Neville Brody
Bio
Neville Brody, the British designer and art director, has now been at the forefront of graphic design for over two decades.
Initially working in record cover design, Brody made his name largely through his revolutionary work as Art Director for the Face magazine. Other international magazine directions have included City Limits, Lei, Per Lui, Actuel and Arena, together with London's The Observer newspaper and magazine.
Brody has consistently 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 Brody published the first of his two monographs , 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.
Session
Asking Why?
Neville is as dogged about his vision for design and typography as he is about pushing the boundaries of his own work.
"This is actually quite a difficult time in graphic design, there are a lot of highly-skilled, highly professional designers out there. But so many people are caught up with the ÔwhatÕ or ÔhowÕ of what theyÕre doing; not many are asking Ôwhy?Õ"
"Often people forget that how clever you are with the latest technology is not the point. The equivalent would be like someone coming up to you and saying ÔHave you seen this book? ItÕs printed on great paper!Õ"
"The true challenge is what messages are you putting over? How do you want people to feel about the work youÕre doing? ItÕs a dialog. ItÕs never a monolog. Wherever possible, weÕve consciously tried to make sure that visual communication is an open-ended process."
"If I manage to create a situation where someone had to think twice about something theyÕre doing, I would call that a success. I think the objects I leave behind are not the legacy IÕm interested in. ItÕs whether I can leave behind a thought process."