Vaughan Oliver

Description	graphic design
Dates	he still alive
Lived/Worked	UK

Best known for...

Vaughan Oliver has created stunning artwork for the 4AD record label since 1980

Why is he important?

Oliver's works focuses on sobriety and weirdness, but its weirdness has a uniqueness that is just plain beautiful ,is one of the most consistently innovative and significant graphic designers to have emerged in the last 15 years, a highly influential member of the small group [with Neville Brody, Malcolm Garrett and Peter Saville] that changed the face of British graphics in the 1980s. Oliver's remarkable and unmatched oeuvre as regular designer for London record label 4AD won him an international following among fellow designers and also, unusually, among music fans, who savor his emotive graphic imag23 Envelope was the team of Vaughan Oliver (graphic design and typography) and Nigel Grierson (photography), who designed the artwork for almost all 4AD releases until 1987. After this point, Vaughan Oliver continued to work for 4AD as v23, collaborating with Chris Bigg, Simon Larbalestier and others.ery as an essential part of the 4AD experience.

Historical context

Under the name 23 Envelope, he and photographer Nigel Grierson helped define 4AD's visual identity through graphics for Modern English, Cocteau Twins, and This Mortal Coil. By 1988 Grierson had moved on and Oliver re-christened the studio v23. Collaborating with various photographers, he continued to create images that complemented and enhanced each group's music in a unique manner. Some of Oliver's most unforgettable designs grace the covers of albums by the Pixies, Lush, Ultra Vivid Scene, and His Name is Alive.

How to see their work

Everything & Nothing - David Sylvian: tour book/cd & this book as well"This Rimy River" Vaughan Oliverand Graphic Works 1988-94

Vaughan Oliver on the web