Swiss artist H.R. Giger, who rendered the titular character in Alien through his art, died in Zurich on Monday. He was 74.

H.R. Giger Dies

Giger reportedly died of injuries sustained in a fall, H.R. Giger Museum administrator Sandra Mivelaz told The New York Times.

For the 1979 hit film Alien, Giger designed the creature’s appearance – from the egg from which it emerged to the full-grown, 8-foot-tall entity it became. Giger, along with the rest of the film’s visual effects team, won an Academy Award for his work.

“Giger’s work disturbs us, spooks us, because of its enormous evolutionary time span,” Timothy Leary, a friend of Giger’s, has said. “It shows us, all too clearly, where we come from and where we are going.”

In addition to his work on Alien, Giger created designs for other movies, including Alien 3 and Prometheus. His artistry also contributed to the designs of two Switzerland bars and a number of album covers – Debby Harry’s Koo Koo (1981), Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s Brain Salad Surgery (1974) and more.

In 1998, Giger opened the HR Giger Museum in Gruyeres, where he features works by Surrealists such as Salvador Dalí. The museum also features much of his own movie artwork.

Giger is survived by his third wife, Carmen Scheifele-Giger.