Infinite Illectrik featured in the new issue of Electronic Sound magazine

June 11, 2020June 11, 2020

My customized turntable – the Quadraphon as I sometimes call it – is featured in the opening spread of this month’s Electronic Sound magazine including a piece I wrote about it. Once again, the magazine is full of so much it’s hard to know where to start – Suzanne Ciani, Sonic Boom, a tribute to Florian Schneider and a peek inside Neil Arthur’s memorabilia collection as well as tech news, tons of reviews and an exclusive Suzanne Ciani 7″ if you subscribe to the double bundle each month. It’s also still one of the best designed mags on the shelves.

But with a lot of major newsagents and record shops closed they’re relying on subscriptions and mail order right now so if you’ve been meaning to take out a subscription then now’s the time. There are also plenty of back issues and other vinyl in their online shop but those bundles sell out pretty fast.

Posted in Design, DJ Food, Infinite Illectrik, Magazines, Music. | No Comments | Tags: Electronic Sound, Infinite Illectrik, Suzanne Ciani

CiS062 – The Isolation Tapes pre-order

May 22, 2020

“Castles in Space brings you a stunning collection of new music recorded in isolation during the COVID19 lockdown – Released 29th May 2020
A total of 50 tracks across CD//Cassette//Download selected from more than 250 submissions.”
CD Pre-order is up now, all profits go to the Cavell Nurses’ Trust

<a href="http://cis-isolationtapes.bandcamp.com/album/the-isolation-tapes-compact-disc">The Isolation Tapes Compact Disc by The Isolation Tapes</a>

I’m very pleased to have a track on this, a collaboration with my good friend Robin the Fog aka Howlround that we made whilst in lockdown. In fact there’s a whole album ready to go under the title, ‘The Superceded Sounds of The New Obsolescents’.

This is a compilation of 3 parts though, a CD, Cassette and Download – all with different tracks on them because of the tidal wave of submissions that flooded into the label. Cassette and DL Pre-order is here

<a href="http://cis-isolationtapes.bandcamp.com/album/the-isolation-tapes-cassette-and-bonus-downloads">The Isolation Tapes Cassette and Bonus Downloads by The Isolation Tapes</a>

Posted in Design, Music. | No Comments | Tags: Castles In Space

Detuned vs Touched Music wooden slipcase

May 16, 2020

One of the ultra-limited wooden slipcases I helped design for the De:tuned vs Touched Music World Cancer Day sale earlier this year sold this week for a whopping £450! All proceeds go to the Macmillan Cancer Trust so thanks whoever bought it. The box was one of only 15 handmade editions, this one was one of five in walnut wood, assembled and engraved by Nathandavid.design. I’m very pleased to have been involved in this project which has gone far and beyond what any of us thought it would when we started discussing it over two years ago. Stay (de)tuned for the final part of the sage next week…

Posted in Design, Latest Designs, Openmind designs. | No Comments | Tags: De:tuned, Touched Music

Savage Pencil – Rated SavX book

May 9, 2020

Savage Pencil aka Edwin Pouncey has been floating in and out of my life for decades now. Whether through the Wiseblood ‘Motorslug’ 12″ insert, ‘Nyak, Nyak’, the Big Black sleeve for their Headache EP or Blast First‘s compilation cover, ‘Nothing Short of Total War‘. He cropped up in the NME and Sounds, doing spot illustrations for album reviews, The Wire magazine with his Primer feature collages and Trip or Squeek cartoon strip and numerous other leftfield magazines.
There he was in Knockabout Comics‘ anthologies, a page here or there in Weirdo or some long-forgotten independent zine or one-off publication. I used to see his Dead Duck comic on the spinner in Forbidden Planet and his designs for Slam City Skates in Covent Garden before going downstairs to Rough Trade where I would find obscure indie singles with his art on the covers, posters of Godzilla-like monsters behind the counter and his biker movie picture disc compilation, ‘Angel Dust’. In recent years I’d run into him at Orbital Comics, signing copies of the latest Satanic Mojo comic, the memorabilia shop in Cecil Court where he sometimes worked or at record fairs where he’d be either selling behind a stall or perusing the bins with Thurston Moore.
Eventually we met properly when I interviewed him for Rough Trade’s 40th anniversary book in 2016 and again when I spoke to both Edwin and Chris Long about their Battle of the Eyes project with the late Andy Dog in a still-unpublished interview. And now he rears his head again in Strange Attractor Press‘ excellent book of his career, ‘Rated SavX’.
This seems to be the definitive book of his work so far, lots of archive-delving has gone on here and there are many lost or unpublished illustrations from across his life whether it be black metal sleeves, fly illustrations, his punk past or his love of Ed ‘Big Daddy’ Roth’s monster cars and cartoons. It’s all here in eye-straining detail with enough info to have you wishing you’d picked up that tiny print run publication he released all those years ago. Nevertheless, I zipped through it and now have new items on the wants list – highly recommended. There’s still time to get the limited edition hardback of this with extra (S)crapbook of unpublished roughs and Appreciation Society patch from the publisher’s website. While you’re there check the rest of their inventory, they have some fascinating books about counter culture, music, psychedelia and the occult world.

Posted in Art, Books, Comics, Design, Music. | No Comments | Tags: Savage Pencil

Infinite Illectrik launches today

May 1, 2020May 30, 2020

So, I started a label, Infinite Illectrik, digital-only for the moment, for my turntable experiments with locked grooves and FX – first releases up now including a couple of pay what you want freebies.

It’s all only on Bandcamp and they’re waiving fees for all artists today until midnight.

Posted in Design, Infinite Illectrik, Music, Openmind designs. | 1 Comment | Tags: Infinite Illectrik

Contrøverse – Liquid Love/Solid State EP

February 28, 2020

Love this cover for the Contrøverse – Liquid Love/Solid State EP on InFiné.

“The Barcelona-based producer, former member of the experimental duo Downliners Sekt, is back with a solo project and 2 new deceptively simple tracks made for the dancefloor, stitching together his myriad influences.
As an appetizer, listen to his Broken Mojo Mixtape taken from his own new material, blending together vintage African and South American patterns and flavours with a touch of haunting full analog synthesizer modules. EP available on all digital platforms now.”

Posted in Design, Music. | No Comments | Tags: Contrøverse, Infiné, Liquid Love/Solid State EP

Andy Vella design interview

February 13, 2020March 29, 2022

A few weeks ago I posted a selection of sleeves from the acid house era of Desire records‘ releases which, for a brief moment, showcased some of the best house music to come out of Chicago. The uncredited designer, Andy Vella, was tasked with wrapping these releases in a distinctive house style and, curious about how they came about and who made them, I did some detective work and tracked him down. He is best known for his work with The Cure for the Fiction label (of which Desire was a subsidiary) and I fired him a few generic questions first, to give context and history:

Where, when and what did you study?
I studied at various places, which to be honest were less than effective, however, luckily I ended up at The Royal College of Art and my creative life started to fly.

What was your first notable design that the public would have seen?
The first bit of work the public would have seen was the 60×40 fly poster for the cure’s ‘Primary’ single (it got to number 44 in the charts 1981), I do remember being 18 and walking down Oxford street thinking, ‘that looks familiar’, then realising I had worked on it.

How did you come to work with the Cure and Fiction Records?
Pure fluke really….and as luck has it I am still working with them.
(From the biography of Andy’s website: “It all began when Andy, then a teenage student in Worthing, had a chance encounter on a train with Porl Thompson, some-time guitarist in the Cure. The pair would go on to form the Parched Art design company, but not before Andy’s photographs had caught the eye of the Cure’s front man Robert Smith who asked him to design the covers of the album Faith and its single Primary.”

Looking you up on by name on Discogs, there’s a gap between 1981 and 1988 and this seems to be the golden period of your collaborative work with Porl Thompson for the Cure under the ‘Parched Art’ banner. Obviously it’s not a complete list of your work though as you aren’t credited for any Desire sleeves at all.
I went through a phase of not putting my name on lots as I thought it was uncool.

Whose decision was it to start releasing dance music on Desire, up until the mid 80s it had been sporadically releasing indie rock I think?
Chris Parry, he was also the manger of The Cure and supremo A&R maestro.

Where you into the music? Did you go clubbing in those days?
I loved it. I used to go and hang out with all the guys in Chicago Trax (Chicago of course), they were great and so accepting of me, Fingers Inc, CAN YOU FEEL IT…Yes, Ben Mays, Bam Bam, Destry, Lil Louis was always hanging about.
I remember Chris gave me £20 and an ecstasy tablet and said go to the Café de Paris and design me an album sleeve (In the Key of E) it was great, changed my whole world, shame as later that night ended up in Harry’s and DJ Fat Tony and his mates esp. some bloke who is now a famous author (I should name him) kept referring to me as a rent boy with total hatred in their eyes. Glad I had had the mitsibushi tab otherwise I probably would have thrown them out of the window, homophobic DJs and posse for you.
The world will come and eat you up boys.

You used photocopying extensively for those early sleeves, not just for distorting type but also for texture too, What influenced you?
Being experimental was always key in my design, trying things out.

You were working in largely uncharted territory with very little except the smiley logo and the early DJ International graphics from the US as any kind of look for the genre, were you left to interpret the music in your own way?
Always like a challenge, recently I designed a book for Glen Matlock about the Sex Pistols (Filthy Lucre tour) and like then, coming up with design/art that does not follow the cliche known style is what good design should be.

Were you working in isolation or did you have assistants? Were you aware of what other designers were doing in the field like Trevor Jackson at Champion and Gee Street or the Designers Republic at Warp?
At this time just working on me own and the artists in Chicago, they loved this stuff.

You had a thing for type wrapped around curves, I’m presuming this is was all pre-computer and hand-cut and pasted?
Sure was, its so easy now, every letter cut out and pasted down.

There seem to be several releases that re-use old sleeves folded inside out, was this a money-saving exercise?
It was me being really early into re-cycling, this was in 1989, the printers throw this stuff away, I hated the idea of this, so re-purposed it and used it inside, my fav is ‘In The Key Of E’ printed on the reversed board with the Desire house bag on the inside.

The Charles B ‘Lack of Love’ release has multiple different covers in different colours, was this to distinguish different versions or because of printing errors?
I can’t remember that, maybe I liked the idea of the sleeve forever changing, I did used to swap the printing plates about.

Double Trouble and Rebel MC (both together and separately) were most prominent on the label after ’88 and both hugely successful. The licensed US releases stopped, and your stretch lettering and snakeskin look with them. Why was this?
Not sure, guess it was because it was way more commercial. Later on I designed all the Rebel and his Tribal Bass label and created very nice roots-based paper cut-out graphics, based on African art.

Did you work for any other labels around this time (aside from Fiction) or do other work for dance music like flyers, posters and T-shirts we wouldn’t have seen?
On the back of working with Rebel MC and creating the drum and bass rootsy style, Island records snapped me up and later I worked with many companies and designed all the paperback book covers for Bloomsbury publishing.

The rest of your work seems to have been more in the indie rock sector, was Desire a case of being in the right place at the right time?
Just love designing and creating.

Are you aware that some of those early releases are now considered classics of the genre and worth a lot of money?
That’s nice, eh?

Do you have any favourites from this time, both musically and design-wise?
All of them, I had a blast and still am. I guess ‘In The Key of E’, it’s a great compilation too. Roger Dean of Yes fame always loved ‘In The Key of E’ and asked me to send him a signed version of the cover, I was flattered beyond belief as he was the hero of every school kid when I was growing up, so nice!

Andy’s website is here with an extensive gallery of work, you can see him reference the eye from his ‘In The Key of E’ LP cover above at least twice.

Posted in Bureau of Lost Culture, Design, Music, Records. | No Comments | Tags: Andy Vella, Bureau of Lost Culture, Desire Records

Zoetrope test designs

February 6, 2020February 15, 2020

#1 in a series of zoetrope* elements I started work on last month for an electronic artist’s album project that didn’t work out. I won’t go into why it didn’t happen but I got burned and these are going to sit on a hard drive forever unless I do something with them. So, in an attempt to salvage something out of the process, I’m going to be posting some of my favourites daily (there are LOADS of variations) in the hope that someone will chance upon them and want something similar done.
These are just animated idea sequences, not the full finished pieces and they work with a turntable and viewer to animate like the clips here when rotated. I’m currently developing another zoetrope release with a major artist for later this year and if you want something similar for yourself, band or label then get in touch.

*technically it’s actually a ‘phenakistoscope’ but people find it easier to say zoetrope and explaining the difference is a bore.

Posted in Design, Film, Openmind designs. | No Comments | Tags: Openmind designs, phenakistoscope, tests, zoetrope

Desire Records covers

January 3, 2020March 29, 2022

The Desire Records sleeves I mentioned Pete Isaac referencing on the new 45 Live release were a brief series at the end of the 80s when the label switched into the dance music genre, most specifically, acid house. Artists like Adonis, Bam Bam, Corporation of One, Fingers Inc.,Charles B and Dolbie D all got the snake skin and twisted Xerox type treatment. Desire was a subdivision of the indie Fiction label, most known for releasing The Cure. The design for these sleeves is uncredited but I believe them to be the work of Andy Vella, at least he did the ‘In The Key Of E’ LP cover and a lot of work for Fiction.

Posted in Bureau of Lost Culture, Design, Music, Records. | 1 Comment | Tags: Bureau of Lost Culture, Desire Records

Type 303 new 45 Live 7″

January 3, 2020January 5, 2020

Double whammy from 45Live to kick off the new year – Type 303 with a double helping of new acid on 7″. Both sides kick, black and super limited psychedelic & clear vinyl. Seriously good on both sides, a heavy swung skacid A side that will get any party going and a deeper funky acid killer on the flip. Nice nod to the old Desire Records sleeves by label owner/designer Pete Isaac. Order now

PS: in case you missed it, the 45 Live 100th episode radio show special was up on Mixcloud, iTunes and other platforms over Xmas, where the whole crew got 5 minutes to do whatever they liked. My mix comes last but one but the whole show is worth catching as there are some real standouts.

Posted in Design, Mixes / Podcast, Music, Records. | No Comments | Tags: 45 Live, Type 303

2019

December 31, 2019December 31, 2019

What a grim end to the year and the decade, good riddance to the last four years at least. Writing this on the morning of Friday 13th as the results and fallout of the election come in, it’s hard to muster the energy and will to rejoice in anything when the turkeys have voted for Xmas. I used to be largely ignorant of current affairs and politics, back in my youth, I thought it was dull and boring, why would I be interested in any of that? But you grow up, you have a family and these things start to matter because they affect your life whether you like it or not. Back in the first half of December it felt like there was still hope, a chance to pull things back from the brink, but not now when the country has voted overwhelmingly for Johnson’s government in the belief that he will fix things that he helped engineer in the first place.

Sometimes I wish I was ignorant again, as ignorant as those who didn’t vote or voted on personalities, believing the lies and propaganda peddled by the media. But you can’t just turn that tap off, not once you’ve understood how the system works and see the soap opera play out. You CAN however blot it out for a bit by reading, watching, visiting or listening to great art made by your fellow man, or woman or non-identifying person. There was a lot of it this year and here’s some of the favourite ways I blotted parts of this year out.

Music / podcasts – way too much new music to keep up with only so much time and money, I probably listened to Adam Buxton‘s shows from the archive more than anything else this year:
Pye Corner Audio – Hollow Earth LP (Ghost Box)
Various – Corroded Circuits EP 12″ (Downfall Recordings)
Chris Moss Acid – Heavy Machine 12″ (Balkan Vinyl)
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Fishing For Fishes LP (Flightless)
Pictogram – Trace Elements cassette (Miracle Pond)
Vanishing Twin – The Age of Immunology LP (Fire Records)
Big Mouth podcast (various) (Acast)
Beans – Triptych LP (Gamma Proforma)
Roisin Murphy – Incapable single (Skint)
Ebony Steel Band – Pan Machine LP (Om Swagger)
People Like Us – The Mirror LP (Discrepant)
Coastal County – Coastal County LP (Lomas)
Adam Buxton podcast (various) (Acast)
Ghost Funk Orchestra – A Song For Paul LP (Karma Chief)
Jon Brooks – Emotional Freedom Techniques LP (Cafe Kaput)
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Organ Farmer (from Infest the Rat’s Nest LP) (Flightless)
Jane Weaver – Fenella LP (Fire Records)
Polypores – Brainflowers cassette (Miracle Pond)

Seemed to acquire a lot of tapes this year too…

Design / packaging – so much good stuff out there, Nick Taylor goes from strength to strength, Reuben Sutherland‘s work for Sculpture always inspires and Victoria Topping continues to do great art for On The Corner Records:
Pepe Deluxé – The Surrealist Woman lathe cut 7″ (Catskills)
Various – Science & Technology ERR Rec Library Vol.2 (ERR Records)
DJ Pierre presents ACID 88 vol. III LP (Afro Acid)
Mark Ayres plays Wendy Carlos – Kubrick 7″ (Silva Screen)
Tomorrow Syndicate – Citizen Input 10″ (Polytechnic Youth)
The Utopia Strong – S/T LP (Rocket Recordings)
Jarvis – Sunday Service LP (ACE records)
Andy Votel – Histoire D’Horreur cassette (Hypocrite?)
Sculpture – Projected Music 5″ zoetrope picture disc (Psyché Tropes)
Lapalux – Amnioverse LP (Brainfeeder)
Hieroglyphic Being – Synth Expressionism / Rhythmic Cubism LP (On The Corner Records)

Film / TV – I really don’t watch too much TV or get to the cinema as often as I’d like to:
Sculpture – Meeting Our Associates (Plastic Infinite)
This Time with Alan Partridge (BBC)
Avengers: Endgame (Disney/Marvel)
Imaginary Landscapes – Sam Campbell (Vinyl Factory)
What We Do In The Shadows (BBC2)
The Mandalorian (Disney+)

Books / Comics / Magazines – I read constantly, all sorts of stuff, a lot online, I found less interesting new comics this year or there were fewer that made an impression. Also many of my regular reads came to an end so there was less to consume on that front.
Beastie Boys Book – Mike Diamond & Adam Horowitz (Spiegel & Grau)
Cosmic Comics – A Kevin O’Neill Miscellany (Hibernia Books)
Electronic Sound (Pam Comm Ltd)
Eve Stranger – David Barnett / Philip Bond (Black Crown)
Bicycle Day – Brian Blomerth (Anthology Editions)
Moebius – 40 Days In The Desert (expanded edition) (Moebius Productions)
Rock Graphic Originals – Peter Golding w. Barry Miles (Thames & Hudson)
2000AD / Judge Dredd Megazine (Rebellion)
Silver Surfer Black – Donny Cates/Tradd Moore (Marvel)
Help – Simon Amstell (Square Peg)
The Scarfolk Annual – Richard Littler (William Collins)
Wrappers Delight – Jonny Trunk (Fuel)

Gigs / Events – I spent a lot of time in Café Oto, socialising to the sights and sounds of Jonny Trunk & Martin Green or watching groups that featured Cathy Lucas this year:
Vanishing Twin @ Prince of Wales Pub, Brighton
Stereolab @ Concorde 2, Brighton
People’s Vote march 23rd March, London
Wobbly Sounds book launch @ Spiritland, London
Confidence Man @ The Electric, Brixton, London
Mostly Jazz Funk & Soul Festival, Moseley, Birmingham
Bluedot Festival, Jodrell Bank, Manchester
HaHa Sounds Collective play David Axelrod’s Earth Rot @ Tate Exchange, London
School of Hypnosis play In C @ Cafe Oto, London
Palace Electrics, Antenna Studios, London
The Delaware Road, New Zealand Farm, Salisbury
Breaking Convention closing party, Greenwich, London
Jonny Trunk & Martin Green’s Hidden Library @ Spiritland, Southbank, London
Negativland / People Like Us @ Cafe Oto, London
HaHa Sound Collective plays the David Axelrod songbook @ The Church of Sound, London,
Sculpture, Janek Schaefer, Mariam Rezaei + the 26 turntable ensemble @ The Old Baths, Hackney, London Vanishing Twin & Jane Weaver’s Fenella @ Studio 9294, Hackney Wick, London

Exhibitions – there was so much art to see in 2019, I managed most of it but London does spoil you sometimes and you can’t see it all. Just a stroll round the Brick Lane area of east London will delight with the free art painted, stuck or sprayed on the walls for all to see:
Sister Corita Kent @ House of Illustration, London,
Augustinbe Kofie @ Stolen Space, London,
Victor Vasarely @ Pompidou Centre, Paris,
Mary Quant @ V&A Museum, London,
Stanley Kubrick @ The Design Museum, London,
Tim Hunkin’s Novelty Automation Museum, London,
Keith Haring retrospective @Tate, Liverpool,
Nam June Paik, Tate Modern, London,
Takis @ Tate Modern, London,
Shepard Fairy @ Stolen Space, London,
Damien Hirst ‘Mandalas’ at the White Cube, London,
Bridget Riley @ The Hayward, London,
Museum of Neo-liberalism, Lewisham, London.

Another year over and what have I done? quite pleased with this lot this year:
Become by own agent for the first half of the year (not fun)
Designed As One’s ‘Communion’ LP sleeve for De:tuned
Toured my Kraftwerk: Klassics, Kovers & Kurios AV set
Contributed to the Wobbly Sounds book on flexi discs published by Four Corner Books
Performed a 30 minute reimagining of Kraftwerk’s ‘Radio-Activity’ album
Appeared on Big Mouth, Out Of The Wood, Jonny Trunk’s OST, Dusk Dubs, Mix-Ins, 45 Live, Mostly Sounds podcasts / shows
Continued the design for De:tuned’s 10th anniversary with a 10th volume, poster, tote bag and more
Built a modified turntable with three extra floating arms for future performances
Designed a fold out 3″ CD Xmas card for The Real Tuesday Weld – more to come in 2020…

For no other reason – Badges, along with the cassettes it’s like the 80s never stopped

RIP: Daryl Dragon, Ron Smith, Ken Nordine, Peter Tork, Mark Hollis, Keith Flint, Magenta Devine, Hal Blaine, Scott Walker, Quentin Fiore, Dr John, MAD magazine, Vertigo comics, Rutger Hauer, Ras G, Peter Fonda, Richard Williams, Pedro Bell, David Cain, Patsy Colegate, Clive James, David Bellamy, Phase 2, Gershon Kingsley, Emil Richards, Dave Riley (Big Black), Vaughn Oliver, Neil Innes, Syd Mead.

Looking forward to: – not much to look forward to except a year of Brexit, economic downturn and US Presidential campaigns but these might lighten the mood…
Paul Weller and Plone on Ghost Box
A Touched Music special release in conjunction with De:tuned for World Cancer Day – 4th Feb.
The second Revbjelde LP, ‘Hooha Hubbub’, from the Buried Treasure label
More designs for The Real Tuesday Weld…
The next Group Modular album, released on a UK label
The Castles In Space label releasing a remastered vinyl version of Clocolan’s excellent 2019, cassette-only, ‘It’s Not Too Early For Each Other’ album.
The return of Slow Death Comix
45 Live releasing their first acid 7” with Type 303 in Feb
Ian Holloway from The British Space Group’s new label, Wyrd Britain – the first release will be his own ‘The Ley of the Land’.
The Amorphous Androgynous album, ‘Listening Beyond The Head Chakra’ and album-length single, ‘We Persuade Ourselves That We Are Immortal’ around Easter
Ninja Tune’s 30th anniversary in the Autumn
An exhibition about electronic music at the Design Museum featuring Kraftwerk, Jeff Mills, Ellen Allien, Jean-Michel Jarre and BBC Radiophonic Workshop among others
The Masters of British Comic Art book by David Roach in April
The return of Spitting Image (we really need this)

Happy New Year x

Posted in Art, Books, Comics, Design, DJ Food, Event, Film, Flexi Discs, Gigs, Kraftwerk, Music, Radio, Records. | 4 Comments | Tags: 2019

RIP Syd Mead

December 31, 2019December 31, 2019

Another graphic giant leaves us – fittingly just as the date of the original Blade Runner film has passed into history. Syd Mead was just on another level in terms of vision,

technique,

execution,

colour choice,

lighting and perspective.

I love how figures play a part in his work but they frequently face away from the viewer, have their heads cut off or are in the distance, the tech is the most important part.

He also did the best reflections in chrome

…and the most incredible detail in backgrounds with splashes of abstract paint that bought the stillness of his images to life.

All of his tech was believable and his interest and work in the car industry showed in many instances that his concepts could be buildable too. He was visually ripped off many times – snow walkers for AT-ATs,

a red racing bike for Akira,

a party goer’s helmet for Daft Punk… but fans know the sources.

His Gundam robot designs were unique,

his Spinner car design for Blade Runner is an all time classic

and he did the best Xmas cards. What a legacy he leaves…

Posted in Art, Design, Robots. | No Comments | Tags: Syd Mead

RIP Vaughn Oliver

December 30, 2019

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.

Posted in Design, Music. | No Comments | Tags: Vaughn Oliver

Vote!

December 11, 2019December 11, 2019

There are a lot of good memes, slogans and piss takes surrounding this election, here are some that have caught my eye. The slogan above, using the same fonts at the mastheads of the right wing press, is by spellingmistakescostlives.com aka Darren Cullen. He has a pop up Museum of Neo-liberalism in Lewisham right now that’s worth a visit to find out the origins and architects of how the UK is in the state it is now.

I’m not sure where the Tories Over if you want it originates but the Heavenly Social posted it and I thought I’d Photoshop it into a picture of John and Yoko to bring the reference full circle.
The Monopoly box rearranged to No More Tory is by Andy Votel and I’m unsure about the rest but the sentiments either ring true for me or make me laugh. Please remember to vote on Thursday, unless it’s for the Tories.

Posted in Design, Event, Poster / flyer. | No Comments | Tags: Election

Stilla typeface

December 6, 2019

Found this online whilst looking for something else – probably my favourite set of numeral designs ever, the Stilla font, designed in 1973 by François Boltana and published by Linotype.

Posted in Design. | No Comments | Tags: font, stilla, typeface

The making of the new Lapalux album cover

November 13, 2019

Lapalux released his new album, ‘Amnioverse’, last week on Brainfeeder and the cover and packaging is superb. As soon as I saw it I was trying to work out how photographer Dan Medhurst and set builder Owen Gildersleeve did it and now you can find out. Over on the Eye On Design website they have a feature on how it was done with process shots – go here to check it out

There’s some lovely, sympathetic packaging to go with it (inc. a 28 page booklet not shown) and you can buy the record here.

Posted in Design, Music, Ninja Tune, Packaging, Photography, Records. | No Comments | Tags: Brainfeeder, Dan Medhurst, Eye On Design, Lapalux, Owen Gildersleeve

Detuned – DE:10.09 released today

November 1, 2019October 28, 2019

We’re almost there… Out today: #9 of 10 projected releases I’ve designed for the De:tuned label as they celebrate their first 10 years. One release a month, multiple combinations of great artists across nine 12″s whose covers fit together to form a larger image, with a tenth remix 12″ to finish things off although there are going to be some special things to go with that release.

Listen:

Order:
Phonica: http://bit.ly/2Jis5Af
Bleep: http://bit.ly/2pNoEus
Juno: http://bit.ly/2N7J6Ow
Clone: http://bit.ly/2PcxCfo
Rush Hour: http://bit.ly/2pUKv2T
Deejay: http://bit.ly/32Kpnet
Decks: http://bit.ly/2Pnh2tr
HHV: http://bit.ly/2JjHhwS

Posted in Design, Latest Designs, Music, Openmind designs, Records. | No Comments | Tags: Atypic, De:tuned

Print ads from Scientific American magazine

October 25, 2019March 29, 2022

I was recently sorting out a small book collection for someone and ran across a stash of Scientific American magazines from the 60s. Some of the adverts are just beautiful examples of design, from typewriters to paper, electric and gas suppliers and general engineering companies. The standard is very high, considered and fun, attempting to make the banal interesting. Here are some of my favourite examples.

The three ads below for Fairchild Semiconductor are double pagers – look at that font!

The Olivetti ones below are just stunning, there seems to have been so many of these ads throughout the years, enough to make a huge coffee table book easily. I’ve found them in Graphis annuals and architectural magazines before, there must be hundreds, all seemingly different.

I love the little illustrations at the bottom of these Riegel papers ads, they are small sidebar ads near the back of the magazine so I’ve lumped them together in one image.

Posted in Bureau of Lost Culture, Design, Magazines. | No Comments | Tags: adverts, Bureau of Lost Culture, magazine ads, Olivetti, Scientific American

Sculpture 5″ zoetrope picture disc of locked grooves

October 16, 2019October 17, 2019

Sculpture: Projected Music from psyché tropes on Vimeo.

“Sculpture meets Psyché Tropes for a post-transitory broadcast in reductionist methodology, exploring the non-standard definitions in a petri dish from the other side”. (it says on the press release)

Projected Music is a 5-inch zoetrope picture disc containing 26 locked grooves. Each loop is 1.33 seconds in duration cut at 45rpm reaching a total playing time of 34.58 seconds although the loops are intended to be played at any speed. In the possession of two or more disks, the listener can interact with a modular album whereby the source material is open to interpretation. Despite its minimalist size and composition, this release is intended as an LP. With the expansive nature of the turntable, there are almost limitless possibilities.

Remixes by Maria Chavez, Philip Jeck, Janek Schaefer, Mariam Rezaei, Me, Claudius, Graham Dunning and Tom Richards will accompany the 5-inch as a free download. The official release will be on 29th November at The Old Baths in Hackney Wick with live performances by Sculpture, Janek Schaefer and Mariam Rezaei. An ensemble of 26 turntables for 26 locked grooves (including myself) will improvise throughout the intervals.
Event info: https://www.residentadvisor.net/events/1327194

5” Vinyl Pre-order. Releases 29 November 2019 via Bandcamp
https://plasticinfinite.bandcamp.com/album/projected-music

Posted in Design, Gigs, Music, Records. | No Comments | Tags: psyche tropes, Sculpture

Who are this generation’s psychedelic poster artists?

October 16, 2019January 24, 2021

(above poster by Rob Fitzpatrick / @_rf82)

When discussing psychedelic poster art from the 60s and 70s you often read about ‘The Big Five’, namely Rick Griffin, Victor Moscoso, Wes Wilson, Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley. Of course there were many more; Martin Sharp, Nigel Weymouth, Hapshash & The Coloured Coat, Bonnie MacLean, Peter Max… all and many more can lay claim to have contributed to a new movement in poster art that took from Art Nouveau, Op Art and Surrealism.

With a new wave of psychedelia in music prevalent for a good decade now, who working today is pushing the envelope in the same way as these graphic giants? There are plenty of illustrators and designers creating very passable versions of the 60s style across record sleeves, posters, T-shirts and videos but, rather than rehashing the past glories of the 60’s greats, who is approaching the psych era in the 10’s with a fresh eye? Here’s my stab at calling who will be remembered for their work in this arena in decades to come.

It’s fairly evenly divided between Brits and Americans (with the exception of Sweden’s Robert Gnista and South Africa’s Simon Berndt) and the UK brings more photo collage and attempts to convey the analogue process’ of print to the table whilst elsewhere designers adopt a more illustrative approach, slavish to the original 60s ethos.

Luke Insect (UK) www.lukeinsect.com