Classic Science-Fiction Illustrators (Part 3) – Roger Dean

For the third installment of our classic Sci-Fi illustrators series, we move from one alien landscape master to another. He is an artist so exotic and distinctive he merits his own sub-genre.

I’m of course talking about British artist and designer Roger Dean (born 31 August 1944 in Ashford, Kent).

Above: ‘The Flights of Icarus’ (1976)

Dean is renowned for his breathtaking otherworldly vistas. From enchanted floating gardens to swooping bone-like rock formations that pierce both earth and sky, his images represent the total and complete fusion of landscape painting and fantasy. The ultimate travel brochure for the imagination.

Above: ‘The Guardians’ (1991)

As the child of a military engineer, Dean spent many of his younger years living abroad as his father was posted to far flung corners of the Commonwealth; Greece, Cyprus and Hong Kong. It was whilst living in Hong Kong, then a British colony, that young Dean became interested in Chinese landscape art and feng-shui. These formative influences are clear to see in much of his art.

Returning to England, Dean completed his education and went on to study silversmithing and furniture design at the Canterbury College of Art. These years were not without a degree of friction as Dean disliked the college’s rigid artistic ideology, ultimately leading him to switch his focus to industrial design.

Leaving Canterbury College of Art, Dean accepted a position at London’s prestigious Royal College of Art (RCA) and returned to his path in furniture design. Much of his research during this time was based on the “psychology of architecture”; essentially what makes people feel comfortable in buildings. This intelligent cross-discipline approach to his studies would sow the seeds of his artistic success to follow.

Dean completed his studies at the RCA in 1968 earning first class honours and a silver medal for “work of special distinction”.

Above: ‘Gun’ (1968)

It is, of course, the vinyl LP album sleeve design and cover art for which the name Roger Dean became synonymous with the avant-garde progressive rock of the late 1960s and 1970s.

Dean earned his first commision whilst working on an RCA project to design a contemporary landscape seating area at Ronnie Scott’s famous Jazz Club in Soho. Scott spotted a design Dean had been working on in his sketchbook and asked him if he could adapt it as album art for the British hard rock band ‘The Gun’. Dean agreed and was paid £5000, a tidy sum of money for a 2018 sleeve design, never mind back then!

This handsome bounty switched Dean’s direction away from furniture design to album sleeve art. Not just because of the obvious financial benefits but Dean also realised his artistic visions could reach a far wider audience.

Above: ‘Tales From Topographic Oceans’ (1973) artwork for the Yes album of the same name.

Of his many album sleeves, Dean is most famous for his work with British prog-rockers ‘Yes’. Visions of his dreamy psychedelic worlds formed the perfect companionship with their experimental sounds.

Remember that the gatefold 12″ LP format was essentially a huge blank canvas, and with the possible exception of Pink Floyd designer Storm Thorgerson, no one matched Dean’s lavish creations. Indeed an online poll for Rolling Stone magazine rated ‘Tales from Topographic Oceans’ as the best-designed sleeve of all time.

Above: ‘Relayer’ (1974) artwork for the Yes album of the same name © Roger Dean

Landscapes aside, it’s Dean’s fascination with architecture as a student that often shines through in much of his work. This can clearly be seen above in ‘Relayer’ which Dean described as, “a sort of fortified city for military monks”.

Speaking of the cover in 2004, Dean adds, “I was playing with the ideas of the ultimate castle, the ultimate wall of a fortified city. That was more of a fantastical idea. I was looking for the kinds of things like the Knights Templar would have made or what you’d see in the current movie ‘Lord of the Rings’. The curving, swirling cantilevers right into space.”

This memorable sleeve would win the ‘Best dressed LP’ New Music Express award of 1975.

Of course the 1970s were quite some time ago and although I’m rapidly approaching middle age, I was not even born when many of Dean’s classic sleeves were crafted. Later I would spy his work from time to time in record shops. While intrigued with progressive rock, progressive house was more to my liking.

Above: ‘Psygnosis Logo’ (1985)

Much more importantly for me is Dean’s late 1980s association with 16-bit era gaming and Psygnosis, whom we touched upon in the last classic illustrators post with Tim White.

I’ve posted loads Psygnosis box art in the past and it’s impossible to over emphasize the critical importance box art had at the time. Although a quantum leap over 8-bit graphics, 16-bit game graphics were still very primitive by today’s lofty standards and not suitable for cover art. Psygnosis founder Ian Hetherington realised that glossy box art could help their products stand out in a crowded field.

Not only did Roger Dean produce art for some of Psygnosis’s most famous titles, he also crafted their timeless logo. With its electric steel lettering and crystalline owl, it’s completely iconic and instantly recognisable to any gaming fan of that age. Quite possibly my favourite piece of graphic design, ever.

Above: ‘Terrorpods’ (1987) Psygnosis

The irony (and genius) of much of Psygnosis’s box art is that much wasn’t exactly new, often recycling older Sci-Fi book covers or directly from the chosen artist’s portfolio catalogue.

‘Terrorpods’ is the perfect example of that. The game was actually inspired by the original art, which was first published in a collaborative ‘War of the Worlds’ project produced with Martyn Dean (brother), Tim White and Richard Clifton in a 1985 edition of Omni Magazine.

The above ‘Terrorpod’ is actually a Martian Tripod, or more specifically a dead Martian Tripod succumbed to the deadly germs of Earth (note the circling crows). I’d rank this bio-mechanical tripod design as one of my favourite Sci-Fi paintings of all time. It’s as close to perfection as you’ll get; sinister, alien and most importantly bad-ass.

Above: ‘Obliterator’ (1988) Psygnosis

With a definite nod to H. R. Giger, ‘Obliterator’ is another memorable cover that bears little resemblance to the game within. Beyond the entrancing painting, it’s important to note the logotype. Dean’s handcrafted designs are another facet of his wonderful talent and will surely be the subject of a future article.

Above: ‘Shadow of the Beast’ (1989) Psygnosis

Of Dean’s many collaborations with Psygnosis the most famous is undoubtedly his bio-mechanical forest that adorns the box art for ‘Shadow of the Beast’. The game was a side-scrolling platform title which featured spectacularly animated parallax background art inspired by Dean’s work.

Despite suffering from somewhat lacklustre gameplay and high difficulty, ‘Shadow of the Beast’ went on to become a massive global success. Certainly a huge part of it’s success was due to the marketing appeal of the exceedingly sexy box art.

Above: ‘Edgar Forest Village’ (2008)

Beyond his dalliance with Psygnosis Dean has created art for a plethora of different projects, ranging from painting sets for opera, as above, to stamp design.

Dean’s work is regularly collected and displayed in various galleries across the globe, from Palm Beach to Seoul and Sussex, his place of residence.

A truly global artist, his influence and legacy are so powerful that the seeds of his imagination are clearly visible across a huge array of contemporary art, film and video games.

Obviously, he’s a personal favourite of mine. In fact, if there were an absolute science fiction illustration hall of fame I’d place Dean alongside the late Moebius at the very apex of the pyramid.

Above: ‘Oak in Spring’ (2015)

A fine example from Dean’s recent portfolio, ‘Oak in Spring’ was produced for ex-Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett’s three album boxset. Here Dean draws inspiration from two of the track titles; ‘Spectral Mornings’ and ‘Voyage of the Acolyte’. Tropical perfection.

I could wax on ecstatically about Dean’s imagery all day but this post should draw to a close. I hope it’s served as a good introduction/reacquaintance and will inspire further exploration. To that end, I’ve compiled a list of commended resources for you to peruse.

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The first step is to visit Roger Dean’s excellent website: rogerdean.com. There you will find a large high-resolution gallery of work dating back to the late 1960s, a blog, video interviews, and the opportunity to buy prints of his work. Originals are available, price on request.

He is also present in social media where you can follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

Most importantly, no coffee table is complete without a Roger Dean artbook. There are three to chose from, each cataloguing a different epoch of his art.

• ‘Views’ (1975). A book with full and double page images of Dean’s architectural and artistic artwork. Its features text contributions from Dominy Hamilton and Carla Capalbo, with the architectural section by Donald Lehmkuhl.
• ‘Magnetic Storm’ (1984). A retrospective of Dean’s artwork since the release of Views, including albums, concert stages, film projects, architecture, games, landscapes, and books.
• ‘Dragon’s Dream’ (2008). A display of Dean’s work in the past 20 years, including concepts and designs for opera and animated films.

You can purchase all three directly from his store.

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In addition to Dean’s site, I can heartily recommend these articles:

‘Roger Dean – As chosen by those he has inspired‘, a perennial Sci-Fi-O-Rama favorite published in 2010.

‘Roger Dean – Outside the box Psygnosis‘, a fantastic long-read article.

And finally, John Coulthart’s always excellent blog { feuilleton } carries a selection of Roger Dean material, including a post on his commissioned book cover designs and a selection of stamp designs.

Thanks for reading.

Next up in our Classic Science-Fiction Illustrators series is the late, great Peter Elson.