Brett Wickens

Brett Wickens
Born (1961-04-15) April 15, 1961 (age 63)
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
CitizenshipCanadian, British, American
Occupation(s)Graphic designer, musician, photographer
Known forLogo design and branding, Spoons, Ceramic Hello
Notable workThe logotype for HBO's The Sopranos
SpouseCoraline Langston-Jones
Children2
Websitestudiobrettwickens.com

Brett Wickens (born April 15, 1961[1]) is a Canadian graphic designer and musician known for his work with identity design. He is a partner with the Ammunition Design Group, and lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area. Among other musical endeavors, Wickens was a founding member of the bands Spoons and Ceramic Hello.

Biography

Wickens worked with British graphic designer Peter Saville[2][3] as a partner in his London studio during the 1980s and 90s, where they developed campaigns for clients such as Yohji Yamamoto, Factory Records,[4] Peter Gabriel[5] and the French Ministry of Culture. Wickens was involved in the creation of the artwork for Gabriel's So (1986), which, according to Creative Review, is "widely regarded as a design classic".[6] In 1990 he became an Associate Partner in Pentagram's London office, departing three years later.[7][8]

In 1993 Wickens moved to Los Angeles to become VP Creative Director at Frankfurt Balkind Partners.[9] He designed the logotype for HBOs The Sopranos.[10] In 1999, Wickens became the Global Creative Director of Sapient before joining MetaDesign as VP Creative Director in 2002.[11] He was a founding partner of DreamSurface, a mobile application design company best known for the product TimeTuner.[12] Wickens subsequently became a partner with the Ammunition Design Group.[13]

He has been a guest speaker on NPR, contributing editor at EYE magazine, teacher at the California Institute of the Arts, and speaker at many symposia, including the RGD Design Thinkers Conference 2008 in Toronto, and the Creative Review Click Conference 2010 in San Francisco. Wickens was awarded in 2016 the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award.[14] He has said of his approach to design, "I've pretty much based my career on one philosophy. Good design is not about what you put in, it's about what you leave out."[15]

Music career

Wickens was a founding member of the band Spoons, playing keyboards.[16] He appeared on the group's debut single, "After the Institution" (1980), released on then-manager Paul Abrahams' Mannequin Records.[17] Wickens subsequently left Spoons and joined with classically-trained musician Roger Humphreys to form the duo Ceramic Hello.[18] Through Mannequin they released a single, "Climatic Nouveaux" (1980),[19] and an album, The Absence of a Canary (1981);[20] Abrahams produced the duo.[21] Trouser Press pondered whether Ceramic Hello would be the "toast of the music press", had they been from London.[22]

The Absence of a Canary has twice been re-released, and has garnered a legacy among electronic music enthusiasts.[23] Elsewhere, Wickens has composed with William Orbit, Jah Wobble (Public Image Ltd),[24] Andy McCluskey (OMD)[25] and Martha Ladly (Martha and the Muffins),[26] among others.

Personal life

Wickens is married to Coralie Langston-Jones and together they have twins, Jasmine and Sophia. They reside in the town of Lucas Valley in Marin County and live in an Eichler house.[27]

References

  1. ^ "Brett Wickens Video, Interviews". OVGuide. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  2. ^ "Behind the Leeo Logo: A Q&A with Brett Wickens". Leeo, Inc. January 9, 2015. Archived from the original on March 18, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  3. ^ Silva, Horacio (September 22, 2002). "Outstanding Alien". The New York Times. p. 82. Archived from the original on April 22, 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
  4. ^ "Brett Wickens". FactoryRecords.org. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  5. ^ Kielty, Martin (May 21, 2021). "How Peter Gabriel's So Artwork Defined Him for a Decade". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  6. ^ Lucas, Gavin (October 17, 2012). "25th anniversary edition of Peter Gabriel's So". Creative Review. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  7. ^ Poynor, Rick (1998). Design Without Boundaries: Visual Communication in Transition. Booth-Clibborn Editions. p. 113. ISBN 978-1861540065.
  8. ^ "Brett Wickens, Sapient". Design Week. October 15, 1999. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  9. ^ "Brett Wickens". Design Thinkers. 2008. Archived from the original on May 6, 2016.
  10. ^ Wilson, Mark (November 22, 2013). "From The Sopranos's Logo Designer, A Brilliant Brand ID That Morphs Over Time". Fast Company. Archived from the original on November 25, 2013. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  11. ^ "Creative Professionals & People". Graphic Design USA. 2009-03-01. Archived from the original on 2016-06-03. Retrieved 2016-05-10.
  12. ^ "Radio Ink Magazine". Radio Ink. 2009-10-21. Retrieved 2015-06-09.[permanent dead link‍]
  13. ^ Brownlee, John (August 7, 2014). "What's The Difference Between a Logo and a Symbol?". Fast Company. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  14. ^ "Brett Wickens". AIGA San Francisco. 2018-02-04. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  15. ^ Labong, Leilani Marie (January 24, 2013). "Putting the I in Eichler". SFGate. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  16. ^ "Tell No Lies Stabilizes Spoons Success". RPM. Vol. 41, no. 5. October 6, 1984. p. 1.
  17. ^ "40 Years of Spoons Arias + Symphonies Demands Close Inspection of Canada's Best Album [part 1]". Post-Punk Monk. November 1, 2022. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
  18. ^ McMillan, Greg (March 9, 1981). "Ceramic Hello Cracks Air". The Hamilton Spectator.
  19. ^ Lai, Chi Ming (February 17, 2020). "25 Tracks From the Circuit Boards of Canada". Electricity Club. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
  20. ^ Vasicka, Veronica (January 26, 2010). "The 20 Best Minimal Wave Records Ever Made". Fact. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
  21. ^ "Production Line". Music Week. November 2, 1985. p. 22.
  22. ^ Young, Jon (July 1981). "Hit and Run". Trouser Press. p. 48.
  23. ^ Bulatovic, Danilo (February 11, 2016). "A Canadian minimal wave retrospective: Ceramic Hello's Absence of a Canary (1981)". CKUT-FM. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
  24. ^ Smith, Jerry (May 10, 1986). "Singles (Brett Wickens & Jah Wobble: Between Two Frequencies)". Music Week. p. 22.
  25. ^ Browne, Paul (15 February 2014). "Brett Wickens Interview". Messages. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  26. ^ "Island Scores Cancon with Martha Single". RPM. Vol. 39, no. 2. September 10, 1983. p. 2.
  27. ^ Bowling, Mary Jo (May 6, 2016). "A Classic Eichler Home Steps Into the 21st Century". Curbed. Archived from the original on October 4, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2016.