Very sad to hear of the death of Vaughn Oliver yesterday – undoubtedly one of the most brilliant and unique designers to emerge in the 80s. His early 23 Envelope work with Nigel Grierson and V23 studio with Chris Bigg and others produced so much stunning work it’s hard to know where to start. His whole aesthetic and typographic techniques were so influential for me when I started out and I used to buy records purely for his sleeves. He should quite rightly be remembered as one of the great designers of his time.
In the mid 90s I occasionally visited the Beggars Banquet offices and would always come away with posters, promo cards or leaflets and would get a glimpse of the space where some of the designs took place. I never met Vaughn but just to be that close to where the work was created was enough.
I pulled out one of my archive books and took some quick shots of some of the ads, promo invites and the like that I’ve collected over the years, including an original PMT used for a Clan of XYMOX advert, given to me by a friend who worked at the office for a while.