If you haven’t heard of Barney Bubbles before, and let’s face it with a name like that if you had you would have remembered, then you will have seen his iconic work. Designing record sleeves, posters and logos for the likes of The Damned, Hawkwind, Elvis Costello, Depeche Mode and Billy Bragg, to name but a few, Bubbles is considered by many to have made graphic design cool, not least by uber-designer Peter Saville, who writes an opening essay for this lavishly illustrated book by author Paul Gorman.
Barney Bubbles is the missing link between pop and culture
Peter Saville
When Bubbles was studying his craft graphic design was like the computer programming of it’s day, dull and obsessively inhabited by geeks, hanging out with the musicians he designed for and polishing off just as much drugs as them, Bubbles transformed the perception of design with his art like motif-heavy pieces. Also responsible for the art direction of underground magazines Oz and Frendz and the masthead for rock weekly the NME, Bubbles unfortunately committed suicide in 1983 aged just 41, his legacy lives on however and this is the first place where his definitive catalogue of work is showcased with some 600 images across 224 pages. Available from Amazon for under £18 this stunning tome of graphic design goodness is an essential christmas gift for the design minded.
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