View "Airbag" E.P inlay...

When originally planning the packaging for this release, Thom Yorke and Stanley Donwood had trouble finding a concept on which to base the artwork since they had to develop an idea which was completely new.  Donwood remarks that he and Thom were struggling so much that the best they could come up with was "Airbag: We are Running out of Ideas… E.P".  However, just three days before the deadline, the artist dreamt of driving behind a huge lorry and trying to read all the adverts on the back: hence "How am I Driving?" and the inclusion of the number to ring (incidentally, the number of an old pager of Thom Yorke's).

The artwork of the Airbag E.P is a movement away from the more spontaneous "scribbling" method typical of the other images for Ok Computer;  Thom actually admitted that the E.P was merely "an excuse for me and Stanley Donwood to do some more artwork".  The text included in the booklet of the "Airbag" mini-album itself is in the form of a sort of questionnaire, with statements to tick instead of actual questions.  On each page, further information is given:

Thank you for choosing this quality product from RADIOHEAD.
Please help us to help you by filling in this questionnaire.
The information you give will be held and processed by upwards of 200 commercial organisations and an unspecified number of military, governmental, and non-governmental organisations.
The results of this intrusion into your life will be used 'responsibly' in ways you cannot even begin to imagine.
Of course, the innocent have nothing to fear from the rapidly expanding data industry.
Thank you for your time.
Have a safe day.

This particular tongue in cheek excerpt bears a remarkable similarity to the introduction to the NODATA questionnaire discussed elsewhere, Donwood's concerns about the growth of the data industry evidently powerful enough to express in the cover artwork for Radiohead as well as his own independent projects.  Two of Donwood's "Small Thoughts" are also included within the booklet.

The artist also created an online version of the "Airbag" E.P, which I have reproduced here:

View online version of the "Airbag" E.P.

 

email: klbict@klbschool.org.uk