Homo Superior

As mentioned before The Tomorrow People has always been a firm favourite of Piper Gates despite having plot holes bigger than Mount Everest and special effects which makes classic Doctor Who look like 2001. Like Ace of Wands before it The Tomorrow People is a child of 1960s counterculture and brilliantly of its time. There has been a number of tie in books but they don't really capture the essence of The Tomorrow People so it was decided to create a 'lost novel' which hopefully captures the weird psychedelic world of The Tomorrow People: a world where the lightshow from the Floyd's days at the UFO is housed in a science lab with a wondefully camp robot called TIM who serves burgers and fizzy pop by the means of teleportation. Printed as a very limited run of 15 copies only its printed on 250 gram silk paper and is signed. Available here

The Mad Genius of Manchester

4/4 The genius that was Martin Hannett.

Dumb Angel

3/4 The godlike genius that is Brian Wilson.

My name is Joe

As a companion piece to the Delia Derbyshire poster of last year it was decide to tackle the subject of the very wonderful Joe Meek. The design is influenced by the work of Raymond Hawkey and his work at Penguin books and comes as a limited edition 30 cm x 40 cm print printed on 250 gram silk paper and is signed and numbered. Available here

How to make the mundane interesting: part 4

A dissertation on Social, Cultural and Historical Media Developement was conceptualised as a Target novel from the 1970s.

Going Out

Piper Gates will be attempting to DJ between the bands at Biff Bang Pow tomorrow night. Expect psychedelic indie mayhem and chaos!

Coming soon: Albert Acorn & Friends

Man About The House

Design for house music legend Allister Whitehead. Allister wanted a jazz feel for his eCard but it was decided to forsake the Blue Note look and instead go for a look influenced by the 1966 self titled album by Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet.

Camera Camera

Sleeve for Fence Records popsters Viva Stereo, a decision was made to make the sleeve look like it was a factual Pelican Book. By using the striking simplicity of the marber grid together with the Pelican look the cover could be viewed at any size and still be legible whilst retaining a striking appearance. There's a 100 physical copies doing the rounds on cd or you can buy the digital version here.

Brett and Danny

The Persuaders! is possibly Piper Gates favourite programme ever. It has it all; the best opening title sequence ever, a killer theme tune from John Barry plus two actors at the height of their comedic powers. Add some writing heavyweights of the time (Brian Clemens and Terry Nation) and you’ve got the recipe for some genius television. For this piece it was decided to incorporate the colours of the programmes opening titles into the world of the Marber grid and then bring it up to date. It was also important to capture the constant look of bemusement on Roger Moore’s face: a look that he can’t quite believe that they are getting away with making The Persuaders! In contrast I wanted to capture Tony Curtis's snarling “I can’t believe I’ve been reduced to television” look. The dvd box set of the Persuaders! is highly recommended especially the documentary “The Morning After”: the story about Joan Collins has to be heard to be believed. This poster set is the second of four of the Piper Gates "cult crimefighting duo sets". Available as a signed set of two 30cm x 40 cm posters here

Cracking Up

Piper Gates was delighted to be featured in the January issue of "The Crack" the hip and happening guide for the north-east and beyond. You can read the online version here, with special thanks to Rob Meddes.

Merry Christmas!

Piper Gates Design is primarily a one man concern, however it exists with the help of some very wonderful people. So special festive greetings go to Glyn McPheator, Matt Poynton, David Walker, Nick Rhul, Chris Perkins, Steve Marmite and especially to Sue Thompson without whom none of this would have been possible. Also a big thanks to all the blogs and websites that have featured us and especially to everyone who has comissioned work or bought pieces - thank you very much and a merry christmas to you all!

Saul Music

Two posters comissioned by ace Fence Records popsters Viva Stereo.

What The World Is Waiting For

This years subject of the Piper Gates colouring book treatment is those psychedelic jangly baggy popsters The Stone Roses. The colouring book is A4 in size with a 4 page four colour cover with 16 pages of colouring in fun and is signed and numbered. Available here

My Partner The Ghost

After several requests Piper Gates decided to tackle the wonderful world of Marty and Jeff otherwise known as Randall and Hopkirk: Deceased. This poster set is the first of four of the Piper Gates "cult crimefighting duo sets". To do justice to the subject it was decided to re-visit the world of the marber grid and in particular Penguin's detective novels of the mid 1960s. Particular influence was taken of the great man himself Romek Marber and re-imagined in a more contemporary setting. The set of two 30 x 40 cm posters are available here

Bronson's got to pay

Piper Gates has always loved the movie/ television paperback tie in and pride of place goes to Alan Dean Foster's novelisation of John Carpenter's Dark Star. The mind boggles at how hard it must have been writing that last chapter. Anyhow bearing this in mind (and whilst working on something else) it was decided to create a homage to the classic movie/ television tie in of the 1970s and in particular the genius campfest that was The Tomorrow People.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Slight Reprise)

Piper Gates Design has always been a fan of the movie tie in, in fact 1978 would have been a much poorer year without Star Wars figures. Bearing that in mind the Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy poster from last year has been amended and now released as a 30 x 40 cm (12" x 16" approx) poster to tie in with the movie release. Inspired by the opening titles of the iconic 1979 BBC adaptation this poster features the 'grumpy' Russian Doll rendered in the Swiss Graphic Design style. This is limited to 25 copies and printed on very high quality 200 gram silk paper. Available here

The Meddlers

Still looking into the world of all things 'lost novel' it was decided to recreate the design of a Piccolo television tie in book. With this in mind a decision was taken to 'reissue' the Ace of Wands novel to see what it would look like within this context.

Tarot the diamond man

Continuing the recreation of analogue printing effects in the digital age it was decided to use cult tv favourite Ace Of Wands as the subject for the latest 'lost novel'. Inspiration came from Bruce Robertson's cover for the penguin book 'Scootering' with a hint of the sleeve of Tangerine Dream's Electronic Meditation to create the counter culture occultism of the subject matter. A limited edition of 15 copies signed are available here

Exposed

A set of eight postcards printed on 350 gram silk that comes complete with a holder to keep all these Shado operatives (and one alien) together. Each postcard is designed to look like a 'lost' vintage novel with the influence this time coming from the lithographic look of Penguin and Pan books from the late 1960s and and how the limitations of technology created a certain look. This limited edition set is strictly limited to 30 copies only and is signed and numbered by the artist.

Kill Straker

Piper Gates second print in the 'lost novels' series. Based on the aptly titled UFO episode “Mindbender” This print sees the redoubtable Ed Straker under attack from those pesky aliens by the means of a hallucinogenic rock! The print itself is influenced by Giannetto Coppola’s work for Penguin with a dash of Peter Blake and measures 30cm x 40 cm. This print is a strictly limited edition of 15 copies so get one while you can.

Update: Now available as a limited edition poster set together with the lovely Lt. Gay Ellis available here

Mark Caine

A limited edition print of the mighty Jason King. Based on the classic Jason King episode "Wanna Buy A Television Series" this print sees the world's campest crime solving playboy's novelisation of the Mark Caine adventure "A Face I Used To Know" Now available as a 30 x 40 cm (12" x 16" approx) print on 200 gram paper from here

How to make the mundane interesting: part three

A portfolio of research was re-imagined as a cinema brochure from the 1970s. To coincide with the previous entry it was decided the cover would again be influenced by Jan Tschichold's posters for Phoebus Palast.

Brian

With the exception of Van Dyke Parks there was only one man resposible for SMiLE and that wasn't Mike Love or Al Jardine.

Arrival

After numerous requests the Piper Gates Postcard Set has been adapted to become a set of eight posters measuring 30cm x 40cm (12" x 16" approx).

Delia

Moving away from the marber grid it was decided to explore other avenues of Penguin's innovative cover designs. The result of this is a 500mm x 700mm limited edition print of the very wonderful Delia Derbyshire. This has been released in a limited edition of 45 copies and is signed and numbered by the artist.

UPDATE: Now only available as a signed 30 cm x 40 cm print (12" x 16" approx) from here