In mid-1971, during his search for work affiliated with rock bands, Dean sent a portfolio to numerous executives including Phil Carson, the European General Manager of Atlantic Records. Carson took an interest in using Dean for one of his rock acts, Yes, and hired Dean for the cover of Yes's fourth album, "Fragile" (1971), which marked the beginning of an association with the band to the present day. Dean pitched a story on a creation myth rather than a particular image for it, "about a child who dreamt they were living on a planet that was breaking up, so they had to build a space ark to find another planet to live on. And they towed all the little bits of the planet with them". In 1972, he designed the band's logo which he came up with during a journey on the Brighton Belle train. Yes guitarist Steve Howe said, "There is a pretty tight bond between our sound and Roger's art". In addition to their album covers, Dean also contributed to Martyn Dean's stage set designs for the band.