Inspirations

Talking to some of the young designers here at Works about who or what inspired them to pursue a design career got me thinking about when I first started out - way back in a more analogue time. Graphic design was just starting to explode with the possibilities that a digital world could offer - a time of transition where traditional techniques were still being taught but computer generated imagery was already starting to reshape our world. Times and techniques have sure changed, but good design is good design, no matter the tools of the trade. Here were 5 sources of inspiration for me - one of whom I was lucky enough to collaborate with...

?WARNER BROS. CARTOONS INC.

Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Friz Freleng and the inimitable Chuck Jones not only produced some of animation’s greatest characters – Bugs Bunny, Wile E. Coyote, Yosemite Sam etc, they created a whole universe for them to inhabit. Quirky landscapes in outlandish colours; everything from Mexican cantinas and deep desert canyons to alien worlds and historic locations - all introduced by hand drawn captions using evocative period typography. A style much mimicked and admired for its retro aesthetic.

Disney art at that time was sentimental, soft, romantic and primarily aimed at children. Warner Bros. on the other hand went in the opposite direction – still cinematic but brash, reckless, violent, irreverent, street smart and anti-authoritarian. The illustrations were purposefully mis-registered, crude almost, with a wilful bending of perspective and eschewing any pretence of chocolate box, cutesy realism.  

As a kid watching these cartoons, I decided that being an animator was the job for me. It didn’t quite turn out like that but it set me down the road that I’m still traveling along.

Over the years some of these animations have succumbed to the more enlightened times we now live in, but here's a classic sequence involving some "pronoun trouble"...

ROGER DEAN

I don’t mind admitting being obsessed with the art of Roger Dean as a spotty high school teenager. In the rather dark and bleak days of life in 1970’s northern Britain, his heady mix of mysticism and natural world-meets sci-fi was a welcome escape to other worldliness. Dean hit the news more recently when a judge ruled against his claim that James Cameron copied his fantasy landscapes for the blockbusting film Avatar. Maybe the director might just have also been inspired by the designer's work?

Dean became well known for a series of distinctive album covers for the bands Yes and Asia featuring exotic landscapes populated with impossible waterfalls, floating islands and organic architecture. He also designed typographic logos for Yes and Richard Branson’s first business, Virgin Records. To this day I still have my original, much thumbed, copy of Dean's 1975 book ‘Views’. 

Here's an interview where Dean discusses the difference between designing now and pre-computers.

GEORGE HARDY

We were fortunate as design students at Newcastle Polytechnic (now the University of Northumbria) to receive project briefs from several top illustrators of the day. Amongst them was George Hardy. George drew the truly iconic Dark Side of the Moon album cover for Storm Thorgerson’s Hipgnosis design studio, which has been called the greatest album cover of all time. His other credits include Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here and several Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath album covers. George and the other illustrators would travel up from London to set design briefs and run ‘crit’ debriefing sessions of our work in addition to talking about their own careers, influences and latest projects.

It was fairly intimidating, but the experience led me many years later to help deliver a final year design module at the University of Bradford. For over 12 years I had the privilege to put something back into the education system that had helped me, in addition to meeting, and learning from, talented young designers from all walks of life who were starting out on their own individual design journeys. Always fantastic to come across their subsequent work or read about the great jobs or projects that they've landed.

At the time I didn’t realise how lucky we were to be mentored, however briefly, by one of the UK’s truly great designers. He’ll not see this, but just in case – thanks very much George!

RICHARD WILLIAMS

As a student I managed to wangle a visit to Richard Williams’ animation studio situated in a small Georgian townhouse in Soho Square. In those pre-cgi days hand drawn cel animation studios were thriving in London – delivering films, kids tv shows and commercials – amongst them were Bob Godfrey Films (Roobarb & Custard and Henry’s Cat), TVC (Yellow Submarine & The Snowman) and Moo Movies (commercials for Kellogg’s & Shell)

Williams was at the top of the tree, going on to win 3 Oscars for the films Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Prologue. A copy of his book The Animator’s Survival Kit can be found in most animation studios and colleges and is now even available as an iOS app (sadly not in the UK). I remember the small, multi-floored building was strewn with cell drawings for his unfinished film The Thief and the Cobbler, and rooms off cramped corridors stuffed with reference artefacts, character model sheets and of course the animators themselves, all heads down – feverishly creating everything by hand…

The design and stylistic look of the The Thief and the Cobbler is incredible - but the complex animation and lack of funding meant Williams' version film was never fully completed, and still holds the Guinness Record for the longest ever production period - 31 years! Disney Studios have since restored much of the original animation, so it may one day see the light of day!

Here's a 2019 interview with William's daughter Natasha.

RALPH STEADMAN

The saying goes that you should never meet your heroes. I haven’t met Ralph Steadman in person, but was fortunate enough to work closely with him – bringing to life some of his amazing illustrations for a TV series called Harry Enfield’s Guide to Opera.

Steadman's anarchic, ink spattered illustrations grabbed my attention at art school - and I collected examples from children's books to exhibition posters which I still have today.

So to eventually collaborate with him was something of a dream come true. The show's producers commissioned a series of animations of famous scenes and characters from various operas including Carmen, Madam Butterfly and La Bohème. Ralph would send rough pencil sketches and ask what I needed to enable me to animate them – if someone had told me at art school that this was a likely scenario, I absolutely wouldn’t have believed them. A dream come true! By the end of the series we accumulated dozens of original artworks and spent days scanning them, deconstructing different elements and rebuilding them (scratch-back animations) in time to the likes of Verdi, Mozart and Puccini.

We used some of the drawings for the title sequence too - with each show featuring a different set of animations. Although I didn't get to meet Ralph I did get to direct Harry Enfield for the titles, which we filmed in Leeds Grand Theatre and Opera House. 

I hope you enjoyed reading about this selection of inspirational animators, designers and illustrators from my youth. It would be good to hear about who inspired you!