4th November 2010
Reasons to be Cheerful: The Life and Work of Barney Bubbles
I found the lecture with Paul Gorman very informative and loved the enthusiasm he had for Barney Bubbles life and work. Bubbles embraced ‘general messiness’ in his work creating an innovative style. He was the first artist to incorporate branding and marketing within the music industry inspiring designers such as Peter Saville and Malcolm Garrett. He worked with Hawkwind, Elvis Costello and Ian Dury to produce some of the most iconic covers of all time. However, what stood out for me wasn’t the work he produced for the music industry but a logo for Justin le Blank Provisions Ltd in 1970. The logo was very different to the manic artwork for the music industry. It was refined and controlled reflecting the upper market deli. I guess even the most creative artists have some direction when necessary.
The lecture theatre was full and at the end we had a really nice Q&A session, which was unusual as no-one usually asks the guest speaker questions; I think Gorman’s intriguing passion and relaxed personality made it easy for people to do so.