St Ambrose College's Design Students
Malcolm Garrett, Peter Saville and Keith Breeden
Three former students of Mr P. D. Hancock, Head of Art, St Ambrose College, c.1974
The British New Wave was born at a boys' school near Manchester
Malcolm, Peter . . . and Keith
[EXTRACT]
Over the years, Malcolm Garrett and Peter Saville have often mentioned in
interviews that they studied together at Manchester Polytechnic in the 1970s.
Less well known, though it sometimes comes up in passing, is that they also
attended the same school, St Ambrose College, an independent Catholic grammar in
Hale Barns, Cheshire. Barely remarked at all, however, is that Keith Breeden, a
third, not so renowned contributor to Britain’s graphic ‘new wave’, was a
member of the same A level art class. At school, as both Saville and Garrett
affirm, Breeden was a significant influence on them. The only known photograph
of the three fledgling designers in the school art room is printed tantalisingly
small in Saville’s recent monograph, "Designed by Peter Saville".
It’s odd, in a way, that more has not been made of this surprising confluence
of talent. In a class of just six teenagers taking Art, half of the group went
on to devote their efforts to album cover design and two became leading figures
with national and international reputations. Where many once-celebrated new wave
design teams of the early 1980s – Rocking Russian, Shoot That Tiger, Town and
Country Planning – are all but forgotten now, Saville and Garrett have stayed
the course. The national press coverage generated by the Saville monograph and
the Design Museum’s retrospective – even the ultra-highbrow London Review of
Books was moved to break its usual silence on design – confirmed just how
deeply his work affected those who consumed it at the time.
It’s still too early, though, to determine with any precision how significant
the impact of Garrett and Saville was for British design. Saville’s book and
exhibition excited impressionistic claims by journalists that his designs had
ignited a taste revolution in the high streets of Britain and, not surprisingly,
Saville was ready to agree . . .
Graphic Design by Keith Breeden
Heads for Pink Floyd
Keith Breeden attended St Ambrose until 1974
Keith Breeden, Cover Design for the Division Bell, 1994
Graphic design until 1994: Album Art for ABC, Duran Duran, Scritti Politti,
The Mission, Roxy Music, The Cult, Pink Floyd
Music Week Awards: First Prize for Album Sleeve 1986
Music Week Awards: First Prizes for Single Sleeve 1985 and 1986
Since 1995, Portraitist, elected to the Royal Society of Portrait Painters
"Power Corruption and Lies"
Congratulations to the designer of St Ambrose's first
Royal Mail Stamp
Peter Saville attended St Ambrose 1967-1974
Some of the selected classic Album covers to be released as stamps
(from L to R, from albums by Blur, New Order, Led Zeppelin and Primal Scream)
October 2009: Former St Ambrose pupil Peter Saville's cover art for New Order's 1983 Album, "Power, Corruption and Lies" has been selected as one of a group of classic album covers to be made into Royal Mail Stamps
Fact 73: Peter Saville's 1983 cover for "Power, Corruption and Lies"
Peter Saville's design for the album had a colour-based code to represent the band's name and the title of the album, but they were not actually written on the sleeve itself. The decoder for the code was featured prominently on the back cover of the album.
The cover is a reproduction of the painting "A Basket of Roses" by French artist Henri Fantin-Latour, which is in the National Gallery of London's permanent collection. Peter Saville intended to create a collision between this overly romantic and classic image which made a stark contrast with the typography based on the modular, colour-coded alphabet he created solely for the band.
It is also said that the owner of the painting (The National Heritage Trust) at first refused Factory Records access to it. Tony Wilson, the head of the label, then called them up to ask who actually owned the painting and were given the answer that the Trust belonged to the people of Britain. Wilson then famously replied, "Well, the people of Britain now want it."
Peter Saville, Creative Director for Manchester
Los Angeles Times, April 2009 : Peter Saville on the Manchester Revolution
Malcolm Garrett attended St Ambrose until 1974.
Graphic Design by Malcolm Garrett, RDI
Malcolm Garrett, Royal Designer for Industry, RDI
Visiting Professor at the University of the Arts in London
Creative Director of Dynamo London
Malcolm Garrett, Peter Saville and Peter Breeden took Art A level together,
and were taught by Mr Hancock
Sleeve designs for Buzzcocks, Simple Minds, Duran Duran
Peter Saville attended St Ambrose until 1974
Graphic Design by Peter Saville
Founded Factory Records in 1979
Designed the Hacienda Club, Sleeves for Joy Division, New Order
London's Design Museum exhibited his body of work,
The Peter Saville Show from May - Sept 2003.
The book, Designed by Peter Saville, accompanied the exhibition.
Creative Director for Manchester
Creative Director for Manchester
L A Times : Peter Saville on the Manchester Revolution
Peter Saville, Malcolm Garrett and Peter Breeden took Art A level together,
and were taught by Mr Hancock
The Factory Designs
Founding Factory : Peter Saville, Tony Wilson, Alan Erasmus, 1979
Fac 1 poster, 1978
Fact 10: Joy Division "Unknown Pleasures" cover, 1979
based on a Fourier analysis of the radio waves
from Pulsar CP1919, a collapsed star.
Fac 83: Hacienda 1 Year, poster, 1983
Fac 73 : New Order Blue Monday cover, 1983
the biggest selling 12 inch single of all time
Fac 51: Hacienda poster design, based on a pollen grain, 1991
Joy Division movie Control, 2007
For more images, see 2009 Dinner Page
Peter Saville back at St Ambrose
14/11/2009
Peter Saville presents his "Designed by..." book to St Ambrose College Library.
Peter Saville thanks Michael Thompson for the St Ambrose College crest and the SAOBA tie
Art Room Visit
"You see...it is almost exactly the same as 1974"
Discussing old times, and future plans, in the room where so much began...
Phil Howard tries to describe the size of Chris Tofalos's camera lens at last year's dinner.
Peter Saville Designs
Fac 1 poster, 1978
Fac 2: A Factory Sample, 1978
Fact 10 Unknown Pleasures, Joy Division, 1979
Fact 25 Closer, Joy Division, 1980
Maid of Orleans, OMD, 1981
Fac 73 Blue Monday, New Order, 1983
Sister Honey, 2000
Fac 75: back cover detail, Power Corruption and Lies, New Order, 1983
Fac 83 Hacienda Year 1 poster, 1983
Fac 183 True Faith, New Order, 1987
Fac 73R: New Order "Blue Monday" remix cover, 1988
Fact 250: Joy Division "Substance" cover, 1988
Joy, 1999
Fac 51: Hacienda poster design,
based on a pollen grain, 1991
Colour and Form, 2002
PETER SAVILLE : After 'After "Monarch of
the Glen"
by Sir Edwin Landseer' by Sir Peter Blake, 2002
Waste Painting #9 The Crown, 2003
Unknown Pleasures, 2003
System painting #1, 2005
To Earth with Love, 2006
SAOBA would like to thank Peter Saville for permission to reproduce his images
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