It’s funny how there are trends in the naming of design companies. Currently we have a passion for the singular and quirky : Spin, Yes, Form, Purpose, Together, - you get the idea. In the 50s and early 60s it was all a bit technical sounding, with collectives like, Design Research Unit, Planning Unit, Forum Design Unit. In the mid 60s to 70s all you had to do was slot the principal names together: Fletcher/Forbes/Gill. Churchill/Holmes/Kitley. Abis/Stribley/Sider. Negus & Negus. Henrion Ludlow Schmitt etc, all sounding like firms of solicitors or a rock group - Emerson Lake & Palmer. Crosby, Still & Nash and so on. In 1969 these three turned up…
Bentley/Farrell/Burnett…
They made quite a splash. What you have to realise is that early 60s was locked into a Swiss inspired stranglehold. Grids, sans serif fonts, all ranged left in a sea of white, were the disciplines of the day. But as the sixties progressed and London began to ‘swing’ the rather clinical Swiss approach was out of step with the prevailing youth culture. A greater fluidity was beginning to surface. In the UK Alan Aldridge, Alan Cracknell. Adrian George and Barry Zaid were breaking down the grids. And over the pond in the US they had Peter Max and Push Pin Studio collective, all helping to change the face of graphics and illustration. Within a short space of time every designer in London was reassessing his or her work, and as their shirts and dresses became more flowery and colourful, so too did their work. Others doggedly stayed on the Swiss rails. Not so for Bentley/Farrell/Burnett, they were a group born out of that psychedelically induced era, and their work perfectly reflects the period. Take a look…
They were together for just a few years. In that time they managed to clock up an alarming amount of awards, including 2 D&AD Silver. Then just as fast as they surfaced, they disappeared, breaking up and going their separate ways, but continuing as solo designers. As individuals they never quite producing that same sense of occasion. During that short period together they made work that is an important part of British graphic history, which has a vibrancy that still pleases.