Gary Day-Ellison

Design Works

The Fellowship of the Ring, de Doelen, Rotterdam

Concert
There is a fair amount to say about design, its inception, creation, execution, reactions and reception. (Let's skip occasional perdition.) Strictly speaking this blog is intended to highlight the back-stories to some of my design projects. This one ends back stage.

But the fact is that the more involved you become with your work the more the work/life thingy blurs. One good part of life celebrates another. That is how it seems to go with me and The Lord of the Rings. Every time I get involved there seems to be a coming together of events. I have put iQuill to App before about Doug Adams' splendid book and you can read more about it via this link. And those of you who are as yet unaware the enormity of this book/film/music project may well have just missed the point, possibly got sniffy about Middle-earth and gone off to watch celebrity wrestling. Bear with me.

For my curmudgeonly disposition slips into pleasure at the thought of this past week in Holland. Eurostar to Brussels was superb. And through ticketed to Rotterdam for less than a train from Exeter to London - shame on you First Great Western. Towards the end of that leg of the journey we chatted with a charming Dutch cellist who had just completed her music finals in London. Onwards, switching to regular trains as we hurtled onward through the Belgian countryside I became aware of the chap next to me. As did fellow passengers. A young man with tousled curly hair was peering at an unopened Tupperware lunch box. Through a crack in the lid he stared intently and the salad within. Frequently putting it back in his bag before nervously re-examining it at frequent intervals.

"When the going gets weird the weird get going"as someone once said (who was it? Hunter S. Thompson?). For just as I was praising the efficiency of mainland European railways the announcement came over the Tannoy that there was a problem ahead and we were to disembark at the next station and begin a convoluted re-routing involving several trains and a coach. Our cellist companion, the chap with the cracked salad box obsession and ourselves formed a small fellowship of travellers collectively trying to fathom out the increasingly complex travel itinerary in mixed languages.

And that, patient reader, is how I came to find myself in Antwerp as minder to a cello and a box of stick-insects. The owner of the aforementioned Phasmatodea (a unique gift for a friend) was in fact David Buckingham, an accomplished classical guitarist and composer currently appearing in Zorro the musical. You couldn't make it up.
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Together we chuckled and chatted our way through to Rotterdam where we were greeted by our hosts, Geoff & Doris van Beek. Once work was taken care of (signing-off the graphic identity for ace dentist Geoff van Beek – more on that in a future post) we looked forward to celebrating his birthday. And the fates had conspired to have the band in town that very weekend and, as their guests, we shared with the van Beeks the amazing experience of  a river taxi to Hotel New York for a superb fish lunch followed by a Live to Projection The Lord of the Rings Concert. Converging these dates had depended on the warmth of reception to both the design and the availability of  concert seats. Both went well. Phew!
The concert? Think of the early days of film. Can you picture silent black & white films with musical accompaniment from some berserk crone at the piano? OK. Now forget it. Completely. This is the movie projected in a concert hall with enough musicians performing live, for the whole 3 hours, to constitute a vast sonic army of orchestra and choirs.
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The venue, the impressive Rotterdam venue called de Doelen, in the heart of the city, flanking Schouwburgplein. A concert auditorium and a great conference venue (Like Minds?) There was the familiar, handsome LOTR banner outside. But no people. Well, usual busy city weekend people, but not the usual Tolkein throng. These events draw very large crowds. Seemed odd. Eerie, even. Once inside I realised why. Our host is very well connected and had thoughtfully arranged to introduce us to the de Doelen Director, Mr Gabriël Oostvogel and his team. Such delightful people. Design is a largely back-room activity but they made such a generous fuss of us. Their hospitality was peerless and shared, during the intermission, with the beautiful people of the city. And me such a scruffy English creative!

The concert itself, The Fellowship of the Ring, was sublime. Powerful. Expert. Moving. I dare to say the acoustics may even surpass the more venerable Royal Albert Hall. The industry and power of the event was so impressive. The sheer talent and quality from all concerned was impeccable. And I love the diversity of audiences these concerts attract. Dinner jackets on one side. Shorts and Gandalf T-shirts on the other. But overwhelmingly the power of the emotional resonance of the music of Howard Shore triumphed again. After The Return of the King in London I was not expecting to be quite so moved again by The Fellowship of the Ring in Rotterdam. But we were, of course!  And the van Beeks loved it. The whole audience was ecstatic. Do check this link for YouTube footage, music, review and photographs.

And back stage? Permit me a little pride as we were invited back after the performance by the extraordinary conductor Mr. Ludvig Wicki (who is just beaming, joyful and indefatigable off-stage as he is in performance) and his charming wife Beatrice. How he manages to be so bubbly and excited after such an exhaustin and brilliant performance I will never know. So good to have made his acquaintance and I hope we meet again. And the night produced yet another treat as we met the singer, Soloist Kaitlyn Lusk. Wow! What a voice. 
Ludvig-wicki
An amazing day. I shall remain forever grateful to Doug Adams inviting me into the world of The Music of The Lord of the Rings in 2009. Next Year? Tickets are booked for the de Doelen and The Two Towers concert. See you there?

 

The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films (Part Two)

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Some times you deliver a job and never hear another word. This can be disconcerting. One minute you are intensely focussed on a mission. The next you are alone watching your child cycle off, without the trainer-wheels, suddenly redundant.

Other times it is very different.

Last week a finished copy of The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films arrived. The next day the author, Doug Adams, arrived in England. We had worked together so intensely over many months. Often under serious pressure. A mutual respect and friendship had developed. Would meeting in 'real life' be the same? And the mighty composer, Howard Shore who had gathered three Academy© Awards for his Tolkien Movie compositions. The next day would be the UK Publication Day and I was about to find out . . .

The venue was Chappell of Bond Street, which is in Wardour Street. Of course it is. Chappell's is where you go to buy serious musical instruments from people who know one end of a Tuba from another. Downstairs is the sheet music section. As one often to be heard muttering darkly against the cloned retail outlets in our cities I feel I should, by turn, celebrate the very existence of such specialist havens of expertise, knowledge and craft. Thrilled they survive the relentless steam-roller of the bland. And I do.

Picture this. Pitch black 7pm on Monday and we could barely get in the shop. Strands of the disparate tribes of Tolkien Fans, Movies Fans and Music Fans threading together in an eager queue to hear Doug Adams and Howard Shore discuss the project and sign some their treasured books. We oozed through the throng, slid to the wings and lurked behind a speaker. And listened to the presentation as the poised, humble young author chatted carefully and informatively with this soft-spoken Canadian composer. Shore has worked with many of my favourite directors. Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Peter Jackson . . . Blimey!


Then I can only remember a bit of a blur. Doug recognised me from the inflated version of my avatar which is the reality and called me to the front for introduction. I got a round of applause! Hell, often the best you get is to be told is that the Sales Director's mum thought you should have done it in green. Applause! Real applause from real readers who really care. Really. I bowed to the maestro and   Doug and I hugged. On their gentle but firm insistence I said something about the design approach into the mike, Lord knows what, and we three signed many copies of the book - together. 

The devil makes me do things sometimes at very proper events. And, later, I found such demonic possession commanding me to proffer the Susan Boyle Songbook to Mr Shore to sign. Fortunately he is a gracious man and there was much laughter.

It seems I got away with it as those very nice people from the distributors, Alfred Music, took us all for supper at The Langham Hotel, opposite what I think of as the British Embassy, BBC Broadcasting House. Conversation pinged from noise-cancelling headphones to Lennon & McCartney, from Radio 4 to the graphic beauty of music. Teenage cassette compilations, Thom Yorke, file-sharing, Apps and beyond.

Next morning, while Howard took rehearsal we had promised the morning to showing Doug and his lovely girlfriend, Jill Smith a sample of the delights of London. On the steps of St Paul's Doug told me the news that the book had sold out on Amazon in UK & Germany on Day One. We took The Millennium Bridge to The Globe Theatre and Tate Modern. Chicagoan have stamina, I am here to testify, and love their coffee is infinite. The original instruments in The Globe exhibition were of great interest to Doug. And I love that it is just 50 yards from Joseph Beuys.

All good. And then it got better. Remember reading that a pianist that used to accompany old silent movies? Frantically fingering the keyboard as some hapless heroine was tied to the railway tracks by a nefarious villain? That night, in 2010, we were part of a sell-out audience at The Royal Albert Hall to witness the spectacle of a full screening of The Return of the King. Technicians kept the Voices and the Sound Effects but stripped out the Sound Track Music. And beneath the screen The London Philharmonic Orchestra plus male choir, children's choir and soloists, some 250+, performing the full score live to screen. It blew my socks off!. My inner sceptic always wriggled at some of the most sentimental moments of the movie. But with the full impact of perfect live vocal presence the swell of the music transformed the saccharine to sweet moments. And I have to tell you that, at The Lighting of the Beacons, my heart filled-up with Shore's Music, Alan Lee, John Howe, the Movie and the project with Doug in ways that any attempt to describe would only invite a cackling of derision from the cynical reader. And the tears rolled down my face. 

At the Interval all I could do was stand and look around the impressive venue, vast audience, massed performers and just marvel at the epic scale of the whole thing. (Then we had Ben & Jerry's - Chocolate Chip.) After the performance, and rapturous applause, Howard Shore & Doug Adams signed books into the night, The line stretched from Gate One to Gate Six. I had been asked to join them signing but it seemed strangely inappropriate and we slipped into the night. Tired, emotionally drained, happy with my wife, Sandy Nightingale.

This creative director may not have the most cash in the world. But sometimes life makes him feel very, very rich.

(Continued from Part One . . .)

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The Beatles

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Just like Jacques Tati's car, I used to have a blog but it wasn't  a good blog. Since I let Scott Gould verbally mug me about my lack of self-promotion I have this shiny new one that people actually read. There are several ideas distilling that I am keen to write but still bubbling. In the meantime I wanted to bring this story forward into the light.

My step-father, Ron, was Marketing Director at British Eagle airlines during my early school days. So when The Beatles flew with them I got to paint (yes, paint) "Beatles Fly" above the British Eagle logo, in matching type, on four bags. But I didn't get taken to the airport to see them and I have lost the photo. My early introduction to the benefits of free work. See how I got over it and moved on? Anyway it was Klaus Voorman's design for Revolver that proved to be the Damascean drawing for me. It was fab and it seemed distantly achievable to a schoolboy with a short version of a Beatle haircut and dreams.

Last summer saw lots of media coverage for the anniversary of The Beatles' Abbey Road. Just as their music was instantly ubiquitous, all their album graphics became iconic.  You can often gauge how much album art has been absorbed into popular culture by the number of parodies. The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Simpsons, Booker T & the MG's, Lego, and just about everybody else have paid homage to Abbey Road. Only spell-checker software, it seems, has not heard of The Beatles.

In 1984 Pan Books published Pete Brown's account of his time with The Beatles. As Creative Director for Pan I wanted the cover to show the exact spot with the band now missing. The record label would not permit the re-touching of the original sleeve. So one Sunday morning it was off to St.John's Wood with delightfully gentle photographer Peter Williams and a set of step ladders to shoot from scratch. With a very limited budget for models or props the were Hitchcock cameos by myself, Sandy Nightingale, Richard Moon, Creative Director of The British Council at the time, and his VW. We left the 'For Sale' sign in for Beatles' fans to spot.

The zebra crossing itself is an international pilgrimage destination for fans of The Fab Four braving the London traffic to get that souvenir shot of themselves on location.

Visually, I am quite taken by the wit of the tank on The Beatles Bike that puts the motorbike in Abbey Road wherever it's true location may be. A shame the airbrush artist went on to pepper (apologies) the machine with so many other references too. Smart tank idea though.

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And, with all the lyrical wit of a McCartney bass-line, life threw up the location in a project this year. This time, as I rummaged through the archives for material for The Music of the Lord of the Rings. While using the hallowed recording studios, Director, Peter Jackson and Composer, Howard Shore stepped out to get their own snap. Then English Heritage got the studios listed. And I still love The Beatles music.

And in the end . . .

The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films (Part One)

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What do you think of when I say "The Lord of the Rings"? Hobbits or Uruk-hai? Viggo Mortensen or Cate Blanchett? Epic story-telling or dippy-hippy myths?

I think craftsmanship. 

As a shuffling youth, I read Tolkein's Trilogy utterly disinterested in folklore and daunted by a book 3 inches thick. I was hooked in a few chapters. Good vs Evil, but many-layered and a complex weave of characters, cultures . . . Enough. You know about it and you don't need my summary. My point is that it was the skills of the writer that made it work for me. Made it plausible. Gave it vitality.

So it is with The Lord of the Rings Movies. Peter Jackson and his team were so thoroughly committed to the project. They totally immersed themselves and that, in turn, generated a totally immersive movie-going experience.

Alan Lee, concept artist on all three movies, once told me that each actor in the Elvish army had an individual spell, in Elvish, painted on the inside of their breast-plate, over the heart, for protection in battle. No-one saw it. And that is the point. The suspension of disbelief is total. And that carries all the way through to the audience. Keeps it real.

I get poked that, "All designers love special effects". Nope. On their own they are just pyrotechincs. Flashy ephemera. Movie-makers often throw cash at CGI and high production values and ignore the script. The script is the content. Book, Film, Music, Products, Services, (dare I say Social Media) - Content matters. Content is the core, the essence. With my graphics, I try to take its pulse. Get that right and you can reflect it with visual communication. Without it you are left with, well decoration.

Yes, I'd rather watch The Wire than Transformers any day. But it's not an elitist thing. Give me a good story, well-told and art direction/special effects that bring it to life and I am all there. 2001: A Space Odyssey, Twelve Monkeys, Apocalypse Now . . . Brill! Bring on the popcorn. And nothing gets the juices going more than a great soundtrack. Imagine Psycho without the violins. The Dollar films without Sergio Leone. Southern Comfort without Ry Cooder. I'd better stop or this will be one long list. But I'd love to see your favourites in the 'comments' box at the end of this post . . .

Before I get lost in enthusiasm (that happens). I want to change tack to technology. I am under a publishers' embargo not to show The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films yet. Must respect that. Hence the wee teaser image above. Maybe more about the design in a later Post. Back story: In 2009 the book design (anon) had been completed. Then they binned it. Totally. In the name of quality. Blimey. No pressure then.

What's that got to do with technology?

This ambitious book's author Doug Adams lives/teaches/performs/writes in Chicago. He took on the task of finding a new art director for the project. After a very long trawl, a Google search  found my website. Tolkien found calendars and diaries. Classical Music found my time at Decca Records. And serendipity found Douglas Adams, his namesake. So far, so good. Then he used LinkedIn, which provided my bona fides and the all-important references. E-mail contact was made. 

Wrongly, I used to associate technology with an icey hand - cold, impersonal. Language can defeat that assumption. In a flurry of e-mails dialogue began. Howe Records in New York. A few phone-calls followed. We exchanged thoughts, discussed theories, developed an understanding. I was hired. Time-difference just became part of the process. I worked up designs in the morning. Sent PDFs to Doug in Chicago early morning (which we dubbed Javatime). We discussed/revised and sent to NY as they got to the office one hour later. The book is 416 pages + a rarities CD. There were a phenomenal amount of PDFs, e-mails, Skype calls, Twitter pokes et al. Nancy Starkman, Print Broker on the East Coast. Printers in South Korea. But, because of our wonderful language, we built trust, developed our relationship, crafted nuance. Made a book. And met deadlines.

We have still not met. Hi, Doug! I have yet to meet the guys in New York office, Joe Augustine and Alan Frey. Artists, Alan Lee and John Howe are in New Zealand, their pencils kissing paper in the making of The Hobbit. We will all meet for the first time when finished books are launched at a Howard Shore/LOTR concert at The Royal Albert Hall this September.

The author is now my friend. Yesterday I received a Hand-Written letter of thanks from Howard Shore for my work. Wow!

LikeMinds stimulated my interest in Social Media in May. Now I write this new Blog. I will Tweet it to a growing bunch of good folk who follow me. I will meet many of them for the first time at TheMeet 140, in Bristol, next week.

Technology today is impressive. The range of media amazing. The power of language in a 416 pp book or a 140 character Tweet is extraordinary. With great content the potential is limitless.

By the way, I am a Londoner living on Dartmoor, Devon, in England. I travel.

(. . . continued in Part Two)

Douglas Adams

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I have been fortunate to work with some really great people. Authors, Composers, Entrepreneurs, Actors, Publishers, Creatives. Working with the best is very demanding but it makes you raise your game.

I relish that challenge.

My latest project has been working with a very talented Musicologist in Chicago called Doug Adams. More on that project in a later post. But it's a good excuse to start this Blog with the similarly named, Douglas Adams. I love to listen to BBC World Service. That's where I first heard the radio broadcast of A Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy – at 3 am on a sleepless night in West London. I liked the way it played with the Science Fiction genre. So when editor Caroline Upcher bought the rights for Pan Books I already knew the nature of the beast. And together we were able to spread the word that this was more than the SF designation it had on the list. But initially that is where it stayed. Mick Brownfield produced worthy cover art for the first edition. The series grew. It became a Trilogy.

Douglas Adams was huge fun but awful at meeting deadlines. He once said, "I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." Book four in the Trilogy (yup) was commissioned. Douglas was late with the manuscript. 'Late' is putting it mildly. Douglas was massively late. Publisher, Sonny Mehta, was pushed to extreme measures. He booked a London hotel room, stocked it with paper and booze and locked our author in until he finished it. And thus legendary publishing tales are born.

Now, this is what I mean by massively late. Sales needed a cover to rack up the orders. I had to deliver the design for the hardback jacket before Douglas produced the book. I made him promise to tell me what he had in mind. On his way out of the Fulham Road offices, unaware of his imminent incarceration, he stuck his head round my office door to brief me. He said, "It's called So Long and Thanks for All the Fish". And left.

I sat, lost for words. A few minutes passed and his head re-appeared, "But there are no fish in it.", he declared – and fled.

This left me license to match enigma with enigma. And when the penny eventually dropped, it landed in a pint of Guinness and produced a 'lenticular print'. I found one of a walrus that morphed into a dinosaur, originally produced as a give-away for a cereal packet. Douglas Adams wrote in my copy "The silliest jacket in the history of history itself".

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An Olympic level of silliness reached (that, of course mirrored the product) we were able to cap it off nicely when we eventually produced a unified design livery for the whole series. Adams hard-nosed agent demanded that we get the new paperback editions in bulk display bins in WHSmith. Trouble was their policy was no bins for re-issues, which three of the four were. It's never just simple! It was going to take a real eye-catcher to encourage WHS break the rules.

I played around with some nice images. Chris Foss produced a classy SF illustration of a spaceship in the shape of a Rebok training shoe. Fate demanded a fish this time. A very small place in North London produced a towel with the legend "Don't Panic!" woven in. And Douglas had made a self-portrait on his AppleMac. But felt none of them were strong enough to stand alone. Off to our author's house in Islington. Unable to hear over the most sophisticated sound system I had ever seen we played games with paper. Marketing Gods would call it brain-storming. I chopped copies of the images into pieces. Then settled on cutting each image into four. So by reconfiguring them you see the whole of each image. Just out of devilment, the spines, when in chronological order spell out "42". In Luscher Colour Test colours. Nobody got that.

Great fun, and millions of books were displayed and sold.