Jonathon Branbrook is a British Graphic designer and typographer from Luton. He is probably most recognised for his work on the David Bowie album Heathen, 2002. The album cover debuts his Priori typeface.
Heathen, David Bowie 2002.
This is particularly relevant as Barnbrook says his early influences came from record covers. In a interview he was asked, "What were your early design influences? What drew you to graphic design?" He replied with,
"Record covers. I was really into music when I was young. It was a form of rebellion and also a way to relate to the world. Record covers enhance your enjoyment of music, the graphics make the whole experience more meaningful in some way.
Also when I was younger I was always upset about American influence on the creative world. I wanted to look at my own culture, whether it be art, music or typography."
The answer to this question for is quite true to myself in a different sense. I used to buy old records for the album art, and I believe that nowadays less effort is put into album covers, I think that more could be done. I suppose that is was always going to happen especially with technology and record's not being the in thing. I adore the passion he clearly has for music and his own identity, the fact that he puts it into his own work means that his work is definitely more personal and something he wants to do.
Barnbrook is also popular for naming his fonts with less provocative names such as Exocet, Bastard, Prozac, Nixon and Drone. why he does this? Who knows? I quite like it for it's in your face-ness.
Bastard
About Bastard:
"The name ‘Bastard’ for instance I thought about a lot. The typeface is a blackletter (or gothic) font. It has strong associations with Fascism. It would have been silly to ignore this, even though blackletter has a large place in the history of typography, most people would associate it with the Nazis so it was a chance to almost ‘laugh’ at that. But if you bother to look further into the name, you will know that there is a 14–15th Century form of blackletter called ‘Bastarda’ or that putting the ‘wrong font’ in a piece of letterpress setting is called ‘bastard type’. All I am trying to say is that naming a font is incredibly important – there is a tension there, which can be played with. "
Drone
Drone
"Drone is something you just don't want to hear. Drone is a religious dogma spoken at you for hours on end. Drone is the sound of impending disaster. Drone means an endless mumbling dirge. Drone is a badly proportioned font. Drone is available in two versions: 666 and 90210, both with a distinctly different feel.
Drone comes from letterforms found on the inside of Catholic churches in the Philippines. These hand written texts appeared to be copies of copies drawn with the most primitive of equipment – a stick or brush. The letterforms seemed to relate to lettering found in sixteenth and seventeenth century in England.
The name Drone comes from the idea of meaningless dirge, thousands of pointless religious sermons preached over the years, thousands of boring inane pieces of copy set by advertising and design agencies over the years."
What inspires him?
"Q — What are your major influences?
A — My major influences are not from design or other designers, that I think would make my work tedious. My main influence is politics and philosophy and literature, through reading or just being engaged in what is going on in the world. I think its incredibly important to read, so I constantly have a number of books that I am reading. A few favourite authors would be Hermann Hesse, JG Ballard and Samuel Beckett. I am also a big fan of comedy, the way a serious situation can be commented on with humour can be better than any long political critique. I hope that people can see some humour in my work also.
A — My major influences are not from design or other designers, that I think would make my work tedious. My main influence is politics and philosophy and literature, through reading or just being engaged in what is going on in the world. I think its incredibly important to read, so I constantly have a number of books that I am reading. A few favourite authors would be Hermann Hesse, JG Ballard and Samuel Beckett. I am also a big fan of comedy, the way a serious situation can be commented on with humour can be better than any long political critique. I hope that people can see some humour in my work also.
I think the type designer I most rate is Eric Gill. He worked in several disciplines and produced unique work in each area. I don’t think I am in any way as good as him but I hope that when you look at one of my typefaces it looks like my ‘handwriting’, that it could only be done by me. I think the same about Eric Gill, his lettering is a product of his mind with a singular vision which is simply beautiful.
I think the type designer I most rate is Eric Gill. He worked in several disciplines and produced unique work in each area. I don’t think I am in any way as good as him but I hope that when you look at one of my typefaces it looks like my ‘handwriting’, that it could only be done by me. I think the same about Eric Gill, his lettering is a product of his mind with a singular vision which is simply beautiful."
"Q — Where do you get your inspiration?
A — My inspiration comes from lots of different sources. The type designer Bradbury Thompson said that to be a good typographer you must be interested in all aspects of life. I agree with this completely, typography is about cultural exchange between people, the transference of meaning between two beings and to do this you must be interested in culture, in life and be positive about it. Most good designers do not have trouble finding inspiration. As for specific areas of interests, 20th Century history and contemporary politics are a source of endless inspiration. This just comes from learning that history that we are taught at school and hear about from news etc. is in fact a very opinionated view. These interpretations and understanding of them have made me very sceptical about the idea of the truth or what is right no matter what source they come from – from politicians to advertising agencies – I think this is one of the reasons I became a typographer, it was a chance to tell the truth through printed words or at least to interject between them and the viewer. When you are graphic designer you are at the centre of putting out propaganda for somebody and it seems impossible not to question this. "
A — My inspiration comes from lots of different sources. The type designer Bradbury Thompson said that to be a good typographer you must be interested in all aspects of life. I agree with this completely, typography is about cultural exchange between people, the transference of meaning between two beings and to do this you must be interested in culture, in life and be positive about it. Most good designers do not have trouble finding inspiration. As for specific areas of interests, 20th Century history and contemporary politics are a source of endless inspiration. This just comes from learning that history that we are taught at school and hear about from news etc. is in fact a very opinionated view. These interpretations and understanding of them have made me very sceptical about the idea of the truth or what is right no matter what source they come from – from politicians to advertising agencies – I think this is one of the reasons I became a typographer, it was a chance to tell the truth through printed words or at least to interject between them and the viewer. When you are graphic designer you are at the centre of putting out propaganda for somebody and it seems impossible not to question this. "
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