Lucy May Schofield

A name I had heard but a face I had never met, LMS turned out to be a great speaker and a little something different to the work we usually see in this lecture series.

Initially introduced as a designer Lucy swiftly sought to address that by announcing herself as a designer of books but mainly a curator and bookbinder by trade. I have seen some of Lucy’s pieces before at various book fairs and university events I have been to but it was nice to hear her talk about her work with the passion she obviously has for each piece. I am not a huge fan of this type of intricate, delicate style of work so for me this lecture was mainly about Lucy’s experiences and the process in which she undertakes her work. She talked a lot about narrative and in her quest to discover various objects she always looks for a story behind each one. This is a theme which also carries over into her work with each piece she creates having a certain symbolism and specific meaning, something which gives the work an indefinite charm and maybe why they are so popular. The methods and processes Lucy uses are all hands on and In her own words, she would not like to put her name to anything that was not hand finished herself. With the use of letterpress, mono-printing, screen-printing, and hand stitching and binding her work somewhat harks back to what some may see as a bygone time when we think now of the ideals of mass production and the ease of which our designs can now go from screen to print within a matter of seconds. However, that ease of production does, obviously, have its flaws. Handling some of Lucy’s work after the lecture there was a definite sense of delicacy and a feeling of speciality about the work, more than I would get from simply looking at a nice piece of printed design work. Maybe these methods, methods that seem to so far have escaped my design practice, are worth an investigation?

Food for thought then from the latest of our lecture series. Maybe, somewhere, the urge to dowse myself in solitude and rediscover my inner fine artist is bubbling up.

But then again… probably not.

//www.lucymayschofield.co.uk

Barney Bubbles // Paul Gorman

Barney Bubbles is the the enigma behind many a classic album cover, and a man who I was intrigued to learn more about in our recent lecture by Paul Gorman, a Journalist and Author of the book "Reasons to Be Cheerful: The Life and Times of Barney Bubbles".

I know of the work of Barney Bubbles (or Colin Fulcher as his mother once knew him) having been advised to look into him last year for a project. However, I evidently didn't know all there is to know. Paul took us through not only his work but also the story of his life. The story of a depressive, very private, troubled man whose legacy has almost been lost through his own penchant for pseudonyms and his wish to not become a known name. However it has somewhat become Paul's mission to resurrect his work and bring Barney Bubbles to a whole new audience.

Barney began his 'career' whilst at Twickenham College of Art where he designed posters for numerous bands including an early Rolling Stones. The name Barney Bubbles comes from his practice of creating ink projection shows as a backdrop for live bands. He termed these 'Barney Bubbles Light Show' (having already been going by the name Barney for some time) and it just seemed to stick. He left college and proceeded to work for Michael Tucker + Associates, London and later The Conran Group working for such brands as Pirelli, Strongbow and Habitat. When he left Conran he went into business with two colleagues and began his association with designing music sleeves.

It was in the early 70's when his rich association with Hawkwind began. Designing sleeves for various albums and creating backdrops and props for their live shows. He designed for them them right upto 1977 when he joined Stiff Records.

It was then and right up 1981/2 where, I believe, he created his best work. He created sleeves, most famously, for Elvis Costello, The Damned and Ian Dury. He was working freelance aswell and created numerous works under various pseudonyms, many of which Paul Gorman believes will never be accredited to him. His work through this period is some of my favourite of his. What is termed as his 'signature style' was evident at this time in work such as the 'Armed Forces' cover below and the 'This Years Model' sleeve at the top. I love his use of deliberate mistakes such as the off-register on 'This Years Model' revealing the printers marks (a technique 'borrowed' by Peter Saville for New Order's 'Blue Monday').

Paul talked about Barneys life with the gusto of a man obviously deeply involved in his subject. His quest to get Barneys name where it should be is helped by the fact that he is already a bit of a 'designers designer' with luminaries such as Peter Saville and Malcolm Garrett already signed up to the Barney Bubbles fan list. This was a totally inspiring lecture for me as some of the work on show I really appreciate and in particular "This Years Model' which I am totally struck on. What a fantastic piece of playful, direct, simple design/photography. Wondrous.

I myself am signed up on the ever growing list of inspired fans.

Teal Triggs

I was privileged enough recently to be in the audience for Teal Triggs' Fanzines: A DIY Revolution lecture. I have only recently heard of Teal but she proved to be a very interesting speaker. As somewhat of an authority on the art of fanzines she gave us an insightful talk on what it is to be a fanzine creator, the origins of the 'zine' and some of the best examples from over the years.

"What is a fanzine?' was the first question she posed upon us. And with a mixed response she answered it herself (with a little help);
"...little publications filled with rantings of high weirdness and exploding with chaotic design." [Stephen Duncombe 1997]

And this was precisely what she preceded to show us. We took a leap through history from the early 1960s and early zine culture, through the Punk era and the boom of zine 'manufacture' that coincided with the angered politics of the time, right up to rave culture publications in the 90's. What was particularly insightful to hear was the association with Manchester/Northwest and the zine scene. I am aware of the culture I am living in and the history that surrounds me and so was aware of the certain element of zine culture that exited/exists here in Manchester. What was nice about it though was the fondness with which Teal spoke about some of her favorite zines, all from in and around the Northwest.

As she left us she posed another question. An obviously poignant one to her. In the current times of rapid knowledge and the dominance of the internet "Are zines still relative? Is there still a revolution going on?"

Always.