ESPI on site: Vaughan Oliver at TYPO London 2012

Vaughan Oliver, designer and art director, spoke at TYPO London of a career spanning 30 years in 30 minutes. Oliver is perhaps best known for (but certainly not limited to) his record cover work with Nigel Grierson under the alias 23 Envelope, producing iconic artwork for bands such as The Pixies, The Mortal Coil, Dead Can Dance and many others.

Oliver’s speech was filled with hilarious (and highly-tweetable) quotes, including my favourites: “I was never caught with Michael Jackson under my arm”, “it ain’t art, don’t marginalise it” and the much re-tweeted “you know that feeling when you love a girl so much the only thing you want to do is to shave her hair off”.

Perhaps the quote that resonated most with me was this one: “(my work) isn’t art. It’s graphic design. Words and pictures. Visual communication”. This was a sentiment echoed through many of the speakers talks over the course of the day – the conversational and social power of design, as opposed to the one way broadcast of art or ‘traditional’ branding. And given the ‘Social’ theme of this year’s TYPO London, this statement feels very appropriate.

Vaughan Oliver website
TYPO London website