Patrick Savile is a Graphic Designer and Art Director, currently working as Senior Designer for Originals Brand Expression at adidas AG.  

Mainly working in the music industry, over the years he has worked for Universal Records, Sony, Warp Records, Audible, WIRED Magazine as well as NTS Live, XL Records, and designed an Olympic winning skateboard. 

His work is situated inconveniently between the historically demarcated zones of Graphic Design and Illustration— I approach briefs from a very textural and expressive viewpoint, using texture, old print, and a disregard of crisp edges to create work that is at the same time nostalgic and modern. 

His work is informed by human error, prehistory, pattern, technology, rocks and the interlinked web of economics, ecology, greed and culture.

Over the years he has worked as a screen-printer, illustrator, designer and artist, and has always valued print and tactility and the imperfect. Nature abhors a perfect gradient. I used to want to focus on illustration and creating hyperreal compositions from scratch but more recently have moved away to a more atmospheric practice, using found imagery to imbue the work with a nostalgia at the same time as looking forwards. 

His work has changed over the years— having never subscribed to the idea of one aesthetic, over the years his work has become an exercise in letting go of the considerations that come with being a designer both sharing and being exposed to other people’s work on an hourly basis— and trying to do something I haven’t seen before by doubling down on how I feel most comfortable working.

He feels his practice isn’t really Graphic Design proper, but definitely has a more artistic element, as he follow a process a lot more than any rules. 

He approaches it in a similar way to sampling— it feels like there is already so much imagery out there— so taking and reinterpreting things in a new context can often create the most unexpected outcomes. 

The Texture of Life Workshop

The workshop will have all participants create a poster for an imaginary club night. 

They will be taken through the process I use to create work, which mainly uses Adobe Photoshop to layer and manipulate existing textures and letterforms to create layers of harmonious imagery, combining with both bespoke and more standard typography. 

Through the heavy use of scanning from books and magazines to find interesting textural and patterned elements, the day will take participants through the process of using these in a composition, whilst trying to create striking posters, but also pushing back against simplicity and clarity that we are taught in school— we will aim to create maximalist final pieces that strike a balance between structure and painterliness. 

We also will cover how to create bespoke letterforms to create headers that really stand out, starting with geometric, simplistic shapes, and distorting and layering them into oblivion. 

We will be using Photoshop and Illustrator as the tools in this so participants should be reasonably well versed in these— I hope to learn some tips from you!