Graphic Journey Blog

Fletcher 3

Here is part three of six stages of Alan's creative life in words only. A link will always be at a foot of this series to visit Alan's wonderful archive.

1962-65 Fletcher/Forbes/Gill

Alan introduced Bob Gill to Colin Forbes. They all seemed to get along swimmingly, admiring one another’s work. Discussions of getting together formally became a regular talking point, which, as Alan recalled, was endless. It was only after some clairvoyant advice given to Gill in a caravan that they finally agreed to join forces.

Work was divided up and they found a nice little space thanks to Gill, who persuaded an ad agency he’d been involved with to bankroll the purchase of a small house in a mews just off Baker Street. A year passed while the property was being renovated and on April Fools’ Day 1962, the Fletcher/Forbes/Gill doors were opened on what was to become a devastating force in British graphics.

At first, it was just the three of them, all very hands-on, plus a receptionist and her dog. With not enough work to occupy all of them, they would often spend time in nearby cafés bitching about London and philosophising about design while puffing away on Gauloises and downing copious amounts of coffee.

What little work they had came from Time and Life, Pirelli and Penguin Books. With the latter client, they’d argue over which of them was to design a cover, for the handsome fee of £30 (around £450 in today’s money).

One day Alan recalled coming back from a lunch to discover their receptionist painting her fingernails. Perturbed by this lack of conscientiousness, there were huddled discussions and talks of firing, but Alan had a better idea. He told her that they were going to promote her and that she was now going to be the receptionist and bookkeeper. It worked. The nail varnish never reappeared.

The idea of passing on their wisdom in book form was established with A Sign Systems Manual, Identity Kits and Graphic Design: Visual Comparisons and were the beginning of many to follow. And up popped a new partner in the shape of Theo Crosby.

To visit the Alan Fletcher archive click HERE

Fletcher 2

Here is part two of six stages of Alan's creative life in words only. A link will always be at a foot of this series to visit Alan's wonderful archive.

2. Then there were two / 1959 - 1962

Alan’s journey back home from New York actually went via Venezuela (an ill-judged fantasy, but that’s another story) and then on to Italy with Paola. While there he spent time in Milan working for Pirelli.

When he did finally arrive back in London he still held the memory of his exhilarating time in the States, but that image was abruptly brought down to earth. London was even more depressing than when he’d left three years earlier. Teenagers looked like their parents, apart from the odd Teddy Boy. There was little design work to be had. The industry was still termed ‘commercial art’ and what good stuff there was, went to the established guard of the day: Milner Grey, Henrion, Misha Black, Abram Games et al. Alan longed to be back in the noise and neon of New York, where everything was big and blowsy, and work was plentiful and well-paid.

Thanks to the connections he had made in New York he’d secured a three-day-a-week consultancy for Time and Life in London, along with work from Pirelli and a one-day-a-week teaching post at Central School thanks to Colin Forbes, who was head of graphics. Alan rented space in Colin’s flat as a studio. With the security of some income from his two clients, he began to work.

During the tail end of Alan’s time in New York, he’d made a point of contacting the city’s creative set. He’d been keen to seek out Bob Gill, a young ‘hot’ designer at the time. But it never happened. Back in London, he settled into a daily routine in his basement studio at Forbes’s flat. One evening his phone rang: “Hello Alan, it’s Bob Gill. I’m in London. Can we meet?” The die was being cast for the beginning of something very special.

For Alan's archive click HERE

Fletcher 1

In 2013 Alan Fletcher's daughter Raffaella asked me to write the creative stepping-stones to Alan's remarkable path, for the website/archive she was planning as the permanent go-to place for all things, Alan Fletcher. It has been running now for almost a decade and is a treasure trove for any graphic student or fan of Alan's work. With evermore being unearthed regularly and made available. And I would urge you to visit the site. A link will always be at a foot of this series of six stages of Alan's creative life. So here, in words only, is part one.

1. Beginnings / 1952 - 1959
For many of us, Alan Fletcher was always part of the graphic landscape, fully formed and brilliant. So it’s hard to imagine him as a twenty-something trying to find a creative identity in the ravages of post-war London: a grim, rationed, fog-laden, gloomy place.

In 1950 he wove his way through a series of art schools, culminating in the prestigious Central School of Arts and Crafts. Here he found like-minded students: Derek Birdsall, Terence Conran, Colin Forbes and Theo Crosby. This little gang had a plethora of inspirational tutors at their disposal in the shape of Paul Hogarth to Victor Pasmore and Richard Hamilton to Eduardo Paolozzi and many more. The place was bubbling with experimentation, a sense of optimism and a vision for a future Britain.

That ethos continued later when Alan was awarded a place at The Royal College of Art, another hothouse of surfacing talent, including Len Deighton, Dennis Bailey, David Gentleman, Joe Tilson and Peter Blake. While there he managed to get himself an exchange scholarship to Yale School of Art and Design in the States.

In 1956, sporting a full head of hair and with his young wife, Paola, on his arm, Alan set sail to the land of plenty, bustling with vibrant colour and full of unapologetic energy. It was a revelation and something he embraced with open arms. At Yale, he was again blessed with tutors of exceptional talent, among them Paul Rand, Bradbury Thompson and Josef Albers.

While in the States Alan kept in touch with Colin Forbes and was sad to discover that he was having a depressing time in London. “Come over, you’ll love it”, suggested Alan. Forbes did just that and was picked up from the airport by Alan and Paola in a classic open-top roadster. They spent the entire evening driving around the dramatic skyscraper canyons of Manhattan. Forbes camped out in Fletcher’s apartment and the stay did the trick: when Forbes departed back to London there was a definite spring in his step and a seed had been planted in his mind that would blossom two decades later.

Before leaving America, Alan made a point of zooming around New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, making many lifelong friends along the way while freelancing for some of the most creative art directors of the time, including Saul Bass and Leo Lionni.

The experience of his time in America gave him not only a professional edge but also the confidence to head back to London with the intention of making some waves.

For the Alan Fletcher archive click HERE

Mike Dempsey: My graphic journey

That’s me above, and this post is unashamedly about me and how I got into what has become a lifelong affair with graphic design – something that has never diminished but grown. Now heading towards my 80s (I still think I’m 34) and having lived through monumental changes in the creative world (from the old analogue days to the hyper technology of today and everything in-between), I am posting a recorded interview from RDInsight, a podcast series I conceived in 2006 and still going strong. I interview those who have received the accolade Royal Designer for Industry (RDI), which is a UK honour awarded by the Royal Society of Arts to exceptional designers across all disciplines for their creative contributions to society. There are over 60 interviews. But for the 60th one, the tables were turned and I became the interviewee. So at the end of 2022, I got to talk about my life and work. I’m now relieved to be back in charge of the microphone again.

To hear the recording, you’ll find the link at the foot, just click the bar, where you’ll find me recounting my own ‘graphic journey’.

But before that, here is a little of my work for clients English National Opera (ENO) and the London Chamber Orchestra (LCO) – two projects from the 1990s I dearly loved being involved with. Here is some of that work. 

MIKE DEMPSEY RDI FINAL EDIT 4:11.2022 copy

Persephone Books: A woman’s vision realised

There are still single-minded independent publishers dotted around Britain, quietly doing great things with the minimum of staff or the specialist departments of the London-based conglomerates. One of these is Persephone Books until two years ago was tucked away in Bloomsbury, just a short walk from Mecklenburgh Square, home to Leonard and Virginia Woolf’s Hogarth Press back in 1917. I met with Persephone’s founder, Nicola Beauman a little while back, to talk about how it all started. There is a scene in the classic British movie Brief Encounter (below) where Cecilia Johnson (as Laura) is collecting a book she had ordered from the Boots Library – yes, Boots had its own libraries in the 1940s/’50s. 

“Miss Lewis had, at last, managed to get the new Kate O’Brien for me. I believe she’d kept it hidden under the counter for two days.” LAURA, 'BRIEF ENCOUNTER' (1945)

Nicola Beauman kept that image in her head when she was formulating her idea for Persephone. What books would Laura have read and loved? Now in its 25th year, Persephone has gone from a few hundred enthusiastic readers back in 1998 to over 30,000 today. And what occurred to me while talking to Nicola is the fact that she has created the true meaning of a ‘brand’. It is a complete reflection of what she believes her publishing house should be, down to the last detail. No committees, just her. It is such a delight to know that this kind of independence still exists in this crazy age. Ironically, the Woolfs’ Hogarth Press is now part of the conglomerate Random House.

“...whether they are on an office desk, by the Aga, or hanging in a bag over the handles of a pram, it is important to take pleasure from how they look and feel.”

NICOLA BEAUMAN ON PERSEPHONE BOOKS 

Persephone hunts down neglected fiction and non-fiction by mid-20th-century women writers and now has 150 books in print. It is located in a little shop on Lamb’s Conduit Street, Bloomsbury. Here, everyone, including Nicola Beauman, often glimpsed behind a vase of freshly cut flowers, sits working away in the space. The lighting is warm and at a low level. On the walls are an eclectic mix of posters from the 1920s to ’50s, juxtaposed with a classic Massimo Vignelli wall calendar, along with aprons and mugs for sale.

The original Bloomsbury shop interior.

Below that are shelves filled with Persephone books, sporting their distinctive grey covers. “I don’t like book covers,” Nicola told me over a croissant and coffee in a nearby cafe, but what is very clear is that she does care. There is an intuitive sense of style ticking away in her heart. She takes great care of her books’ production. Printed in Germany, the process uses what is known as ‘dispersion binding’ – this allows the book to open and lay flat, with none of that irritating springing shut. The endpapers are carefully selected textile designs sourced from the period of the novel’s publication. The distinctive grey covers (below) were inspired by the New York coffee shop Dean & DeLuca’s cardboard cups.

The original Bloomsbury-based Persephone shop was instantly loveable, with all of Persephone’s staff making it their place to keep in touch with their customers on social media and running afternoon events throughout the year where authors and books are discussed. Persephone is one woman’s vision realised.

Here is their new Bath-based shop, looking every bit as charming as the old Bloomsbury one.

Persephone Books are at 8 Edgar Buildings, Bath BA1 2EE

 

 

Season's greetings

To all who stopped by to read my views and news over the past year. Thank you. May you have a joyful time with family, friends and lovers. X Graphic Journey

The cover designer's dread: "We have some notes".

Below:  Dec. 9, 2022 New York Times
NYT journalist, Matt Dorfman in the accompanying piece on 'The NYT Best Book Covers 2022' said:

" Most often, any personal stylistic expressions in their work are swallowed up in service to the multiple masters — editors, marketing directors, sales teams — who sign off on a book’s cover. There is also the matter of adhering to any one publisher’s dos and don’ts, which can inform mandates about typography, color palettes and production flourishes like embossing or metallic inks. For people employed in a theoretically creative pursuit, designers’ talents are often defined by how effortlessly they can make themselves disappear to serve the book".

Cutting to the chase Dorfman means a shedload of suggestions and interference from those in the publishing industry who think they know better than the poor designer. After that onslaught, they are left to absorb all that crap and attempt to produce something of merit. I think this group of covers demonstrates that they are fighting a losing battle. How sad things have got.

Intelligent design

Déjà vu.

Déjà vu.

Marina Willer RDI Photo Pentagram

I recently interviewed the talented graphic designer and filmmaker Marina Willer RDI. She has recently celebrated ten years as a Pentagram partner at their London studio. It was the much-loved Tate Gallery identity project, designed in 1999, that brought her to the notice of the design world. It was to become one of many projects she was responsible for while at the London-based branding agency, Wolff Olins, a company she worked at for thirteen years. Listen to her fascinating story from her idyllic childhood in Brazil to Royal Designer for Industry and everything in between. Listen HERE

Marina Willer: A Colourful Life

Marina Willer RDI Photo Pentagram

I recently interviewed the talented graphic designer and filmmaker Marina Willer RDI. She has recently celebrated ten years as a Pentagram partner at their London studio. It was the much-loved Tate Gallery identity project, designed in 1999, that brought her to the notice of the design world. It was to become one of many projects she was responsible for while at the London-based branding agency, Wolff Olins, a company she worked at for thirteen years. Listen to her fascinating story from her idyllic childhood in Brazil to Royal Designer for Industry and everything in between. Listen HERE