Sunday 6 January 2008

Peter Saville is famous for the design of record sleeves for Factory Records artists, most notably for Joy Division and New Order.

Influenced by a fellow student, Malcolm Garrett, who had begun designing for the ManchesterBuzzcocks, and by Herbert Spencer's Pioneers of Modern Typography, Saville was inspired by Jan Tschichold, chief propagandist for the New Typography. According to Saville: "Malcolm had a copy of Herbert Spencer's Pioneers of Modern Typography. The one chapter that he hadn't reinterpreted in his own work was the cool, disciplined "New Typography" of Tschichold and its subtlety appealed to me. I found a paralled in it for the New Wave that was evolving out of Punk."[2] [3] punk group, the

Saville entered the music scene after meeting Tony Wilson, the journalist and television presenter, whom he approached at a Patti Smith show in 1978. This resulted in Wilson commissioning the first Factory Records poster (FAC 1). Saville became a partner of Factory Records along with Wilson, Rob Gretton and Alan Erasmus.

Saville's album design for Joy Division's last album, Closer, released shortly after Ian Curtis's suicide in May 1980, was controversial[citation needed] in its depiction of Christ's body entombed. However, the design pre-dated Curtis' death, a fact which rock magazine the New Musical Express was able to confirm, since it had been displaying proofs of the artwork on its walls for several months.[citation needed]

Saville's output from this period included reappropriation from art and design. Design critic Alice Twemlow wrote: "...in the 1980s... he would directly and irreverently "lift" an image from one genre—art history for example—and recontextualize it in another. A Fantin-Latour "Roses" painting in combination with a color-coded alphabet became the seminal album cover for New Order's Power, Corruption and Lies (1983), for example."[3]

In the 2002 film 24 Hour Party People based on Tony Wilson and the history of Factory Records, Saville is portrayed by actor Enzo Cilenti. [4] His reputation for missing deadlines is comically highlighted in the film.

[edit] Work beyond Factory Records

In 1979, Saville moved from Manchester to London and became art director of the VirginModernism, working for artists such as Roxy Music, Wham and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. Saville founded the design agency Peter Saville Associates (still designing primarily for musical artists and record labels) before he was invited to join the partner-owned Pentagram. Pentagram was small but one of the most respected design agencies in the world at that time (and still is today). offshoot, Din Disc. He subsequently created a body of work which furthered his refined take on

Saville was forced to leave Pentagram in 1992, as his invoicing was very low (less than £300,000 by a five-man team) and due to his notorious working methods. Saville subsequently left London and moved to Los Angeles and the ad agency Frankfurt Balkind with his longterm collaborator Brett Wickens.[5] Saville soon returned "penniless" to London.[6] He ran a corporate identity off-shoot named The Apartment for a German advertising agency Meiré & Meiré from his modernist apartment in Mayfair that also doubled as the London offices of the agency.[7]Pulp's album This Is Hardcore). The Apartment produced works for clients such as Mandarina Duck and Smart Car. This venture was dismantled in 1999 and Saville moved to offices in Clerkenwell to re-start Peter Saville Associates. (The same apartment is depicted in the record sleeve of

Saville grew in demand as a younger generation of people in advertising and fashion had grown up with his work for Factory Records. He reached a creative and a commercial peak with design consultancy clients such as Adobe, Selfridge's, EMI and Pringle. Other significant commissions came from the field of fashion. Saville's fashion clients include(d) Jil Sander, Martine Sitbon, John Galliano, Yohji Yamamoto, Christian Dior and Stella McCartney. Saville often worked in collaboration with his long time friend, fashion photographer Nick Knight. The two launched an art and fashion website SHOWstudio in November 2000.

[edit] Exhibition, book and soundtrack

Saville's reclaimed status and contribution to graphic design was firmly established when London's Design Museum exhibited his body of work in 2003. Due to his notorious bad luck in following deadlines, he was never approached by the museum for the exhibition's marketing materials. The exhibition, called The Peter Saville Show was open from 23 May 2003 through 14 September 2003. [4] A book by Rick Poynor, Designed by Peter Saville, accompanied the exhibition. The Peter Saville Show Soundtrack for the exhibition was performed and recorded by New Order, and was available to early visitors to the exhibition.

[edit] Sample album covers by Saville

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