Thursday Lecture - Si Scott

This lecture was eagerly awaited by everyone at uni and there was a real buzz about the place before it kicked off at 5pm. We were not disappointed.

Nigel Robinson introduced Si as a mate and one of his former pupils. Si apologised for his lecture style, saying that he doesn't use notes and tends to go off on tangents. He started by showing us some of the work he did in his final year of study (back in 2002 if I remember correctly). There was a beautiful fold-out journey through New York, comprising photographs and hand-rendered typography. It would appear that hand-rendering his one type was a big thing for Si even then. Interestingly he mentioned that he had not found his own style until late in his third year. Perhaps there is hope for me yet...

It turns out that his distinct style didn't arrive consciously either - he just kept doing loads and loads of work that he enjoyed and it just kind of emerged. This endless repetition goes some way to explain how he manages to work in pen directly onto paper, usually without pencilling any sort of guides. A risky way to work but in a way it adds real value to the outcome. Just look at the intricacy of his beautiful work:

Si was incredibly frank about working in the design industry, regaling us with tales of arsehole art directors, pompous designers and a run-in with a representative of Madonna. The latter involves a design he did for a greatest hits album. Si took an existing photo of Madonna on a cross (yeah, you are a lapsed catholic Madge, get over it), photoshopped the naff cross out and had her kind of intertwined with a beautifully hand-rendered MADONNA, each letter unique and representing the various personas she had adopted over the years.

Her representative was hugely impressed with the concept but was worried that he had had no input himself and that she might notice that he was superfluous. So, he started demanding unnecessary and unreasonable changes to the artwork. After a bit of playing along, Si decided that it was not worth the hassle. He didn't want his name attached to something that was not really his any more and, as he puts it, "it wasn't like they were paying me a life-changing sum of money". So he told them to do one. The representative was less than happy about this and warned Si that he would never work in this town [Los Angeles] again. Needless to say Si has worked in LA since and is no longer worried about a visit from the Madge Mafia.

Come to think of it there were quite a few stories about unpleasant people. One of my favourites involved a charity auction that Si did a series of illustrations for. Each poster used the lyrics from songs by legendary Manchester bands and was for a kids' charity in the area. As a courtesy, Si contacted the agents of all the bands to check that it was okay to use the lyrics. Everyone was fine about it, even those pricks from Oasis, except for Morrissey. What an arse. I am pretty sure Si used the "There Is A Light" lyrics regardless. He then told us about a jumped up self-styled design legend who was a total pillock, although he said he would prefer not to tell us who it was (at least until we got to the pub), so I won't share it here either.

Back on the subject of Si's work, I was totally blown away by this gig poster for The National:

Lovely, isn't it? Even lovelier when you take a closer look and realise that the lillies are hand-drawn!

Amazing stuff. Si is certainly one of the most talented people I have ever met, so it was really nice to find that he is also a genuinely nice bloke without an inflated ego. He invited us all to join him and Nigel in the pub after the lecture, which was a lovely touch, and many of us obliged. The biggest thrill for me was when they strolled in and Nigel told me that Si loved the poster I had created for his lecture. I told Si that he must be mistaken and was talking about one of the other posters, so he got out his phone and showed me the photo he had taken, before asking me how I made it. Wow! Perhaps I should stop being so critical of myself.

Unfortunately I had parental duties to attend to, so left the pub after just the one pint (I was also driving), which was a real shame as I was enjoying chatting with Si. By all accounts I missed out on a pretty eventful night. Anyway, enough of the idle gossip. I will finish with another example of Si's awesome work. He has recently been doing a lot of stuff with paper, like this amazing butterfly wing:

That CD cover is not actually 3D; Si made the wing out of paper and then got it photographed rather beautifully. It is a stunning effect and I am very keen on doing some work like this, whereby I make real things and then photograph them and add type, rather than working solely on the computer. It really adds something.

So, thanks to Si Scott for sharing his amazing work. Hopefully he will give us a masterclass at some point next semester and I will be able to buy him a pint or two for giving the most inspiring talk I have ever experienced.