Inspiring Older Readers
The Graphic Language of Neville Brody text and captions by Jon Wozencroft
Born in 1957, Neville Brody can legitimately claim to have been one of the defining sensibilities of the 1980s cultural scene. The frothy hedonism and corporate greed of the early 80s was being reflected in the glitz and excess of popular culture and it is this that tends to get reflected most often in retrospectives of the decade. However, in some parts of the cultural landscape punk had left its impression on the artists, musicians and graphic designers who had been influenced by punk’s DIY aesthetic and one of these was the graphic designer, Neville Brody.
Brody, who had graduated from the Hornsey College of Art and the London College of Communication, had struggled for recognition from his tutors because of his embrace of punk images, poster art and Dadaism but it is these influences that encouraged him to experiment with his own, then revolutionary, sans-serif typefaces and fonts. His creativity got him noticed by post-punk record labels Fetish and Stiff and he began producing record sleeves for them – and probably became most associated with artists such as Depeche mode and Cabaret Voltaire.
However, for a lot of people – me included – it was his design work for the mould-breaking magazines The Face and the later Arena that gave his work most widespread exposure. I think it’s fair to say that in the period between 1981-86 The Face became the must-read magazine for the trendies and the movers and shakers who were defining the cultural backdrop of those years.
Brody’s work was, in those years, always engaged with the political scene. This was a febrile time in politics and the public debate between Thatcherites and anti-Thatcherites was an ongoing, rumbling warfare that was often fought-out through propaganda and the arts. Brody was not neutral in all of this – another legacy of his punk background – and he was responsible for redesigning the CND anti-nuclear logo and provided the logo for Red Wedge – a loose coalition of popular musicians campaigning for the Labour Party. He also designed the New Socialist magazine that burst briefly onto the scene in the early 80s and which was required reading for those of us who felt despair over the Conservative hegemony.
Brody’s influence reached far and wide and he had a hand in the redesign of newspapers such as The Guardian and The Observer and by the late 1980s he was established enough in the public mind to merit the publication of this book in 1988 and for there to be an accompanying exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in the same year.
Brody continues to work on influential projects – he recently helped to redesign the BBC’s public image and did a similar job for The Times – but I would argue it isn’t this that will be his biggest legacy. His work is special because it helps to define a decade – the 1980s – and few designers are able to say that they have wielded such influence. This book with an informative and perceptive text by Jon Wozencroft explains and illustrates just why his work was so influential and so great. Copies are available on line from second hand dealers and can be purchased for a few pounds. Get one – it’s a treat.
Terry Potter
September 2016