You are on page 1of 7

Neville Brody (born 23 April 1957) is an English graphic

designer, typographer and art director. Neville Brody is an alumnus of


the London College of Communication and Hornsey College of Art, and is
known for his work on The Face magazine (19811986), Arena magazine
(19871990), as well as for designing record covers for artists such as Cabaret
Voltaire, The Bongos, and Depeche Mode. He created the company Research
Studios in 1994 and is a founding member of Fontworks. His work is included in
the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).[2] He is the new
Head of the Communication Art & Design department at the Royal College of
Art.

Early life and education


Born in Southgate, London Neville Brody was a lover of fine art and painting. He had an obsession
with art in the 1960s and 1970s. He commented that he does not remember a time in his life when
he was planning to do anything other than art or painting. He attended Minchenden Grammar school
and studied A-Level Art, very much from a fine art viewpoint. In 1975 Brody went on to do a Fine Art
foundation course at Hornsey College of Art, once renowned for its late sixties agitation, now part
of Middlesex University.
In autumn 1976, Brody started a three-year B.A. course in graphics at the London College of
Printing. His tutors often condemned his work as "Uncommercial" often putting a heavy emphasis on
safe and tested economic strategies, as opposed to experimentation.
By 1977, punk rock was beginning to have a major effect upon London life and, while this had a
great impact upon Brody's work and motivation, was not well received by his tutors. At one point he
was almost thrown out of the college for putting the Queen's head sideways on a postage
stamp design. He did, however, get the chance to design posters for student concerts at the college,
most notably for Pere Ubu, supported by The Human League.
In spite of the postage stamp episode, Brody was not only motivated by the energies of punk. His
first-year thesis had been based around a comparison between Dadaismand pop art.

1980s: Art Direction


Brody's experimentation with his self-made sans-serif typography, along with his Pop Art and
Dadaism influence, caught the attention of music record companies such as Fetish Records and Stiff
records after he left college. His CD covers leads toward a grudgy and a punk scene. The album
Micro-Phonies by Cabaret Voltaire was art directed by graphic design heavyweight Neville Brody in
1984. Brody's infamous typography features on the front and a bandaged figure spouting liquid from
the mouth stares blankly at the viewer. Brody made his name largely popular through his
revolutionary when he worked as an art director for "The Face" Magazine. He changed up the
"basic" and "structural" rules that existed in the British culture into a more artsy and vibrant aesthetic.
His designs provoked some form of emotion to the extent that people would stick to one page
instead of turning pages like they would normally do when reading a novel. Other international
magazine and newspaper directions have included City Limits, Lei, Per Lui, Actuel and Arena,
together with the radical new look for two leading British newspapers The Guardian and The
Observer (both newspaper and magazine). Brody has pushed the boundaries of visual
communication in all media through his experimental and challenging work, and continues to extend
the visual languages we use through his exploratory creative expression. In 1988 Thames &

Hudson published the first of two volumes about his work, which became the world's best selling
graphic design book. Combined sales now exceed 120,000. An accompanying exhibition of his work
at the Victoria and Albert Museum attracted over 40,000 visitors before touring Europe and Japan.
Amongst countless other projects, in 1989, upon request by the then-director Gerhard Coenen, to
Neville Brody, the young Swiss graphic artist and typeface designer Cornel Windlin, then working at
the then called "Neville Brody Studio" designed the Corporate Identity for the Haus der Kulturen der
Welt (House of World Cultures) in Berlin, Germany. Subsequently, Brody, Windlin, and staff Simon
Staines, Giles Dunn and others visited Berlin more than once on projects; resulting in several
collaborations with Berlin-based graphic artist and typeface-designer Kolja Gruber and artist Nina
Fischer for the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in the following years.

Business and Typography


In 1991, Neville Brody and Jon Wozencroft created the FUSE project. FUSE is an interactive
magazine that sets out to challenge our current ideas about typographic and visual language in an
age of ever changing communications technology and media. Brody was also partly responsible for
instigating the fusion between a magazine, graphics design and typeface design. The magazine
ranges in themes from "Codes" and "Runes" to "Religion" and "Pornography." the exploration and
freedom that the publishers exhibit is undeniable and exciting. The conventions upturned in FUSE
are prescient in their definition of new standards. Each package includes a publication with articles
relating to typography and surrounding subjects, four brand new fonts that are unique and
revolutionary in some shape or form and four posters designed by the type designer usually using
little more than their included font. In 1990 he also founded the FontFont typeface library together
with Erik Spiekermann.
Notable fonts include the updated font for the Times newspaper, Times Modern, New Deal as used
in publicity material and titles for the film Public Enemies and Industria.

1994-Present
Neville Brody still also continues to work as a graphic designer and together with business partner
Fwa Richards launched his own design practice, Research Studios, in London in 1994. Since then
studios have been opened in Paris, Berlin and Barcelona. The company is best known for its ability
to create new visual languages for a variety of applications ranging from publishing to film. It also
creates innovative packaging and website design for clients such as Kenzo, corporate identity for
clients such as Homechoice, and on-screen graphics for clients such as Paramount Studios, makers
of the Mission Impossible films.
Recent projects include the redesign of the BBC in September 2011, The Times in November 2006
with the creation of a new font Times Modern. The typeface shares many visual similarities with
Mercury designed by Jonathan Hoefler. It is the first new font at the newspaper since it
introduced Times New Roman in 1932.
The company also completed a visual identity project for the famous Paris contemporary art
exhibition Nuit Blanche in 2006.
Brody's team launched a new look for the champagne brand Dom Prignon in February 2007,
having been appointed in 2004 to help the brand with its strategy and repositioning. A sister

company, Research Publishing, produces and publishes experimental multi-media works by young
artists. The primary focus is on FUSE, the conference and quarterly forum for experimental
typography and communications. The publication is approaching its 20th issue over a publishing
period of over ten years. Three FUSE conferences have so far been held, in London, San Francisco
and Berlin. The conferences bring together speakers from design, architecture, sound, film and
interactive design and web.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neville_Brody>

Neville Brody
Feb 3, 2014 | Design Inspiration, Design Resources, Graphic Designers, Typography | 2 comments

Nationality: British
Born: 1957
Famous For: his record covers, magazine
art direction and typography.
Neville Brody is a British Graphic
Designer,
Typographer and Art Director currently
working in
his own design practice called Research Studios.
He may be best known for his work on The Face magazine and various
album covers, but hes also a leading typographer and internationally
recognized brand strategist.
In 1988, Thames & Hudson published part one of a two-volume set of Neville
Brodys work The Graphic Language of Neville Brody, which became the
best-selling graphic design book in the world. To coincide with that, his work
was exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum which attracted over 40,000
visitors.
He is a founding partner of FontShop and has designed many typefaces such
as Industria, Insignia and Blur, which was included in the Museum of Modern
Arts architecture and design collection in 1992.
Despite making a name for himself through his work in the 80s and 90s,
Neville Brodys recent work includes a rebranding of the BBC in 2011, a
redesign of The Times typography in 2006 and on-screen graphics for
Paramount Studios. Research Studios has expanded from its London base in
1994 to several studios in Paris, Berlin, New York and Barcelona.
In January 2011, he became the dean of Communication and head of Visual
Communication studies at the Royal College of Art (RCA) in London.

The Face and Arena Magazine Covers Designed throughout the late 80s

Cabaret Voltaire Record Cover Designed in 1984

Free Me From Freedom Poster Designed in 2008

FF Blur Typeface Designed in 1992

Brand Strategy for Nike Designed in 1988

Neville Brody Quotes


Design is more than just a few tricks to the eye. Its a few tricks to the brain.
People think that digital language is a fixed language, but its not: its very
fluid. Its like Im doing a painting where the paint refuses to dry.
Typography is a hidden tool of manipulation within society.

<http://inkbotdesign.com/neville-brody/#forward>

You might also like