Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis) (2023) Spoiler-Free Summary – What It's About

A chance encounter in Cambridge in 1964 brings together Aubrey “Po” Powell and Storm Thorgerson, two young associates of Pink Floyd whose creative chemistry leads to an unlikely but lasting partnership. This documentary explores the origins of Hipgnosis through their shared instincts, unconventional ideas, and determination to treat album packaging as a form of visual art. Rather than unfolding as a conventional biographical drama, it creates an immersive portrait of two artists discovering what they can achieve by challenging one another’s approaches.

From their connection, the Hipgnosis studio begins to take shape in 1968, initially receiving a commission from Pink Floyd for A Saucerful of Secrets. The film inhabits the progressive-rock world of the late 1960s and 1970s, where music, photography, graphic design, and emerging countercultural style converge. Within this atmosphere, the album cover becomes more than an advertisement: it can suggest a musician’s private creative universe. Hipgnosis’s work grows out of this belief, combining meticulous planning with startling, dreamlike images that give iconic records an unmistakable identity.

At its heart, the documentary studies a partnership defined by experimentation and the freedom to follow an idea wherever it leads. Powell’s reflections provide an intimate window into the studio’s hands-on methods, while contributions from Storm and fellow musicians illuminate how abstract concepts are translated into memorable sleeves. Contemporary admirers, including Noel Gallagher, add a sense of generational reach, showing how Hipgnosis’s imagery continues to resonate beyond the artists who commissioned it. Guided by director Anton Corbijn’s own knowledge of photography and design, the film has the texture of a visual retrospective: affectionate toward its subjects, alive with creative ambition, and continually asking how an image can communicate the spirit of a song without explaining it away.