Essay by LC Robinson

002

Peter Saville

Icon & Legacy (1955 -

)

by Laura Robinson 003

Contents & References

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Photograph of Peter Saville (edited)

http://www.umbrochile.cl/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/4945521060_9f52161eec_o1.jpg

New Order, Power Corruption and Lies

Joy Division limited edition vinyl bx set

http://homepage2.nifty.com/truefaith/tosq/petersaville/largeimages/2007-09-2564699291.jpg

Talking Loud and Clear, OMD

Continues on page 18

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Marianne Faithful: Kissinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Time

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Photograph of found Factory members

http://www.live4ever.uk.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/factory_ps_tw_ae4-thumb-450x337.jpg

Roxy music, Flesh + Blood

Early Factory Records poster (edited)

http://www.monkeychop.co.uk/article_images/factory_1.jpg

Peter Saville on Communication Design and Record Covers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtYQNCEXscs

Automne Hiver 88 Yohji Yamamoto

Ultravox, Vienna

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oUvAUjqKPbU/TUmhXcgdaSI/AAAAAAAABCc/XdhKBd_w9f0/s1600/ ultravox-vienna-cover-front.jpg

OMD: History of Modern

http://homepage2.nifty.com/truefaith/tosq/petersaville/largeimages/2010-09-100bx7-box.jpg

Pulp, This is Hardcore

http://www.album-art.net/art/music/albums/p/pulp/this_is_hardcore_cd_2_cropped.jpg

Peter Saville

Automme Hiver, Johji Yamamoto

http://www.ultravie.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/10.Photography_Nick_Knight_Art_Direction_Peter_Saville.jpg

Talking Loud and Clear, OMD

Joy Division, Love Will Tear Us Apart

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Peter Saville is one the greatest designers of our time. His carefully curated designs have helped craft and carve identities for some of the most well known and celebrated British icons.

is work is iconic and unforgettable, carrying with it a sense of classic timelessness, but has also managed to become so iconic that often it is inseparable in the social consciousness from the times and the places where the images were first seen.

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Born in Manchester, England in 1955 he grew up as a teenager too young to be part of the DIY punk movement but still old enough to be impressed by it. Later as a designer he became renowned for looking at established forms of design and disregarding standards and norms, preferring to work with a DIY ethic and starting from scratch. Looking at the design brief, seeing what it needs to convey and working from that

core -often ending up redefining what contemporaries consider as expected and pushing the possibilities of what that medium of design means. Shortly after graduating from a degree in Graphic Design from a Manchester polytechnic he became good friends with Tony Wilson, a journalist and television presenter at the time. Together along with Alan Erasmus and Rob Gretton they set up and created the now legendary Factory Records taking on local bands and transforming them into international superstars. Factory Record was responsible for some of the greatest and most iconic music to come out of the UK. The man behind their promotion and front end design was Peter Saville. Their legacies, still strong today were shaped by him, and even if the band wasn’t on the Factory Records roster Saville was still probably responsible for their covers. The artwork for early Brit Pop and New Wave is almost synonymous with his name, having worked on the likes of New Order, Joy Division, Pulp, Peter

Gabriel, OMD, Suede, Roxy Music, Wham! and countless others. Saville once described record sleeves as “the art of the playground,” a description which helps to explain why album artwork has such a profound effect on us and who we become. Peter Saville’s work has helped to shape the identities of entire generations, depending on what artists you decided to listen to.

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“What I learned from style culture was if you dress a particular way, you communicate with other like-minded people. I just employed exactly the same technique with graphics”

Much like the mods and the rockers, or punk

movement of previous generations music can help divide or create communities and it is through the power of that music’s brand that it can do this. The stronger the brand, the stronger the identity, the more it effects people and the longer it lasts. And considering that much of his work is still as effective and recognizable today as it was over 30 years ago is a testament to just how powerful his original designs were.

His record sleeve design is iconic and unfor-

gettable. If design can be described as art that has to work, then Peter Saville’s works every time. His work is always carefully considered, not just the image, or the

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type, but how the object being designed will be han-

not put the band or record name on the cover -not even

dled, the scale, the weight of paper, the type of paper,

the Beatles at their peak could have gotten away with

the inside of the sleeve (forgotten about by most design-

that.

ers), the music inside, how side A relates to side B and how the back relates to the front. He designs not just

The Unknown Pleasures cover works because

the packaging but an experience for the music listener.

it seduces you. You don’t know what it is -but you want

A thrill of, what new quirk, what unexpected thing will

to. It’s weighty and considered design assures you of

this seemingly simple record reveal to me after I open it,

quality, it was printed on heavy rough grain paper giv-

after I consider the image on the front, after I listen to the

ing the black ink a rich luxurious depth. The minimalism

music on the disc.

of the cover is an early predictor for the design of the luxury items market, with their similar minimal branding,

His uncanny ability to see through fashionable

trends and gimmicks means his work can sometimes

many with just a name to signify quality -a brand loyalty stamp of approval.

hit eerily close to the heart of the record and the identity of the bands. This caused much controversy when Pe-

On another cover for Joy Division and, later,

ter Saville planned to use a classical image depiction of

New Order, he focused on high quality unadorned pho-

Christ’s body in the tomb after he was crucified for their,

tographs of textures and patterns that can be found in

unknown to anyone at the time, final album cover. It’s

everyday life. By keeping the type minimal and having

release ultimately coincided with the tragic suicide of Ian

full bleed photographs with no borders Saville challeng-

Curtis and caused an uproar from the public.

es us to really look at the image he is presenting us. The images themselves are common but it is the emotional

Indeed probably his greatest and most well known re-

connection he is playing with. A polished flat stone en-

cord sleeve design is that of the first Joy Division album,

graved with a song name and a band reminds us far

‘Unknown Pleasures’. It’s cover image is a stark black

more of a grave stone and our mortality than anything

square featuring the white lines of an alien landscape of

else possibly could. It is his seemingly unique gift and

radio waves. However, despite it’s seemingly innocuous

talent to be able to tap into a cultures subconscious and

design, it was very daring and bold. To release a record

convey a feeling in a single image.

cover that was expensive to make, for the first album from a band the public had not heard of before and to

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His delicate and clever use of typography on album cov-

seen on all their album covers and indeed is probably

ers can be seen on albums from Pulp, Orchestral Ma-

best put to use blown up to take over the entire cover

noeuvres in the Dark, and Peter Gabriel. His Orchestral

as can be seen on the album ‘We Love Life.’ This was

Manoeuvres in the Dark lettering using just the letters

ornamented with architectural flower motifs and jux-

OMD with bold with clean lines reminiscent of fluores-

taposed against fresh bright greens and a clean crisp

cent light tubing, perfectly captures the sound of this

white background. This established and reinforced the

electronic band. His use of two conflicting types for Pe-

quirkiness of the band itself. Fronted by the eccentric

ter Gabriel’s album ‘So’ shows a deftness of touch and

Jarvis Crocker who is known for behaving like a luddite

understanding of typography while making two con-

while still remaining firmly on the cutting edge of tech-

flicting types work effortlessly, with the strength of the

nology and trends.

capital S contrasting against the smooth softness of the lowercase O.

Another integral part of Peter Saville’s work

which springs up time and time again is his love of show

His custom made logotype for Pulp can be

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ing the process of making. Showing the viewer how

things are made, for example through his use and inclu-

shape of paper is also a key element of his work. It is this

sion of colour test bars, can be seen in his cover for Joy

consideration into every small detail which makes his

Division’s ‘Power Corruption and Lies.’ Indeed his juxta-

work stand out from the rest and enables it to survive

position of old and new, the classical painting and the

and stand against the test of time.

modern printing ‘errors’ are, stylistically one of his signatures. Never before seen by the public until Saville’s

In several Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

deliberate inclusion of it in several record sleeves it is

albums he used the very expensive (at the time) die cut-

no longer seen as a new thing. Indeed modern artists

ting to create the illustrations and lettering on record

such as Kanye West are using designs very similar to it

covers, cutting into the outer sleeve to reveal a differ-

despite not being designed by Saville.

ently coloured inner sleeve. This gives a depth to the designs that would have otherwise been impossible. It

Not only is his love of showing process one of

also adds greatly to the user experience.

his trademarks but also his consideration given to the weight and texture of paper (matt or gloss) and indeed

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aving moved on

from Factory Records after a number of years he branched out into the word of high fashion, working along side fashion greats to help solidify their brand identity. Most notably revolutionising the way the fashion world looked at the humble lookbook catalogue. He has however worked on less revolutionary projects for many other world respected

fashion

houses

and

designers such as Alexander McQueen, Givinchey, Pringle of Scotland and Stella McCartney.

His daring and experimen-

tal work with Yamamoto was like a breath of fresh air to the fashion world, which at this point had grown stale and insular with only western influences being considered or used. The combination of Yamamoto’s strong and Japanese designs, experimental photogra-

“He was saying something different, which I felt I could adhere to. It was not a sexual approach to dressing, which most fashion had been up to that point. He was putting that in the background and presenting an intellectual form.” Nick Knight pher Nick Knight’s fresh eye always

removing all the unnecessary ele-

searching for a new angle and Peter

ments, facial features, skin tone,

Saville’s talent for dissolving a pro-

background, Peter Saville was able

ject down to it’s absolute core and

to concentrate the viewers eye

building it up again with a sense of

onto elements which may have been glossed over before.

timeless gravitas that other designers could only hope for.

His

work

with

Yojhi

Yamamoto transformed the traditional lookbook editorials, well known for their full colour shots of sultry looking models basking on tropical beaches or posing in the center of Paris. Transforming them into an effortlessly stylish and cool

comments on the most important aspects of Yamamoto’s de-

His friendship with Nick Knight,

signs -the silhouettes, the textures

which grew whilst they worked

and the colours. By reducing the

along side each other prompted

models to purely graphic shapes,

them to create a dedicated plat-

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form for art and fashion experimentation. Through their

creating a sensitive design composed of small multicol-

mutual passion for pushing boundaries and challenging

oured St.Georges crosses which were intended to rep-

the publics expectations of art and design, fashion and

resent modern multicultural England.

music they created ShowStudio, and although Saville left shortly after it was established it continues under

Currently he has been working on a series of

his original vision making waves in the industry even to-

large scale artworks showing his previous work reinter-

day with the like the Lady Gaga’s Born This Way music

preted and altered. Instead of reusing already created

video.

images, such as photographs or paintings he hopes to In later life he concentrated on identity branding

create impossible images that would otherwise not ex-

helping unify Kate Moss’s disparate branding and help

ist. Many of them look like screen distortions with bands

rejuvenate the failing British mall institution, Selfridges.

of colour stretched across the canvas.

He also worked with Umbro to design a series of sports-

wear including shoes based off of old Factory Record

Peter Saville’s work has helped establish British culture

posters and the away kit for the England Football squad,

and elevate it to an internationally celebrated level. His

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work is timeless, classic, and always appropriate. Unlike other designers such as Milton Glaser he never relies on visual puns convey his message. None of his work is transferable. A Peter Saville record cover could be nothing apart from what it is. An I Heart NY logo could be applied to anything, and is used for almost every country in the world.

He is known and will be remembered for his

sensitivity and lightness of touch in design. His ability to play with typography with ease and for having an almost uncanny ability to touch the very heart of a project. Almost every industry that Saville has put his hand to he has changed irrevocably, be it music, identity or fashion design.

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10- 11 12 13

Joy Division, Unknown Pleasures

Automne Hiver 86, Johji Yamamoto

Pulp, We Love Life

http://www.maxcaratulas.net/caratulas/Audio/letraP/originalimages/pulp%20-%20we%20 love%20life%20%28front%29.jpgz

Joy Division: + (plus)

http://homepage2.nifty.com/truefaith/tosq/petersaville/largeimages/2010-12-jdpm++.jpg

Peter Gabriel, So

http://cfs2.tistory.com/image/19/tistory/2008/10/06/23/00/48ea19ecab03b

New Order, Paradise Garage

http://www.new-order.se/artwork/1983/NewOrder_NewYork_Back.jpg

OMD, self-titled

http://www.versioncrazy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/ob-omd-1st-2010cd-f-4795.jpg

OMD, self-titled

http://www.versioncrazy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/ob-omd-1st-2010cd-f-4797.jpg

14 15 018

Automme Hiver, Johji Yamamoto

http://www.ultravie.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/10.Photography_Nick_Knight_Art_ Direction_Peter_Saville.jpg

OMD: If You Want It

zlargeimages/2010-09-bnl002cd2.jpg

Gay Dad

Automne Hiver 88, Johji Yamamoto

Designed by Peter Saville / Rick Poynor ... et al. . - London : Frieze, 2003. Pg 93 Nick Knight Designed by Peter Saville / Rick Poynor ... et al. . - London : Frieze, 2003. Pg 94

Pulp, This is Hardcore

http://www.album-art.net/art/music/albums/p/pulp/this_is_hardcore_cd_2_cropped.jpg

Selfridges & Co logo

http://www.londonundercover.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/selfridges1.jpg

Manchester logo

http://put.edidomus.it/domus/binaries/imagedata/big_222525_4348_M%20cmyk%20 %5BConvertito%5D_big.jpg

Kate Moss logo

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/images/uploads/2007/04/katemoss.jpg

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Pulp, This is Hardcore

EMi Series, Waste Painting 2000

Joy Division, Love Will Tear Us Apart

Joy Dvision, +/ -

http://sleevage.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/joydivision_plus_minus.jpg

Atmosphere

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