Thursday 21 December 2006

Peter Saville



Peter Saville will always be heavily linked with Factory Records (who he co-founded in 1978), it's graphic identity and sleeve designs for Joy Division, and New Order which are some of the most iconic in the history of the medium.
Peter studied graphic design at Manchester Polytechnic from 1975 to 1978 obtaining a first class degree, and went on to co found and design for Factory Records, Din Disc (subsiduary of Virgin records), and set up his own company Peter Saville Associates with collaborators Trevor Key and Brett Wickens, exploring and experimenting modernist design and typography.

PSA ran into financial trouble in 1990, and along with Brett Wickens went on to become a partner in Pentagram, although this didn't last as he failed to meet earning targets, before moving to Los Angeles to Join Farnkfurt Balland. Saville also went on to work for Miere and Meire and Tomato for a brief period, but these too didn't last. Saville is now doing work for fashion designer Stella McCartney and Manchester.

my view:
It seems the Peter Saville has had many ups and down in his career. He has had much Critical success and very successful work, yet seems to be not so successful in business, terrible with deadlines and regarded as unprofessional by many. He is supposedly obsessive and very much interested in getting the job right rather than working on time, so this may explain why he has an impressive body of work, but a patchy record with regards to financial "sucess". His designs have been highly influencial and so I would imagine many students and designers look up to him in this way, but i feel having read about him that his career holds some cautionary clues about how to balance the creative and financial aspects of a career in design.

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