Business Cards

Following on from last years "Milk Tray Man" style business cards it was decided to create a set of 8 business cards to hand out to interested parties. Taking inspiration from the initial exploration into the wonderful world of the marber grid it was decided to rework these and present them as a set of business cards.

Caracus

This in the first in an occasional series of Piper Gates favourite things. Gregory's Girl is possibly the best film ever; to go into its genius would take longer than 12 elephants to explain. The influence on this series stems from reading "Lord of the Flies" at school and being facinated by the fact that there were variant covers, memory now suggests that I was handed the book with a different cover every week. Deciding to take this further it was decided to make an occasional series of novels done in this style with the subject being a favourite of mine. Gregory's Girl has been released as a novel but the cover doesn't do justice to the subject matter, hopefully this interpretation does it proud.

Cowley the Cowl

As a accompaniment to the Bodie & Doyle Poster Set it was decided to tackle the head of CI5; Mr George Cowley himself! The scotch whiskey drinking head of CI5 is rendered in the style of a Penguin Book from the 1960s. This limited edtion poster is 30 cm x 40 cm in size and is printed on high quality 250 gram silk paper and is signed in an edition of 25 copies only. Available here

Cult TV Postcards

Based on the “Cult Crimefighting Duo” posters this postcard set contains eight postcards together with a wallet to keep the set together. Again the look is based on Penguin Books crime novels from the 1960s with the colour of each postcard representing the main colour used in then opening title sequence of each programme. The wallet is signed and numbered with both postcards and wallet printed on high quality 250 gram silk stock. This is limited to 25 copies only. Available here

You're Nicked!

Like The Persuaders and The Professionals The Sweeney is another favourite of Piper Gates. Jack and George’s gritty violent world with a sublime sense of humour is total genius. To celebrate this genius Piper Gates has included it as the fourth and final piece in the “Cult Crimefighting Duo Sets”. Again the look is based on a vintage Penguin Crime novel from 1960s. The set of two posters is available as a 30 cm x 40 cm print on 250 gram silk paper and is signed in a limited edition of 35. Available here

Happening right now!

Piper Gates will again be attempting to DJ at Biff Bang Pow, expect the usual psychedelic and indie mayhem!

Cover Me

The Professionals is another Piper Gates favourite. Essentially a British version of Starsky & Hutch The Professionals is completely over the top and all the better for it. The three leads play it straight which gives the sometimes implausible plots credibility; it also helps that the show is also brilliantly entertaining. This set is part 3 of 4 of Piper Gates "Cult Crimefighting Duo Sets" along with the previous Randall and Hopkirk and Persuaders sets. The design for this set is again based on Penguin's 1960s Crime series taking the marber grid from the past and presenting it in the present. The set is available as a 30 cm x 40 cm print on 250 gram silk paper and is signed in a limited edition of 35. Available here

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