Peter Saville | |
|---|---|
 Peter Saville at I realize 2009, Turin | |
| Born | (1955-10-09)9 October 1955 (age 69) Manchester,Lancashire, England |
| Occupation(s) | Art director,graphic designer |
| Known for | Design of record and CD covers |
Peter Andrew SavilleCBE (born 9 October 1955) is an Englishart director andgraphic designer. He designed many record sleeves forFactory Records, which he co-founded in 1978 alongsideTony Wilson andAlan Erasmus.[1]
Peter Saville was born inManchester,Lancashire,[2] and attendedSt Ambrose College. He studied graphic design atManchester Polytechnic from 1975 to 1978.
Saville became involved in the music scene after meetingTony Wilson, the journalist and broadcaster. The meeting resulted in Wilson commissioning the first Factory poster (FAC 1). Saville was a partner in Factory Records along with Wilson,Martin Hannett,Rob Gretton andAlan Erasmus.
Peter Saville designed many record sleeves forFactory artists, most notably forJoy Division andNew Order.
Influenced by fellow studentMalcolm Garrett, who had begun designing for the Manchester punk groupBuzzcocks, and byHerbert Spencer'sPioneers of Modern Typography, Saville was inspired byJan Tschichold, chief propagandist for the New Typography. According to Saville: "Malcolm had a copy of Herbert Spencer'sPioneers 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 parallel in it for the New Wave that was evolving out of Punk."[1][3]
Saville collaborated withBen Kelly on numerous projects during this period. Saville credited Kelly as a major influence on his work, saying "I thought I could just take things from Ben, like he was a reference book or something. He used to get really mad about it."[4] Kelly and Saville won a Designers and Art Directors Award for the sleeve ofOrchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's 1980 self-titledfirst album.[5]
Saville's album design for Joy Division's last album,Closer, released shortly after the suicide ofIan Curtis in May 1980, was controversial[6] in its depiction of Christ's body entombed. However, the design pre-dated Curtis's death, which the magazineNew Musical Express confirmed, since it had been displaying proofs of the artwork in its offices for several months.[6]
Saville's output from this period included re-appropriation from the canon of art and design. Design criticAlice Twemlow wrote: "... in the 1980s ... he would directly and irreverently 'lift' an image from one genre—art history for example—and recontextualise it in another. AFantin-Latour 'Roses' painting in combination with a colour-coded alphabet became the seminal album cover for New Order'sPower, Corruption & Lies (1983), for example."[7]
In the 2002 film24 Hour Party People, which is based on Tony Wilson and the history of Factory Records, Saville is portrayed by actorEnzo Cilenti.[8] His reputation for missing deadlines[9] is comically highlighted in the film.
In 1979, Saville moved from Manchester to London and became art director of theVirgin offshootDindisc. He subsequently created a body of work that furthered his refined take onmodernism, producing work for artists such asRoxy Music,Wham!,Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,Ultravox andPeter Gabriel. During his time at Dindisc, he also designed the sleeve for Canadian bandMartha and the Muffins’ albumMetro Music. He was paid more to design Gabriel's 1986 albumSo than for any other record sleeve in his career; he received £20,000.[10] Saville founded the design agency Peter Saville Associates (still designing primarily for musical artists and record labels), which includedBrett Wickens, before he was invited to close his office in 1990 to join the partner-ownedPentagram. Saville collaborated withTransport for Greater Manchester in 2008 for the rebranding of theMetrolink tram system with a yellow and silver polka-dot scheme after a period of significant expansion had been undertaken on the network.[11]
In 1993 Saville left London and moved toLos Angeles, to join ad agency Frankfurt Balkind withBrett Wickens. Saville soon returned to London, however, where he asked designer Howard Wakefield to restart the design studio. For three years they worked from "The Apartment" in partnership with German advertising agency Meiré & Meiré. Saville's modernist apartment inMayfair doubled as the London studio. (The same apartment is depicted in the record sleeve ofPulp's albumThis Is Hardcore.) The Apartment produced works for clients such asMandarina Duck andSmart Car. In 1999 Saville moved to offices inClerkenwell.
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 asSelfridges,EMI andPringle. Other significant commissions came from the field of fashion. Saville's fashion clients have includedJil Sander,John Galliano,Yohji Yamamoto,Christian Dior,Stella McCartney and Calvin Klein[12] Saville often worked in collaboration with longtime friend, fashion photographerNick Knight. The two launched the art and fashion websiteSHOWstudio in November 2000.Belgian fashion designerRaf Simons was granted full access to the archives of Saville's vintage Factory projects and made a personal selection of Saville-designed works to integrate them into Raf Simons "Closer" Autumn/Winter 2003-04 collection. Raf Simons Spring/Summer 2018 collection also features a selection of archival works by Saville.
In 2004 Saville became Creative Director of theCity of Manchester, playing a strategic role in the regeneration and cultural renaissance of his home city, notably defining the ethos for the Manchester International Festival.
In 2010 Saville designed theEngland football team home shirt.[13]
Saville has three D&AD awards, is a Royal Designer for Industry and won the London Design Medal in 2013.
In 2012 Saville collaborated withDovecot Studios,Edinburgh in celebration of their centenary to create a large scale tapestry of his work After, After Monarch of the Glen. This new tapestry commission is Dovecot Studios re appropriation of Peter Saville's appropriation ofSir Peter Blake's appropriation ofSir Edwin Landseer's 1851 paintingMonarch of the Glen.
In 2018, Saville redesigned the logo for British luxury fashion houseBurberry, as revealed by then creative directorRiccardo Tisci.[14]
In July 2019 Saville was featured in theBBC Radio 4 programmeOnly Artists in conversation with industrial designerMarek Reichman.[15]
Saville was appointedCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the2020 New Year Honours for services to design.[16]
Saville works withJony Ive's studio LoveFrom.[17]
Saville's reclaimed status and contribution to graphic design were firmly established when London'sDesign Museum exhibited his body of work in 2003. The exhibition,The Peter Saville Show, was open from 23 May through 14 September 2003.[18] A book published byFrieze,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.
Anna Blessmann and Peter Saville met in a gallery in Berlin in 2001 and soon began an artwork collaboration, works have been shown at Paul Stolper Gallery London, CRAC Alsace, Migros Museum Zurich, Whitechapel London and in various publications.
In 2010 they presented 'Swing Project 1' in the FRAC Champagne-Ardenne, Reims and in 2012 'Swing Project 2' at Galerie Neu, Berlin. In 2013 they participated in the Fiorucci Art Trust 'Volcano Extravaganza', Stromboli. In 2014 they exhibited 'Swing Project 3' at the Cabinet Gallery, London.
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