Lee Swillingham
Lee Swillingham (born Lancashire, 1969) is an English Creative Director and graphic designer, known for both his editorial and advertising work.
Early life
Swillingham grew up in the North of England where the city’s vibrant culture was a big influence: “I grew up in Manchester… which felt, when I was there, like the crucible of pop culture. It was an amazing time, there was a big music scene, a great night club scene.”[1]
Career
He went on to study graphic design at Central Saint Martins, where almost immediately he started working in magazines: “when I was still in school at [Central] Saint Martins, I began assisting at Arena magazine. Back then, they only did six issues a year, so I could work on a whole issue at a time and only miss a few classes now and then.”[2]
Shortly after leaving Central Saint Martins, at the age of 23,[1] Swillingham was appointed art director of The Face magazine, where he embarked upon a revamp of the publication, introducing more ‘progressive ideas and innovative design’.[3] Determined to move the imagery in the magazine on from the pervading downbeat ‘grunge’ aesthetic of the time, Swillingham chose to work with younger, emerging talent who he felt were underused; “I was always confused why there were good photographers in London who weren’t getting published”.[4] And so, “quickly within a year it was all new people”.[5]
He was an early supporter of digitally manipulated photography, commissioning photographers such as Sean Ellis, Elaine Constantine, Norbert Schoerner and Inez Van Lamsweerde, whose futuristic ‘For Your Pleasure’ fashion shoot he published in 1994. Swillingham described the shoot as "what would happen if Ziggy Stardust and J. G. Ballard got together to take fashion pictures".[6]
In talking about this new photographic style in 2009, The New York Times said, ‘Magazines like The Face championed a style coined by its art director, Lee Swillingham… as “Hyper Real”. “We were trying to create a future fashion,” Mr. Swillingham said. “You could do something that looked gritty and real or something that looked like plastic.”[7] This new style became increasingly influential. The fashion story ‘Leisure Lounge’ by Andrea Giacobbe in the October 1994 issue was the main influence on the Levi’s campaign of that year. According to The Story of The Face, ‘the alien look and tone were co-opted by Levi’s for their worldwide ‘Spaceman’ TV advertising campaign. “While it was very annoying it was also a sign that we were doing the right thing”, says Swillingham.’[8]
Other influential shoots from this period were ‘A Taste of Arsenic’ where Swillingham commissioned stylist Isabella Blow and photographer Sean Ellis.[9] And, a pioneering 'virtual' cover shoot featuring Tomb Raider star Lara Croft; “This was the first time that a character from a video game was talked about as though they were real… we approached several designers to produce outfits for her. I knew Lee McQueen, we were all contemporaries, so it was very easy to call them up and get them to do something.”[10]
But by 1996 Swillingham began to feel that this style of photography was becoming too prevalent “I look at magazines like Entertainment Weekly and see that they’ve got these brightly colored, David LaChapelle-like photographs. That’s a sign that this has really entered the mainstream.”[11]
In 1999 he created a special edition of Big Magazine with Dazed and Confused fashion director Katie Grand dedicated entirely to the model Gisele Bundchen, describing the issue as ‘a strange, high-fashion documentary.’[12]
In 1999 Swillingham and Spalding left The Face, partly because of their disagreement with the editorial direction of the publication was taking, “We left when we were asked to do our second Robbie Williams cover... it was bad enough having to do the first one![13] They became art directors of Dazed and Confused. However, this tenure was short lived, lasting only six months.
In 2000 they joined forces again with Katie Grand to create the bi-annual fashion magazine Pop. They designed a logo inspired by M.C. Escher, which was printed with a holographic effect for the launch issue. As the magazine was published only twice a year, Swillingham and Spalding took the opportunity to do a completely new design every issue.[14]
In 2005 he and Spalding launched their advertising and branding agency Suburbia, producing campaigns for brands such as Salvatore Ferragamo, Loewe, H&M, Jimmy Choo, Zara, Miu Miu and Apple.
In 2009 Swillingham, Spalding and Grand left Pop to start a new magazine for Condé Nast called Love. Talking to Creative Review in 2009 he said “Love will be like the older sister of Pop… an evolution of the concept of a high fashion and style magazine.” Swillingham named the magazine[1] and created the logo with his design partner Stuart Spalding, “we didn’t want anything that looked like Pop, which is a little bit plastic and very much a product of its time. We wanted to ignore any notion of being hip or trendy and do something classic.”[15]
Swillingham has been awarded by The Society of Publication Designers, The Art Directors Club of New York and D&AD. In 2005 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. His work has appeared in Taschen’s ‘Graphic Design for the 21st Century’ and Lawrence King’s ‘MagCulture’.
Personal life
Swillingham lives in London with his family.[citation needed]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Lee Swillingham, Creative Director". The Impression. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- ↑ Singer, Maya. "Lee Swillingham, Behind The Scenesters". Style.com. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
- ↑ Calefato, Patrizia (26 March 2010). Fashion and Imagination: About Clothes and Art. ArtEZ Press. p. 413. ISBN 9089101403. Search this book on
- ↑ Olya, Kuryshchuk (23 June 2015). "1 Granary" (2): 48. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- ↑ Pernet, Diane. "Lee Swillingham, Art Director for POP". A Shaded View On Fashion. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- ↑ Lipton, Lauren (31 December 2013). "Seeking Stardom of Their Own". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
- ↑ Wilson, Eric (27 May 2009). "Smile and Say 'No Photoshop'". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- ↑ Gorman, Paul (9 November 2017). The Story of The Face: The Magazine that Changed Culture. Thames & Hudson. p. 254. ISBN 9780500293478. Search this book on
- ↑ Goldstein Crowe, Lauren (3 January 2011). Isabella Blow: A Life in Fashion. Thomas Dunne Books. p. 149. ISBN 0312592949. Search this book on
- ↑ Gorman, Paul (9 November 2017). The Story of The Face: The Magazine that Changed Culture. Thames & Hudson. p. 312. ISBN 9780500293478. Search this book on
- ↑ Kaplan, Michael (January 1996). "The New Color". American Photo. VII (1): 43.
- ↑ Singer, Sally (May 1999). "Fashion Moment". New York Magazine. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- ↑ Gorman, Paul (9 November 2017). The Story of The Face: The Magazine that Changed Culture. Thames & Hudson. p. 258. ISBN 9780500293478. Search this book on
- ↑ McLean, Gareth (27 August 2006). "Inside Pop World". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- ↑ Burgoyne, Patrick (2 February 2009). "The Look Of Love". Creative Review. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
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