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Vaughan Oliver
Designer

After studying under mentor Terry Dowling at Newcastle-upon-Tyne Polytechnic Oliver worked in the packaging design studios of Benchmark and Michael Peters and Partners in London. Occasional commissions for the newly formed independent record label 4AD began a personal graphic sojourn which continues with the label today. The label’s identity was designed in 1980 and has been maintained by Oliver and his collaborators for 25 years.

Supported by Chris Bigg since 1988, their work together was credited to v23 and formalised with a partnership in 1998. Specialising in work for the music industry, their collaboration has attracted clients from a broader field, including company identities for Albanian choreographer Angelin Prejlocaj, film production companies in Germany, Spain, USA and the UK, communication software designers Celona, magazine design (huH, Raygun Publishing), book and book cover design for V&A Publishing (Ossie Clark, Hair and Fashion), Picador, Serpent's Tail, Instar Libri, special print projects for L'Oreal, Central Saint Martin’s and Coco de Mer, film direction and graphic design for various TV commercials (Microsoft, Sony Playstation) and Harrods, print advertising and promotional campaigns for fashion (Alberto Aspesi, John Galliano), posters for the V&A Museum and Young Vic Theatre in London.

A highly successful retrospective of Oliver’s work in Nantes, France in 1992, led to further shows in Paris, Tokyo, Los Angeles, the UK and Athens. His work has been collected for the Victoria and Albert Museum archives and is on permanent exhibition in their 20th Century Gallery.

"Vaughan Oliver: visceral pleasures", a design monograph by Rick Poynor for Booth-Clibborn Editions was published in November, 2000.