On Friday I (Michael) did a
Pecha Kucha at the Design Museum here in London. For those that have never heard of Pecha Kucha it's a quirky format. Each presenter picks 20 images/slides, and you speak about them for 20 seconds each, once the slides start, they don't stop. So it's very fast, and furious and makes for a very interesting night.
Full line-up: Adrian Shaughnessy (Unit Editions), Dan Witchell (Proud Creative), Kirsty and Emma (Apfel), Lucienne Roberts (Graphicdesign&), Morag Myerscough (Studio Myserscough), Nick Bell (Nick Bell Design), Tim Beard (Bibliotheque).
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As the Design Museum's
Wim Crouwel (A Graphic Odyssey) exhibition was closing that weekend each speaker was given Wim as it's theme. I spoke about my inspirations as a designer, using Mr Crouwel as a counterpoint.
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My twenty images along with notes are shown below—
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1— Substance.
My first introduction to the work of Wim Crouwel, the 1988 Joy Division compilation 'Substance'. For the next 7 years I assumed the beautiful typeface was by
Peter Saville,
not Crouwel.
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2— Mode en Module.
I got this holy-grail of design books whilst working at
The Designers Republic. We were asked to work the weekend on a job and were offered money, or a copy of 'Mode en Module', everyone chose the book. Mine is especially dear to me as it's signed by Wim (the only other thing I have ever asked to be signed was a Harlem Globetrotters catalogue in 1985!).
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3— TD + TDR.
Wim worked for a large part of his career at
Total Design in Amsterdam, I worked for a large part of mine in Sheffield at The Designers Republic. Both studios produced work of an amazing standard, and I think that's largely to do with the people who worked there, pushing each other to produce incredible work, pushing boundaries.
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4— Wim + John Peel.
Inspirational human beings, embracing the new. I grew up listening to
John Peel, taping his Festive 50's and the Peel Sessions. His love of The Fall and continual search for new music, breaking new bands was incredibly inspirational to me.
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5— Wim + Vaughan Oliver.
Whilst at college in Newcastle I was a massive
Vaughan Oliver fan, I used to buy pretty much all the 4AD records output of which he designed nearly all releases. I was really struck by his unique vision, not following trends and his prolific output. His work with photographer Simon Larbalestier on The Pixies is really mind-blowing. One particular night when friends came round the flat we lived in at Newcastle saying Vaughan Oliver was in The Barley Mow (our local pub) only that I couldn't go down to see him as I was barred from the pub at the time. I finally got to meet Vaughan as we were part of the same exhibition up in Newcastle, he's a very nice gentle man.
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6— Wim + Rod Clark.
I'll never forget the first time I saw Rod Clarks work, I was on the OND Graphic Design course at York at the time and due to us living within commuting distance I used to get the bus, then the train to York every day. I went into Vasey's newsagents on Bedale high street to buy NME and this magazine leapt out of the stand. The magazine was '
Underground' and the design was like nothing I had ever seen before. It was a sort of Proto-Swiss-Punk design, very unusual, very different. Years later Creative Review asked us to take part in an experiment called 'A Month In The Life Of A Graphic Designer', where we documented our working day for the magazine. Part of that issue was to show people that inspired us, I chose Rod Clark. It was very hard tracking the man down but we eventually did and I did a small interview with the man and his work on Underground. Very inspirational.
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7— Wim + Robert Brownjohn.
Robert Brownjohn was an American designer working in the sixties who was a very larger than life character, a real visionary. He did the titles for '
From Russia With Love' (1963) & '
Goldfinger' (1964), projecting type/titles onto peoples bodies. Brownjohn became addicted to heroin during this period and died of a heart attack aged 44. His use of typography is a real inspiration. I think the world needs more characters in design like Brownjohn.
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8— Wim + Stanley Kubrick.
I've always been struck by the work of film-maker
Stanley Kubrick, his attention to detail, his rigour. Much like the work of Wim Crouwel, his framing of shots, real craft.
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9— Wim + Eames.
A lot of people think the work of Wim Crouwel is a little cold, devoid of warmth. I strongly disagree, I see real with in his work. Much like the work of
Charles & Ray Eames. There is a huge amount of 'Form + Function' in their work, but with a real sense of playfulness that I can really connect with.
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10— Wim + Donald Judd.
There is a real calmness to the work of
Donald Judd (+ Crouwel), a real confidence. Judd's work (again) I came late to but when I went to see his work at
Tate Modern it really fascinated me. It's almost like he's working with grids but in a 3D space.
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11— Wim + Barney Bubbles.
The Stedelijk Museum versus
Stiff Records. Holland versus England. The work of
Barney Bubbles is very different to the approach of Wim Crouwel, but both were given free reign to design for their respective fields (art versus music). The consistency of vision of Crouwel & Bubbles is really breathtaking, both developed a unique visual language that still stands the test of time to this very day.
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12— Wim + 8vo.
I came across the work of
8vo whilst at York College ('88), a friend at the time had copies of 'Octavo' which I found fascinating (though at the time I was more into the work of Brody). I had started to collect the sleeves of Factory Records, a big favourite was The Durutti Column of which 8vo designed the sleeves. I really enjoyed their transition from pre-computer (hand drawn swiss modernism of '
Circuses And Bread' 1986) artwork to computer based art such as the '
Obey The Time' (1990). I have fond memories of Newcastle going out late at night taking down one sheet album/tour posters (Pixies/New Order etc.), including one night trying to take down an entire 8 sheet billboard for New Order's '
Technique' album.
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13— Wim + Type.
When I got my copy of 'Mode en Module' the one thing I was instantly drawn to was the custom type (
New Alphabet, Claes Oldenburg etc.). It was something that really resonated with me as a young designer. All the things were apparent in his work, grids, sans-serif typography, rigidity etc. but his use of custom type really fascinated me. It still does to this day...
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14— Wim + Buzz.
The
photograph on the right of Buzz Aldrin taken by Neil Armstrong on the surface of The Moon in 1969 is perhaps my favourite photographic image of all time. To me it completely sums up possibility, possibility of not only human endeavour, but of achievement and commitment. Total inspiration.
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15— Wim + Time Travel.
I have a theory...Wim Crouwel possesses a time machine. It probably isn't a Delorean, something much more stylish. But he used this machine to travel into the future and see what graphic design is like, take it back to his time and produce some of the most breathtaking design in the history of graphic design.
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16— Proof.
His work for 'Typo Vision International (1972) for me is a standout piece of design. I was particularly fascinated by deconstruction in type at the time, and seeing this piece really resonated. So much so that I designed a homage to Wim and that piece of work for a record sleeve (
Will Saul - Malfunction). There are a lot of other pieces I love from Wim's vast output, but this particular piece (of which I wished I owned) has a special place in my heart.
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17— Wim + Scale.
I think one thing that sets the work of a great designer apart from his peers is how he/she handles the relationship of scale of objects on a page. I think Wim Crouwel is a master at this. The image shown is his response to a brief for the '
Mono' show (2006) by Blanka. Each designer was given a word to illustrate (in single colour, Black), Wim was given 'Proportion'. I remember at the time Blam getting very excited that Wim had agreed to do a piece for the show, and that the piece was a beautiful measured response. Very Wim, very Dutch, and very beautiful.
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18— Wim + Modernism.
This is a
quote from Gary Hustwit's documentary film '
Helvetica', I remember watching it for the first time at the launch in New York at The Museum of Modern Art. Wim's opening lines really showed his commitment to modernism, capturing the man and his work perfectly.
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19— Wim + I.
Nicky & I were very privileged to be invited to dinner with Wim by Aidan Grennelle (Creative Director, Image Now) in Dublin. I remember vividly having a drink with him in the bar before we all walked to the restaurant, the conversation during dinner, it's one of those things in your career that you'll never forget. The humility and generous spirit of the man was a joy, and they say never meet your heroes...
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20— Total Design football team (circa 1970).
I don't know about you but there's one strip i'd queue up for in the local sports shop.
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I'd like to thank all the staff at the Design Museum for looking after us last Friday, it was a real shame that Tony (Brook, co-curator alongside Margaret Cubbage of the exhibition) couldn't be there for the talk, get well soon Tony.
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