Quick Design History: Alan Fletcher #ThrowbackThursday

This my ode to the one and only Alan Fletcher. I fell in love with his work years ago, and his captivating creativity still has influence on my own work.

Let’s set the scene.

Rewind just over 10 years, I am a young Arts College student trying to be cool with long hair and vintage clothing that smells very similar to my Nan’s curtains she’s had for more than 50 years.

I was never one for studying at school, neither did any particular subject interest me. I kind of just coasted by, coming out with okay grades. With no real idea what to do next, I followed my older brother’s lead and went on to sixth form—I wanted to avoid subjects that I thought would be too hard. General Studies was a breeze, just watched episodes of ‘Have I got news for you,’ Philosophy I really got into and I also did Resistant Materials. Got through them somehow, but whilst my friends all decided to go off to University and knew the career they wanted, I was stuck. The cure for this: a summer working out in Ibiza.

Whilst sunbathing with a sangria in hand, I decided that I wanted to go to Arts College. I had enjoyed the more technical drawing side to my Resistant Materials course, but found it restrictive with isometric drawings, I wanted something more expressive.

At Arts College, I fell in love straight away, being inspired by lots of different mediums, drawing (although I am bad at it), photography, architecture and then there was a section on Graphic Design. I loved looking at the problem solving with visual communications, which was great for someone who didn’t follow words very well. One part of this section was to research a famous designer. This was when I first came across Alan Fletcher.

I was instantly mesmerised by the beautiful simplicity, yet such graceful play and wit in his work. And work that was so ahead of its time in the 1960s, such as the Pirelli bus poster. Researching more, from Pentagram to the Victoria and Albert Museum identity, I was just so captivated. This lead me to want a Fletcher-esque quality to my work.

When we had to do a photography project at Arts College, I wanted to incorporate Fletcher’s aesthetic. I loved his idea of seeing things that others can’t, with his collages or landscape paintings. So my project I named 1+1=3, manipulating two objects to create a third form.

I was becoming more and more intrigued by this subject and of Alan Fletcher’s work and finally after 18 years coasting by, I knew what I wanted to do with my life.

Alan Fletcher’s work for me is timeless and brings fun into our work and is a constant inspiration. With all my projects I focus on the core message, key take-aways for the user and using creativity, and where possible, wit, to ensure the results are engaging.

Image—one of my first ever print projects for a poetry pamphlet was inspired by Fletchers Wine Cellar identity.

Stop by next Thursday to see the next design legend we’ll feature for Throwback Thursday!