Who is Roger Dean

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Floating islands, round houses and alien landscapes

Roger Dean is a British illustrator and architect best known for the distinctive album cover designs he created for rock bands such as YES, Uriah Heep and Asia. 

After creating some of the most-popular fantasy art of the 70s and 80s, spread intensely via posters as well as album covers, Dean moved towards his true vision:  the architectural realization of his illustrations and paintings as practical buildings and real spaces.

The Virgin Logo 

One of Dean's first jobs out of art school was doing a design for the then-new Virgin Music label. This was the original logo for Virgin, before they switched to the now-known red and white signature.

This first logo has been nicknamed "Gemini" or "Twins" as it features a mirror-image of a woman. She's sitting on top of a large red lizard, and the company name. Long-time fans of Dean will recognize the word "virgin" in the lettering that he is now very well-known for.

Great Music, and some of Roger Dean's Best Covers 

experience Roger's art as music lovers see it

The Fantasy Art of Roger Dean 

books, posters, collectibles and more

Roger Dean's art has been reproduced as posters, postcards, calendars, t-shirts and some very unique trading cards.

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Roger Dean On The Web 

Roger Dean: Welcome
The all new official Roger Dean website.
Roger Dean profile
Roger Dean was born in 1944 in Kent but his father's job took the family abroad to Cyprus, Greece and Hong Kong. They came back to Britain in 1959 and he went to school in Ashford, Kent until 1961 when he was accepted to do a three year course in Design, which started with him studying Silversmithing and then Furniture Design.
The South African Roger Dean Fansite
This page is dedicated to my favourite artist, Roger Dean. My name is Brian Currin and I live in Cape Town, South Africa. I have been a fan of Roger's work since the early 70s and a number of his album covers and calendars have been framed and hang all over my house.
Future Hi: Roger Dean's Retreat Pods
The idea is to have one of these to escape into, kind of like a floatation tank, but with room for two, and filled with all sorts of stimulating devices.
Roger Dean Covers
This is a fantastic list of nearly 100 Roger Dean album covers with pictures.
MobyGames - Roger Dean
Roger Dean has been credited on games developed by the following companies: Psygnosis Limited, M.C. Lothlorien, Blue Planet Software, Inc., Mastertronic Group Ltd., Art & Magic, Tetris Company, The, Psyclapse, Infomedia Franc...
Roger Dean Exhibition
Roger Dean has his first exhibition of work in London for about a decade, 12th-24th November 2001
Apple (UK and Ireland) - Creative - Roger Dean
Roger Dean is probably most famous for the innovative album covers he designed for bands such as Yes and Asia. Yet thirty years on, Roger is still at the cutting-edge of design, producing work which spans computer games, virtual reality, paintings and even architecture.
San Francisco Art Exchange - Roger Dean
Original Dean art and reproductions for sale.

Collectibles & Cool Stuff 

Most Dean collectibles are going to be centered around the band YES. Dean did their cover artwork for most of the band's history. What most people don't know is that all those worlds and creations are actually renderings of Dean's unique style of architecture. Many of the buildings and houses you see in the images could be built exactly as he's depicted them. His structures utilize ovoid forms, made from a sprayed concrete.

Dean also did the cover art and logo for 80s supergroup Asia, which collected John Wetton (King Crimson, Uriah Heep), Steve Howe (Yes), Geoff Downes (Buggles, Yes) and Carl Palmer (Emerson, Lake & Palmer). For their first album, he created the iconic image of a dragon chasing the pearl of wisdom, splashing down on an dark ocean.

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The Architecture of Roger Dean 

The fantastic houses and fantasy dwellings in Dean's illustrations aren't just fantasies, but actual renderings of his concepts for modern architecture. And for a lucky few in the world, they've been able to bring Roger Dean's ideas to life.

Dean's constructions use a material called gunnite, which is a form of sprayed concrete. Tooling up molds to make these structures can be costly, but for something like a hotel, once the molds were made, building a succession of suites or floors would go extremely quickly. The ovoid room shapes use heat very well, minimizing costs to climate control the spaces.

"70's Futurist" Artist Turned Green Architect/Planner

Roger Dean (YES album art) is an architect

Roger Dean on Architecture

The Willowwater House as shown below.

Roger Dean who did the Yes album covers designed this by The_Admiralty

Roger Dean who did the Yes album covers designed this

It's all a bit moldy and smelly now - sadly by The_Admiralty

interior hallway and doorframe

The bed used to go here by The_Admiralty

The bed used to go here

The Willowater by The_Admiralty

The Willowater

curated content from Flickr

The Worlds of Roger Dean 

There is a short clip of Dean talking about designing a state set for the band YES and then there are a series of animations of his paintings/illustrations assembled by a fan of his art.

Yes - Roger Dean

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10 Comments:


Roger Dean Art Animated - Relayer (3)

Runtime: 15
17984 views
17 Comments:


Roger Dean Art Animated - Alpha (4)

Runtime: 14
3322 views
6 Comments:


Roger Dean Art Animated - Tetris Worlds

Runtime: 14
5937 views
4 Comments:


Roger Dean Art Animated - Caves (2)

Runtime: 9
5585 views
6 Comments:


Pathways - Roger Dean Art Animated 9

Runtime: 10
7311 views
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Roger Dean Art Animated - Floating Islands

Runtime: 10
4043 views
5 Comments:


Roger Dean Animated 1 - Freyja's Castle

Runtime: 10
3878 views
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Roger Dean Art Animation - Arches Spash (5)

Runtime: 10
2719 views
4 Comments:

curated content from YouTube

Dean-esque Architecture 

other really cool buildings that might make you think of Roger Dean

DVICE: Shell-shaped Nautilus House is gorgeous inside and out
While not officially a Dean-designed structure, this house incorporates a lot of elements that are similar to his style.

Are Your A Roger Dean Fan? 

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  • Reply
    Bruce Bruce Oct 26, 2009 @ 8:12 pm
    I remember Magician's Birthday from the mid 70's as a picture of a 5 armed magician with fireworks in the backround. Is my memory off? Does anyone know where I can find this picture?
  • Reply
    Cumberland Cumberland Sep 18, 2008 @ 5:47 pm
    I found your lens through the "Find Out About Famous Artists" group. I was not familiar with Roger Dean. I like fantasy art and find his interesting.

    I am also interested in unusual houses and thought those photos were also of interest.