David Hancock
We are sorry to report that Mr Hancock, former Head of Art at St Ambrose, has passed away.
He died on April 10th 2010 at St Ann's Hospice after a prolonged illness. He was 64 years old.
His funeral took place at Altrincham Crematorium at 3.30pm on Thursday April 22nd
He will be remembered by so many as an inspirational teacher
May he rest in peace.
We remember his wife and family.
St Ambrose's 1974 Design Students
Peter Saville, Malcolm Garrett and Peter Breeden took Art A level together,
and were taught by Mr Hancock, Head of Art
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 . . .
Congratulations to the designers of St Ambrose's first
Royal Mail Stamps
Peter Saville and Keith Breeden both attended St Ambrose 1967-1974 and studied Art under Mr Hancock
The ten selected classic Album covers to be released as stamps
October 2009: Former St Ambrose pupils Peter Saville and Keith Breeden have had two of their album cover designs selected as two of a group of ten classic album covers to be made into Royal Mail Stamps
Peter Saville's cover art for New Order's 1983 Album, "Power, Corruption and Lies",
and Keith Breeden's design for Pink Floyd's 1994 album "The Division Bell" have been selected.
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."
Keith Breeden's original design for Pink Floyd's album "The Division Bell"
For the Division Bell, long-time Floyd collaborator Storm Thorgerson developed the album artwork from Keith Breeden's original concept. He erected two large metal heads each the height of a Double-decker bus in a field near Ely. The sculptures were positioned close together, and photographed in profile, to give the illusion that not only were they either facing or talking to each other, they also presented the viewer with a third face. The sculptures were devised by Keith Breeden, and constructed by John Robertson. Ely Cathedral is visible on the horizon. Pink Floyd sold 12 million copies of the Division Bell. The sculptures are now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
The album was released in the UK and US on CD, vinyl, and Compact Cassette, each with its own format and label-specific design. Two 7.5-metre (25 ft) stone sculptures were made by Aden Hynes for the cassette releases, and photographed in the same style as the metal heads. The artwork inside the CD lyric booklet revolves around a similar theme, with the image of the two heads formed by various other objects, such as newspapers ("A Great Day for Freedom"), coloured glass ("Poles Apart"), and boxing gloves ("Lost for Words").
Storm Thorgerson's photograph of the Breeden sculptures (metal heads)
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
Keith Breeden's Portrait of Sir John Temple, President of The Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh.
Graphic Design by Malcolm Garrett
Royal Designer for Industry (RDI)
Visiting Professor at the University of the Arts in London
Creative Director of Dynamo London
Malcolm Garrett attended St Ambrose until 1974.
"Malcolm Garrett is a British graphic designer who worked on a number on iconic album and single sleeves of the 1980s from acts including Duran Duran, Simple Minds, Peter Gabriel, The Buzzcocks and of course, Magazine."
Tour posters by Malcolm Garrett
Malcolm Garrett's cover for Buzzcocks' "Ever Fallen In Love?"
Duran Duran, Duran Duran, 1981
Duran Duran's "Rio" (1982) went double platinum
Duran Duran, Seven and the Ragged Tiger, 1983
Simple Minds, Live in the City of Light, 1987
Royal Designer for Industry (RDI)
Visiting Professor at the University of the Arts in London
Creative Director of Dynamo London
Professor Malcolm Garrett RDI FRSA
Malcolm Garrett is a communications designer with three decades of experience, including over fifteen years working in interactive media, his work is widely regarded as having a seminal influence on the development of contemporary UK graphic design.
He founded the interactive communications company AMX in 1994, which under his creative leadership won awards for creativity, business effectiveness, and technical excellence, across a range of disciplines from internet to interactive TV to handheld computing. Prior to AMX Malcolm had founded and co-directed Assorted Images, designing for artists such as Buzzcocks, Duran Duran, Culture Club, Simple Minds, and pioneering digital and interactive work with Peter Gabriel. In 2003/4 Malcolm joined Immersion Studios in Toronto to develop interfaces for interactive cinema and collaborative learning software, and returned to the UK in 2005 to join AIG.
He is a Royal Designer for Industry, was nominated for
the Prince Philip Designers Prize in 1998, and is a Visiting Professor at the
University of the Arts London. He has judged many awards including Design Week,
D&AD, BAFTA, BIMA.
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
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.
For more images, see 2009 Dinner Page
Peter Saville Designs
Founding Factory : Peter Saville, Tony Wilson, Alan Erasmus, 1979
Fac 1 poster, 1978
Fact 10 Unknown Pleasures, Joy Division, 1979
Design based on a negative of a Fourier analysis of the radio waves
from Pulsar CP1919 (a collapsed star) originally from an astronomy textbook.
Fact 25 Closer, Joy Division, 1980
Maid of Orleans, OMD, 1981
Fac 73 Blue Monday 12", New Order, 1983 (First press)
This was the biggest selling 12 inch single of all time.
Fac 73 Blue Monday 12", New Order, 1983 (Second press).
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
Unknown Pleasures, 2003
Waste painting
To Earth with Love, 2006
Peter Saville, Creative Director for Manchester
Los Angeles Times, April 2009 : Peter Saville on the Manchester Revolution
Joy Division movie Control, 2007