The V&A have a postmodern exhibition on at the moment. Right up my street. Neville Brody and Terry Jones are talking this Friday about their massive contribution to the magazine culture that flourished in the eighties (sold out I’m afraid). But it got me thinking about the last time Neville Brody was involved with the V&A. It was back in 1988 when there was a retrospective of his work. The book of the exhibition is on every designer’s shelf.
This photo of Brody is from when I worked on Design magazine in 1988 (organ of the Design Council). The feature was all about designers and what they like to do in their spare time. Brody reckoned he had no time for hobbies, but when pressed, he chose watching videos with a takeaway. I commissioned photographer Julian Hawkins who gamely lugged an old telly with no screen up the stairs to Brody’s studio on Tottenham Court Rd (now sadly demolished). I carried various other props like videos (no DVDs then), and popcorn packets. We shot him through the back of the telly, remote control in hand. This was the paste-up era remember, so any camera tricks had to be done in the camera. It’s all so easy now!
Great quote from Brody though: “At the moment it all seems ridiculous. I keep on saying that next year I’ll change my name and grow a beard and live the life of a bum”