Episode 24 – Richard Smith
On 19 March 1990, Depeche Mode released what is still considered their finest album – ‘Violator’. Anton Corbijn created its sleeve with assistance from graphic designer Richard Smith of Area. The two would go on to collaborate on dozens of sleeves for a wide range of artists, but to celebrate this seminal album’s 35th birthday, I spoke to Richard …
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Make love your goal
What’s ideal about being based in the north west of the UK is that most things aren’t far. I regularly hop on trains and head north or south to visit exhibitions in Glasgow or London. Still, sometimes it’s nice to be able to just get a taxi into town and, within 15 minutes, be immersed in something new, something wonderful. …
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- Blog
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Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Graphic Design, Holly Johnson, LGBT, Liverpool, Museum of Liverpool, Pleasuredome, Relax, Two Tribes, ZTT
- September 17, 2024
Episode 23 – Andie Airfix / Satori
ABOVE: Samples from the Andie Airfix/Satori portfolio along with a 16 year old me, wearing a Thompson Twins t-shirt featuring one of his classic logo designs. Graphic designer, painter and sleeve artist, Andie Airfix was born in Scotland but grew up in Warrington in the north west of England. After studying art and English literature at Chester teacher training college, …
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Episode 22 – worst record covers
This episode of the podcast is a bit different… Instead of our usual, reverent look back at examples of the best in record sleeve creativity, we dig into its darkest and often unexplored corners of obscurity to expose some of the worst, or at best, most bizarre record sleeves ever created. This collection of more than 500 of ‘the worst …
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Episode 21 – Form
Hello and best wishes for the festive season. My gift to you is a brand new episode of the ‘Art on your sleeve’ podcast. In this episode I speak with Paula Benson and Paul West from Form. There’s a lot that I could say about this dynamic duo and their extraordinarily diverse pop portfolio, but it’s probably easier to let …
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- Podcast
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1980s, 2wo third3, Bright Light Bright Light, Cocteau Twins, Depeche Mode, Deuce, East 17, EBTG, Everything but the girl, Form, Girls Aloud, Graphic Design, Natalie Imbruglia, Paul West, Paula Benson, Peter Saville, Record Sleeve Design, Scritti polite, Tom Watkins
- December 19, 2023
Graphic humour
I write a fair bit about graphic design and music, whether it’s for Classic Pop magazine, the ‘Art on your sleeve‘ podcast or just general musings in my dedicated Facebook group about the subject. It was record sleeves that made me want to be a graphic designer, tantalising me with their beguiling concepts and creativity. As a kid, before I …
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Episode 20 – Andy McCluskey / OMD
We are back, Back, BACK! A new season of the podcast is finally here, after an extended hiatus caused by a combination of grim things, too dispiriting to elaborate upon here. In this episode, I speak with Andy McCluskey, lead vocalist of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, or OMD, as they are more commonly known. Andy formed OMD with co-writer …
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- Podcast
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80s, Andy McCluskey, Architecture and Morality, Bauhaus Staircase, eighties, Electronica, Enola Gay, Graphic Design, OMD, Paul Humphreys, Peter Saville, Synth pop
- October 26, 2023
All together now
If you just want images, they are below, but before that, we need some context… In my last blog post, I looked back at previous Eurovision Song Contests while we were waiting to hear who the host city would be in 2023. You can read about that HERE. Well… the news is now in, and against all odds, or certainly …
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With a little help from my friends
It’s official, the Eurovision Song Contest is coming to the United Kingdom in 2023 as a replacement host for Ukraine which tragically remains under attack from Russia. The cities shortlisted have now been published; Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield and we’ll find out more in the autumn. These seven cities are all places I’m familiar with and …
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Episode 19 – David Storey
In this episode of Art on your sleeve, I speak with painter and former graphic designer, David Storey. David’s career designing record sleeves began in the 1970s when he landed a job straight out of design school working for Elton John’s Rocket Records. This position provided a crucial platform for him to build a career in the industry leading to …
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