Art on your sleeve

Episode 17 – Bill Smith

In this episode of Art on your sleeve, I speak with graphic designer and art director, Bill Smith. Since the 1970s, Bill has been one of the busiest designers servicing the music industry and he’s worked on so many record sleeves that a book has been published celebrating his amazing portfolio. In the introduction to the show I read from …

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Win some – lose some

We’ve all been there… Whether it be waiting online for tickets to become available for a must-see, but massively popular concert, or hanging on until the last second to hit the ‘buy’ button on Ebay, I’m familiar with the rush of adrenaline and excitement that comes from winning and the heart sinking despondency that ensues as someone else snatches away …

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The tangled web we weave

It’s great being busy and thankfully I nearly always am. This is why it’s taken me so long to find time to get my own house in order. But I’ve now got around to assembling the new office furniture that’s been in the corner of my studio since last Autumn and more importantly I’ve updated my ancient website. Cue fanfare! …

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Episode 5 – ‘The Innocents’ by Erasure

This is a slightly different episode of Art on your sleeve because it isn’t solely about design and it isn’t my usual interview format. For a while, I’ve been subscribed to a really informative show entitled The Permanent Record Podcast, hosted and created by Brian and Sarah Linnen. It regularly features insightful analyses of record releases from the same period that I focus on with my Pop Art interviews for Classic Pop magazine. 

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Demolition Man

This time three weeks ago, I was in Edinburgh speaking at a symposium devoted to critically exploring the influence, impact and legacy of Grace Jones as actor, model, musician, entertainer and icon. It was hosted by Edinburgh University’s College of Art and was the second in an ongoing international series devoted to exploring the topic of ‘the iconic’, Grace Jones followed last year’s acclaimed Pet Shop Boys symposium where once again, academics and enthusiasts from across the world gathered for a series of keynote talks and films that examined different facets of Jones’ life and work.

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Where the heart is

It was interesting to see another of those reports about cities in the UK published this week. This one was of interest because it was specifically about the UK’s most creative towns and cities to live, work and play in. I expected my home town of Liverpool to be in there somewhere and was pleasantly surprised to see it at number two, just behind our good neighbour, Manchester. LINK to full article.

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