photo © Gerhard Kassner
Oliver’s speech was filled with hilarious (and highly-Tweetable) quotes, including my favourites: “I was never caught with Michael Jackson under my arm”, “it ain’t art, don’t marginalise it” and the much re-tweeted “You know that feeling when you love a girl so much the only thing you want to do is to shave her hair off”.
Perhaps the quote that resonated most with me was this one: “(my work) isn’t art. It’s graphic design. Words and pictures. Visual communication”. This was a sentiment echoed through many of the speakers talks over the course of the day – the conversational and social power of design, as opposed to the one way broadcast of art or ‘traditional’ branding. And given the ‘Social’ theme of this year’s TYPO London, this statement feels very appropriate.
Vaughan Oliver
Vaughan Oliver is an art director, graphic designer and consultant with 32 years experience of working in most areas of graphic design. Specialising in work for the music industry, Oliver’s unique approach has attracted clients from a broader field including fashion, publishing, packaging, film and television, theatre, architecture, retail, advertising, food, dance, erotica, football and education.
He has enjoyed numerous international “solo” shows including Paris, Tokyo, Osaka, Los Angeles and Athens. “Vaughan Oliver: visceral pleasures”, a design monograph by Rick Poynor was published in November, 2000. Last year Vaughan was awarded an Honorary MA by the University of the Creative Arts (UCA) and a Visiting Professorship at The University of Greenwich.
By Paul Woods
