We invited you to ask legendary image-maker Peter Saville anything – here’s what he said
- TextOrla Brennan
At the start of April, we launched the 15th anniversary issue of Another Man, in which seminal graphic designer and art director Peter Saville speaks to guest editor Jo-Ann Furniss about his extraordinary career, including his work with Roxy Music, Richard Hamilton and more. To mark the launch we invited you, our readers, to interview Peter too. From a flood of questions submitted via Instagram, Saville answered a selection of his favourites – opening up about everything from his collaborations with Wham! and Raf Simons to his advice for aspiring graphic designers. Here’s what he said...
Can Peter talk about his work with Wham!, his first meeting with George Michael and the single cover where it is Peter and not George ...
I didn’t know much about George and Andrew but when they came to meet me in 1984 they were charming and very knowledgeable about my work – but as you’d imagine their pop dynamic was quite new for me! The concept for A Different Corner was always a distant lone figure walking in the park, as George couldn’t even leave the house at that time he proposed that I stand in.
How accurate is Michael Winterbottom’s depiction of your punctuality?
It was an amusing caricature ...
Why does Manchester specifically produce such great art?
It’s a wilful place that makes the art it can.
What is the one rule you live by/apply your work to?
Meaning/now.
Were Pulp’s This Is Hardcore photos really taken in your flat?
Yes, in the Mayfair apartment that I had at the time and the London Hilton.
What album changed your life?
Autobahn.
What’s your favourite art style?
Minimalrococo.
Currently, many of us are turning to art to escape the enormity of the global crisis. Can you name a song, an illustration, a film or another kind of creative flourish that you are escaping into, and explain why it resonates?
The time to think for oneself.
How did your 2003 collaboration with Raf Simons come about?
He phoned me up and then came to visit when I was preparing for my show at the Design Museum. I left him to it...
How do you feel about your designs being appropriated into fashion?
They always were fashion.
Factory was a record label of extreme highs and lows – what’s your biggest regret, and your proudest moment?
My regret is the lives cut short but I am proud of the legacy.
Do you think in this post-digital age that there will be music and art movements as powerful and influential as the ones that came before?
There always are – but as ever, it takes time to see them.
What advice would you give to young people looking to get into graphic design?
Don’t.
How are you staying inspired and creative during lockdown?
Individually and collectively it has to be taken as a moment for reflection.
