Vaughan Oliver (12 September 1957 – 29 December 2019) was a British graphic designer based in Epsom, Surrey. Oliver was best known for his work with graphic design studios 23 Envelope and v23. Both studios maintained a close relationship with record label 4AD between 1982 and 1998 and gave distinct visual identities for the 4AD releases by many bands, including Mojave 3, Lush, Cocteau Twins, The Breeders, This Mortal Coil, Pale Saints, Pixies, Modern English, and Throwing Muses. Oliver also designed record sleeves for such artists as David Sylvian, The Golden Palominos, and Bush.
Early life and education Oliver was born in Sedgefield, County Durham on 12 September 1957. He developed an interest in graphic design through his love of music, in particular the work of Roger Dean. He said in 2014 "There was no real culture, my parents were not really interested in anything unusual – everything I was getting was through record sleeves. It was a democratic way of discovering art." It was not until he studied graphic design at Newcastle upon Tyne Polytechnic that he took the subject seriously. Through his studies his interests broadened to include inspiration from the work of Salvador Dalí, Surrealism and Pop artists such as Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol.
After graduating in 1979, Oliver went to London hoping to find a job with a large design group. He quickly learned that corporate and commercial design work did not suit him. He subsequently met the owner of the record label 4AD, Ivo Watts Russell. This encounter led to a thirty-year partnership between Oliver and 4AD.
Career 23 Envelope consisted of Oliver (graphic design and typography) and Nigel Grierson (photography). Together, they created the artwork for almost all 4AD releases until 1987. Grierson left 23 Envelope in 1988. At that time, Oliver continued to work for 4AD under the studio name v23 with Chris Bigg, collaborating with Simon Larbalestier, Marc Atkins and others.
4AD Oliver's album art was central to the visual identity of 4AD during the label's prominence in the 1980s and 1990s. From 1982 to 1998, Oliver created album artwork for a number of 4AD bands, including Pixies, Cocteau Twins, The Breeders and This Mortal Coil. Although he worked primarily with 4AD, he occasionally took on non-music clients. His work influenced later designers in music graphics. During the early years of 4AD, Pitchfork credited Oliver with giving the label and its bands, despite their differing genres, an identity through his visual language.
Pixies Oliver produced the artwork for the Pixies' entire discography during his lifetime, including the albums Come On Pilgrim (1987), Surfer Rosa (1988), Doolittle (1989), Bossanova (1990), Trompe Le Monde (1991), Indie Cindy (2014), Head Carrier (2016) and Beneath the Eyrie (2019), as well as numerous singles and EPs. In 2009, Oliver designed the Pixies' Minotaur, a 26-pound box set consisting of the band's first five albums, a 96-page fine art book and a 52-page photo book. Oliver stated that, with each Pixies release, he had looked to achieve "a sense of continuity" within the catalog but also employ a "fresh approach", and that his ethos "was always about building individual identities for bands."
Exhibitions and publications In February 1990, Oliver was asked to bring together the work he had done so far for 4AD to be shown for the first time in an art gallery, the Espace Graslin in Nantes, France. The exhibition gathered so much media exposure throughout Europe that it subsequently moved to the Parc de la Villette in Paris. An illustrated catalogue titled Exhibition/Exposition was published to coincide with both Nantes and Paris exhibitions.
In 1994, many of those who had collaborated with Oliver over the previous decade contributed to an illustrated catalogue for the retrospective exhibition of his work held at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles, This Rimy River.Vulua O'Reighan (ed.), This Rimy River: Vaughan Oliver and Graphic Works 1988–94, Pacific Design Centre, 1994. Recollections of the v23 design experience were provided by individuals such as design writer Rick Poynor,Rick Poynor, Exhibition/Exposition, CRDC, Nantes, 1990/1991; The Graphic Edge, Booth-Clibborn Editions, London, 1993; Design Without Boundaries: Visual Communication in Transition, Booth-Clibborn Editions, London, 1998; Vaughan Oliver: Visceral Pleasures, Booth-Clibborn Editions, London, 2000. and art critic Ian McKay who frames Oliver's work in a fine art context.Ian McKay, Oliver's D-Day, XYZ Design & Technology, May 1990; Un Dandy de la Pochette, Artline International, Summer, 1990.
In 2000, a major monograph, Vaughan Oliver: Visceral Pleasures, by Rick Poynor was published by Booth-Clibborn Editions. In 2005, to mark 25 years of 4AD records, Oliver produced a limited-edition publication of his poster designs, with a second edition published in 2007 to coincide with a solo exhibition of his posters staged at Kingston University's Stanley Picker Gallery in London.Stanley Picker Gallery In 2011, Oliver was awarded an honorary Master of Arts from the University for the Creative Arts, where he taught on the Epsom campus as a visiting professor. Two books of work were published. In 2018, Unit Editions published Vaughan Oliver: Archive ('Materials and fragments'), a celebration of the Vaughan Oliver Archive housed at UCA Epsom.
Personal life Vaughan Oliver had two children, Beckett and Callum, with his wife, Vicky Oliver (artistically, Victoria Mitchell), , the author of the love poem, 'Dearest Vaya con Dios Darling' (1994), which inspired his LA exhibition's title at the Pacific Design Centre in 1994, and the limited, special edition book 'This Rimy River' in which he used an extract of the poem to overlay each page with one word. They separated in 2003.
At the time of his death, he lived with his wife, Lee, next door to the former home of artist Aubrey Beardsley.
In addition to design, Oliver's other interests included football. Oliver was a qualified FA coach, and he was a keen supporter of Sunderland. He designed the sleeve of their 1992 FA Cup single and had been approached by the club to redesign their crest.
Oliver died on 29 December 2019 at the age of 62.
Publications
Album art discography Year Artist Album Ref 1981 Modern English Mesh & Lace 1982 After the Snow 1983 Cocteau Twins Head Over Heels 1984 This Mortal Coil It'll End in Tears The Sound Heads and Hearts Cocteau Twins Treasure 1985 Clan of Xymox Clan of Xymox Colourbox Colourbox 1986 This Mortal Coil Filigree & Shadow Cocteau Twins Victorialand 1987 Pixies Come on Pilgrim David Sylvian Secrets of the Beehive Pieter Nooten and Michael Brook Sleeps with the Fishes 1988 Pixies Surfer Rosa Throwing Muses House Tornado Ultra Vivid Scene Ultra Vivid Scene 1989 Pixies Doolittle Xymox Twist of Shadows Lush Scar 1990 Pale Saints The Comforts of Madness The Breeders Pod Lush Mad Love Sweetness and Light Ultra Vivid Scene Joy 1967–1990 His Name Is Alive Livonia Pixies Bossanova 1991 The Psychedelic Furs World Outside This Mortal Coil Blood Pixies Trompe le Monde Lush Black Spring 1992 Spooky Ultra Vivid Scene Rev The Breeders Safari Pale Saints In Ribbons Red House Painters Down Colorful Hill 1993 The Breeders Last Splash Kirsty MacColl Titanic Days David Sylvian and Robert Fripp The First Day His Name Is Alive Mouth by Mouth Lush Split Lisa Germano Happiness Frank Black Frank Black 1994 Kristin Hersh Hips and Makers Strings 1995 Throwing Muses University Mojave 3 Ask Me Tomorrow 1996 Bush Razorblade Suitcase His Name Is Alive Stars on E.S.P. 1998 Kristin Hersh Strange Angels His Name Is Alive Ft. Lake 2001 Someday My Blues Will Cover the Earth 2002 The Breeders Title TK The Mountain Goats Tallahassee 2003 Throwing Muses Throwing Muses Kristin Hersh The Grotto 2005 The Mountain Goats The Sunset Tree 2006 Scott Walker The Drift The Mountain Goats Get Lonely TV on the Radio Return to Cookie Mountain Jóhann Jóhannsson IBM 1401, A User's Manual 2007 Emma Pollock Watch the Fireworks M. Ward To Go Home Scott Walker And Who Shall Go to the Ball? And What Shall Go to the Ball? 2008 The Breeders Mountain Battles Jóhann Jóhannsson Fordlandia The Mountain Goats Heretic Pride 2009 The Life of the World to Come The Breeders Fate to Fatal 2010 Modern English Soundtrack 2011 David Lynch Crazy Clown Time I Break Horses Hearts Asobi Seksu Fluorescence 2014 Pixies Indie Cindy 2016 Head Carrier 2019 Beneath the Eyrie
References