Vivian Stanshall

VIVIAN STANSHALL
Dog Howl in Tune
LP artwork

This one has been quite a design journey. I was commissioned to photograph some of Vivian’s paintings and subsequently asked to lay out the artwork for this ‘long lost’, posthumously finished album from “one of the most talented and magnificent Englishmen ever to have drawn breath” (according to Stephen Fry). 

I admit to not knowing much about Vivian’s work, but this guy was an influential figure in music and comedy, and was a master player of words. 

Working with his art and words from decades past has been a real experience. Photographing his personal ephemera for the back cover image was fantastic, the more pics I took the more Rupert (Vivian’s son and Art Director) thought of to add to the mix and it turned out brilliantly. 

I was so pleased when Madfish took my suggestion of this self portrait to be the front cover, it works so well and is perfectly appropriate. 

Dog Howl in Tune and Rawlinson’s End LPs both OUT NOW.