 The "Angryman" logo | |
| Formation | 14 July 1986 (1986-07-14) |
|---|---|
| Founders |
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| Founded at | Sheffield, England |
| Type | Graphic design studio |
| Legal status | Company |
| Website | www |
The Designers Republic is a Britishgraphic design studio based inSheffield, England, founded in 1986 by Ian Anderson andNick Phillips. They are best known forelectronic music logos, album artwork,[1] andanti-establishment aesthetics, embracing "brashconsumerism and the uniform style of corporatebrands". Work by tDR is held in the permanent collections of theMuseum of Modern Art and theVictoria and Albert Museum.[2]
The studio in its larger form closed in January 2009, with Anderson stating it would continue in a more "slimline" form.[3][4]
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Work by the Designers Republic generally is viewed[by whom?] as "playful and bright" and considered Maximum-minimalist, mixing images from Japaneseanime andsubvertised corporate logos with apostmodern tendency towardsirony. It often features statements/slogans such as"Work Buy Consume Die","Robots Build Robots","Customized Terror","Buy nothing, pay now", and"Made in the Designers Republic". They also celebrated their northern roots with phrases like"Made in the Designers Republic, North of Nowhere" and"SoYo" (referring toSheffield's county ofSouth Yorkshire) – affirming they were not fromLondon's design community in Soho.
Initially, Ian Anderson founded the Designers Republic to designflyers for the band Person to Person, which he managed at the time. His first ideas were inspired byRussianconstructivism.[5] Nick Phillips, a sculptor and the organ player inWorld of Twist, soon joined him, and the duo created a visual identity for Fon Records, and album cover forChakk's10 Days in an Elevator. This financed a studio space in the boardroom of a former engineering works.[3]
Another early client which brought them to the wider public's attention wasLeeds bandAge of Chance, for whom they developed a series of record covers between 1986 and 1987, beginning with a cover of thePrince track "Kiss". The duo worked 72-hour weekly shifts, doing everything by hand using photocopiers, craft knives and spraymount.[citation needed]
The sleeve of the 198712-inch "Don't Get Mad... Get Even! (The New York Remixes)" was selected as one ofQ's "100 Best Record Covers of All Time" in 2001.[6]
Their work for Age of Chance led to further record sleeve work forKrush andPop Will Eat Itself, for whom tDR bastardised thePepsi logo to form the band's visual identity.[7]
In the 1990s, they established a faux corporation branded 'Pho-Ku', to express their dislike of corporate-driven consumerist identity.[8]
In 1994,Emigre magazine devoted a whole issue to the Designers Republic. A copy is held byMoMA. This issue is stillEmigre's best-ever seller and is now sold out, changing hands for up to £750.[9]
The Designers Republic later producedalbum cover designs for theelectronica labelWarp Records (also based in Sheffield). They designed the covers for many Warp artists, includingAutechre,LFO andAphex Twin.[10] Their style became "the visual language ofambient techno and Sheffield pop".[10] They also worked for other labels, designing sleeves forMoloko,Fluke,Funkstörung,The Orb,Pulp (andJarvis Cocker),Supergrass andTowa Tei,[11] and the New York City label Sleeping Giant Glossolalia.
Outside the music industry, tDR created the visuals, packaging and manual for thePlayStation–Sega Saturn gameWipeout (1995), the interface for thePC gameHardwar (1998), and packaging and posters for the firstGrand Theft Auto (1997). They collaborated withSwatch in 1996 to design their own watch. They also designed the packaging forSony'sAIBO.[citation needed]
tDR has consulted on the re-branding of the city ofQuito, capital ofEcuador, and was the only non-national design company to be invited to propose a new flag forSlovenia.[12] tDR was also commissioned to create a logo and general graphic design by French musician-producerJulien Civange for itsMusic2titan mission to take music on theEuropean Space Agency'sCassini–Huygens probe to the moonTitan in 2004.[13]
On 20 January 2009, after 23 years in operation, tDR went into voluntary liquidation, Anderson bought back the company name and assets, and relaunched tDR as a smaller outfit.[3][4]
TDR have worked in a diverse range of media, including:
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