Emigrants?
Didn't he also do the cover of Macfarlane's excellent book - _Underland_ - too (and maybe the spot illustrations)
Ian Dalziel Yes, the cover design is by Donwood.
khenry070 No, I’m referring to The Rings Of Saturn, I think Sebald walked to Orford Ness. Are you a reader of Sebald?
Somehow he fits the title of "the guy who did all the radiohead album covers" like a glove
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!
He’s amazing, thank you guys for this interview 💙💙
I love this so much! Really cool hearing about old graphic design techniques and artistic processes.
This is the video I have been waiting for my whole life -truly one of the greats - thank you very much penguin!
The editing of this video is beautiful as well
Daniel!!! Thank u for this!
Props to you for making some of my all time favorite album covers for one of my favorite bands my man, rock on.
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.
Thank you for this interview. I couldn’t imagine anyone else doing Radioheads artwork!
Such a brilliant man
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.
hearing about moon shaped pool and the process behind the art for that was really neat!
Nice to finally meet the guy from The Bends Album cover
Great interview
1:12 i thought that was part of his studio for a sec and was like wtf dude clean up a bit
THANK YOU THIS IS MAGIC
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-:)
This guy belongs in art history books. He’s a genius!
Thank you. It was like hearing some of the most impactful artwork of my teens and 20’s speak.
I adore his voice :3. Such a lovely gallery he's created
FINALLY!!!! I've been waiting YEARS for this
Fucking awesome... Dare to not take yourself too seriously and your work will be unforgettable! Thank you for a very inspirational piece!
I love that he keeps all his mime work quiet too.
Starting out well. I'm in. Excellent.
Love Radiohead & have always wanted to meet the artist behind their album covers
They don't get credit obviously. Always the musician ...is pathetic
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
or the mix between computer and realty
He is an amazing, amazing writer.
Hes my favourite painter his art is genius and is incorpirated in theyre music its incredible
The artwork for Kid A is scarily prophetic. If you know why, you know. If not, really look at it.
ice age coming ice age coming
Total hero - will always admire his work
I have always loved and appreciated Radiohead's art direction.
love stanley, great video
Excellent ending to an excellent video
What a weird and interesting man. I understand why Radiohead picked him.
Him and Thom also went to school together and were friends pre-Radiohead-albums
Yeah, No doubt. A video like this is why I keep calling youtube as magic. Like I could never known to type out this piece of gold right here!
Truly brilliant
Impressive stuff!!
I got the big vinyl sized sets of Moon Shaped Pool and In Rainbows...such great art packages.
I loveeeeee his work. And when he said that Radiohead’s music is visual I couldn’t agree more. I always listen to Radiohead when I paint it helps the creative process along. 😌👁
Not even 5 seconds in and he already said he used to do recreative drugs to have inspiration xD Damn that's good
The guy is awesome. What a great personality. I'd love to have a drink with him.
What an amazing chap. I’d really love to chat with him. Seems like a lovely man.
What a very cool customer, super talented. I love his work and the way he thinks. He has got his Easter Island info quite a bit wrong there though. It was a very complex situation with a lot of moving parts, and the Mo'ai were absolutely not put there as a last resort plea to the Gods. In fact it was the opposite, one of the last things they did was take down and destroy their own statues as they felt their Gods had betrayed them.
Hmm
What a character!
Love the blue paint on his head
He is definitely an interesting and very influential artist
I could just listen to this guy all day
He's delightful
love this guys work, face of radiohead
what a great guy
chill video
Such a fitting personality, Radiohead should keep working with this guy