Peter Saville
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Peter Saville (born 1955 in Manchester[1]) is an English graphic designer based in London. He had a firm, Peter Saville Associates and is mostly known for his work on album covers for Joy Division, New Order as well as other musicians signed to Factory Records, the record label he co-founded. Referring to his work between 1978 and 1985 Paul Morley described Saville as "a designer of record sleeves that you were tempted to applaud whenever you saw them". In addition to his music-related work, his clients have included CNN, Adobe Systems, Givenchy and Stella McCartney.
He attended St ambrose college and studied graphic design at Manchester Polytechnic (later Manchester Metropolitan University) from 1975 to 1978. Influenced by his fellow student, Malcolm Garrett, who had begun designing for the Manchester punk group, the Buzzcocks, and by Herbert Spencer's Pioneers of Modern Typography, Saville was inspired by Jan Tschichold, chief propagandist for the New Typography. Saville entered the music scene after meeting Tony Wilson, the journalist and television presenter, whom he approached at a Patti Smith gig in 1978. This resulted in Wilson commissioning the first Factory Records poster, Fac 1, Saville's first Classical/Modernist work. In July 1978 he graduated from Manchester Polytechnic with a first class degree. After leaving university, Saville co-founded Factory Records 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]
In 1979, he moved to London and became art director of the Virgin offshoot, Din Disc. He subsequently created a body of work which furthered his refined take on Modernism, working for everyone from Roxy Music, Wham to OMD. As designing record sleeves is hardly a viable business, he founded the design agency Peter Saville Associates, still working mainly with the music scene, before he was asked to join the partner-owned Pentagram, a small yet one of the most respected design agencies of the 70s and 80s. Before long, he was forced to leave Pentagram in 1992, as his invoicing was ridiculously low (less than £300,000 by a five-man team) and due to his notorious working methods and ethics (par example, it is rumoured[citation needed] that several New Order releases were delayed for months because Saville failed to deliver the sleeve on time). Saville then left UK and turned to Los Angeles and the ad agency Frankfurt Balkind with his longterm collaborator Brett Wickens. The traditional agency climate in US didn't fit the bohemian very well and Saville returned to London. He ran a corporate identity off-shoot named The Apartment for a German advertising agency Meiré & Meiré from his infamous modernist apartment in Mayfair which he furnished back in the 70s that also doubled as the London offices of the agency (the flat is also depicted in the record sleeve of 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 he moved to offices in Clerkenwell to re-start Peter Saville Associates.
By then, he was back in fashion thanks to a younger generation of people in advertising and fashion who had grown up with his work for Factory Records. In fact, the agency Meiré & Meiré, Pulp and Suede were all once teenagers who grew up to New Order and Saville's sleeves.[citation needed] He reached a creative and a commercial peak with design consultancy clients like Adobe, Selfridge's, EMI, Pringle etc. However, his most significant projects are within the field of fashion with work for clients like Jil Sander, Martine Sitbon, John Galliano, Yohji Yamamoto, Christian Dior and Stella McCartney, often in collaboration with his long time friend, fashion photographer Nick Knight: in particular, launching their art and fashion website SHOWstudio in November 2000.
His 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 soundtrack to the exhibit was performed and recorded by New Order, and was available to early visitors to the exhibit.
Saville was commissioned by Adidas to design a Limited Edition, 5000 unit, shoe for the release of Adicolor sneakers when they were released in 2005.[citation needed]
In March 2004, Saville was appointed creative director for Manchester city.[citation needed]
In 2005, Saville's design for New Order's 1983 album Power, Corruption and Lies was one of the great 25 British icons in a public competition sponsored by London's Design Museum and the BBC.[citation needed]
Peter Saville has received an honorary doctorate from Manchester Metropolitan University.[citation needed]
Contents |
[edit] Selected works
 Suede - Coming Up |
 Proposed flag for the North West England region. |
[edit] References
[edit] Further reading
- Designed by Peter Saville - Peter Saville (Princeton Architectural Press, 2003)
[edit] External links
- Peter Saville Associates
- Peter Saville biography
- A selection of Factory designs, primarily New Order
- Peter Saville Information
- Peter Saville @ Cerysmatic Factory
- Spike Magazine Interview
- Blue Mondays Owners Club
- Adicolor
- Peter Saville, Designing Modern Britain Exhibition, 2006, The Design Museum
| Joy Division |
| Ian Curtis | Bernard Sumner | Peter Hook | Stephen Morris Former members: Terry Mason | Tony Tabac | Steve Brotherdale |
| Discography |
|---|
| Albums: Unknown Pleasures | Closer |
| Compilation Albums: Still | Substance | Permanent | Heart and Soul |
| Live Albums: Preston Warehouse | Les Bains Douches | Fractured Box Set | Re-Fractured Box Set | Let The Movie Begin |
| Radio Albums: The Peel Sessions | The Complete BBC Recordings | Before and After/The BBC Sessions |
| Singles & EPs: An Ideal for Living | Transmission | Licht und Blindheit | Komakino | Love Will Tear Us Apart | Atmosphere/She's Lost Control |
| Unreleased Records The Warsaw Demo |
| Related articles |
| Factory Records | The Haçienda | 24 Hour Party People | Martin Hannett | Peter Saville | Tony Wilson | Rob Gretton | Alan Erasmus | New Order | Control: The Ian Curtis Film |
Categories: Articles needing sections | Articles lacking sources from December 2006 | All articles lacking sources | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1955 births | Living people | English graphic designers | Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University | People from Manchester
