Obscured by Clouds
The album was originally released in a gatefold LP sleeve designed by Hipgnosis and George Hardie. Hipgnosis had designed several of the band's previous albums, with controversial results; EMI had reacted with confusion when faced with the cover designs for "Atom Heart Mother" and "Obscured by Clouds", as they had expected to see traditional designs which included lettering and words. Designers Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell were able to ignore such criticism as they were employed by the band. For "The Dark Side of the Moon", Richard Wright instructed them to come up with something "smarter, neater more classy". The design was inspired by a photograph of a prism with a colour beam projected through it that Thorgerson had found in a photography book.