User:Madjake9/Ian Swift (Swift)

Ian Swift (Swifty)

Born in Cronton (small village between Liverpool & Manchester) 1965

Went to Manchester University where he studied graphics. Met Neville Brody https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neville_Brody who lectured one of his classes was so impressed with the work he saw of Swift's that he invited him to come and work for him in London. So the moment Ian Swift graduated he went to London, and not having enough money for digs, squatted in Battersea. Swift worked for Neville Brody discovering his love of typography. It was around this time that Apple Mac hit the design world and Swift & Brody spent many hours discovering how this new piece of kit would fit in with their worklife. While designing The Face and Arena magazines Swift was asked by Paul Bradshaw to get involved with a Jazz and World Music Magazine called Straight No Chaser. This was the beginning of some Swift's most influential sleeve design for the Music World. He created the look for Gilles Peterson's record label for Phonogram https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilles_Peterson "Talkin' Loud and like Reid Miles for Blue Note, a Swifty Talkin' Loud sleeve was a collectors item not only for the music. Hip hop’s sampling sensibilities collided with the art of Blue Note records on the LP sleeves covers and 12” singles of the Young Disciples, Galliano, Marxmen and Omar amongst others. As a body of work, it was mightily impressive and pretty soon he was designing for labels as far away as Japan. Talkin' Loud. Swift was also the King of Club flyers which had been up and til the late 80's had been mainly hand drawn and photocopied. Swift's flyers were and still are incredibly collectable.talkin' loud club flyers. In the mid nineties a music passionate 17 year old came to the Straight No Chasers Office in Coronet Street in Hoxton, wanting to get involved. Paul Bradshaw & Swifty took a liking to this boy and with the help of Janine Neye who was co-ordinating Gilles Peterson's Talkin' Loud & Saying Something club nights at the Fridge in Brixton was put on the DJ Roster. This was the start of a working relationship between Swifty and James "holygoof" Lavelle. James Lavelle James Lavelle wanted to start his own Record Label and with the help of Swifty created 'Mo'Wax'. They were both on a blunted vibe and both were obsessed with toys and iconic 60's/Seventies TV programmes. Mo’Wax was born out of late night sessions at Swift’s studio, it was there that they hatched a plan: U.N.K.L.E. came into being. Mo Wax featured hand drawn type, Toshi from Major Force’s drawings and graff from artists like Futura 2000 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futura_2000. It was radical stuff. Swift created the template for Mo’Wax and it was he that gave Mo'Wax it's very distinctive look. Mo' Wax

In ‘95 Swift moved from Hoxton to the Harrow Road end of the Grove. He set up shop and invited a bunch of younger designers to join him. It was called Studio Babylon and it became home to Mitchy Bwoy (deep illustrations and rootical independent music labels – bruk beat to dub step), Kam Bohgal (film & video – MTV), Robbie Bear (Brownswood to fine art) and Fred Deakin (Airside & Lemon Jelly). Tyler Askew from Atlanta City (art director at baron&baron now based in New York.

Swift’s stay in the Grove resulted in hundreds of album sleeves for labels like Far out and B&W. Swift was asked to Art Direct and co-ordinate and first coined the words "Street Art" for a live billboard campaign. This was a Campaign for Fosters Ice beer in which 32 Artists were invited to create a full size Billboard, the first was in Camden London and this was then rolled out around the country. It won an Award for “Best Use of a Single Medium” for Foster's Ice Street Art youth marketing campaign. In the millennium Swift was asked to create title sequences for TV and Films, The Peep Show, Smack The Pony, Derren Brown, Life Of Riley, Jazz Britannia to name but a few.

Typomatic was set up in 1997 and was the first independent font foundry set up in the UK by a font designer, not to mention his logo designs for record labels like Far Out, B&W Music, Especial Records. Swift alongside his graphics work has also been concentrating on his long term love affair with Pop Art, with shows in the UK to Melbourne Australia. 2015 will see Swift going back to Manchester, invited by Malcolm Garrett (Assorted iMaGes) to exhibit the Swifty Retrospective with "Full Circle" Swifty's book to follow published by gamma proforma http://www.gammaproforma.com/index.php/ecwid?