Steven Wilson’s Psychedelia

30 May 2008 Category: Illustration, Music, Worldwide

Steven Wilson’s Psychedelia

steven wilson, brighton, psychedelic, music, cover, booklet, uk, coca cola, illustration

Now, you’ve probably ALL seen the Coca-Cola campaign with a bottle dripping in psychedelic colours . . . Well, Brighton-based illustrator Steven Wilson, clearly inspired by the flowery ’70s, draws a vivid world that seems to be viewed through a lava lamp. Today, PingMag has a chat with Steven to show you what other marvellous works he has made by bridging the commercial and artistic worlds.

Written by Selwa Sweidan


Let us introduce Steven Wilson. Courtesy of Steven Wilson

The Coke Side of Life poster in red. © 2003-2008 Steven Wilson

You know we have to ask about the Coca-Cola campaigns you’ve worked on . . . How did they kick-off ?

Those projects were commissioned by a UK design agency called Bulletproof. Obviously I was aware of the exposure that a job like that was going to receive, so there was a certain amount of pressure to make a good job of it. A Coke bottle is one of the iconic objects of the 20th century, and to get a chance to put one of my illustrations on it and become part of its history was an exciting thing to do!
On a personal level I had ethical concerns about contributing to a company that receives some criticism about how it conducts itself — but career-wise it was a great platform. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I am a commercial illustrator and the responsibility lies with the consumer and the company itself rather than myself.

Shizoid distortions: — “untitled,” 2006. © 2003-2008 Steven Wilson

Okay . . . Let’s focus on your methods: What tools do you use?

I tend to use a combination of handmade elements and computer generated imagery: The handcrafted elements include paint, spray paint, Play-doh, photocopiers — and I mainly use Illustrator to draw any computer-generated drawings. Generally, the above is all combined and put together in Photoshop but my techniques vary from image to image.

“Play-doh”, 2006. Hinting that Steven likes to work with the Play-doh… © 2003-2008 Steven Wilson

And your work space . . . what is that like?

I work from home in the second bedroom of my house in Brighton. Basically, it’s divided up into a few areas: There’s one wall that’s full of books and magazines that I’ve collected to use as reference and inspiration. The wall next to that has a chest of drawers next to it which I keep all of my work in. I also use the top of it as a desk to make all of my handmade messy elements on . . . stencils, painted elements, etc. Then against another wall I have my clean area, which is a large desk with my G5, scanner and printer. That’s about it.
Overall it’s quite an unremarkable space and is a lot cleaner and more organised than most people would think. I like my work surroundings simple and clean so I can have a clear head about what I’m doing.

An interesting pattern for Nike NBA All Stars, from 2006. © 2003-2008 Steven Wilson

Steven’s studio wall. Very neat! Just right for our desk project! Courtesy of Steven Wilson

Right! So, you’ve done a lot of music-related work for musicians such as Dub Pistols, Babyshambles and Amy Winehouse. How did this come about?

I think because I’ve always been interested in the images that have been made for music throughout its history. I look a lot at old and new album covers and old music posters, so I think I have subconsciously pushed my work in that direction. I enjoy the process of meeting the artist and getting the chance to work with another creative, even if it’s in another discipline. I always find they think in similar processes and therefore it’s usually something of a collaboration between myself and the artist or band. As I spend most of my time working on my own, which can be quite isolating, to get another person’s input is refreshing.


Retro-style album artwork for the Dub Pistols, from 2004… © 2003-2008 Steven Wilson

…and a tour poster for The Living Things from 2006. © 2003-2008 Steven Wilson

A lot of these covers seem to build on psychedelic animals or faces.

Again, I suppose this has happened as I have a fascination with images from the ’60s and ’70s. It was a very free era for illustration and design and of course a great time for music, and in general it was probably the most creative era we have had in the UK. I love the way everything was so organic in psychedelia and your eye was made to dance around the page as different elements merged into one another. I also like the way there were ‘hidden’ elements and you would often discover more the longer you looked at the images.

Steven’s visuals for Floria Sigismondi’s video clip for The Living Things’ “Bom Bom Bom.” From 2006.

That leaves us with a lot to discover in your illustrations! Tell us about the exhibits you’ve worked on . . . we’re curious about the Selfridges window?

The brief was set by Creative Review magazine. The idea was that seven different artists would work within a window in UK department store Selfridges for one week, each creating designs for the space in their chosen field of art and design. We were asked to build on top of the previous artist’s work for it to become a living space that would grow and change organically and passersby could watch us working live in the window.

When I went into the space it was pretty empty so I had plenty of area to fill with my drawings. It was something very different for me: I am used to working from home and I would never consider myself an exhibitionist. To be asked to work in a shop window with thousands of people walking by was quite daunting. I am probably most comfortable when producing images however, so I was able to quickly feel at ease and in fact ended up enjoying the experience!

The Selfridges window art project with seven artists, each having one week to work in the space. From 2006. © 2003-2008 Steven Wilson

That must have been fun! What’s been catching your eye lately?

I tend to look in charity shops and flea markets and try to find obscure and unwanted books on subjects which I’ll use as reference that hopefully not everyone else is using. I think the last interesting book I bought was one based on fantasy postcards from the 19th century which has some really surreal images in it.

Flock wallpaper design we long to touch. Spot the mobile phones on the right. From 2007. © 2003-2008 Steven Wilson

Is any other designer’s work important to you?

I tend to look at older artists. Recently I’ve been looking at Pushpin studios, Alan Aldridge and David Pelham but I’m constantly looking at different things. In terms of younger contemporary illustrators, I think Kam Tang does some great stuff.

You’re currently with Breed — how did you originally hook up with this agent?

It’s a relatively young agency as it has only been going since January 2007 and I was there from its beginning and helped a little with the setup. The aim was to be a small agency with a small but varied group of good quality artists. I hope we have managed that and so far it is doing very well.

More colourful brightness! “Untitled,” from 2008. © 2003-2008 Steven Wilson

Lastly, what are your most recent projects?

Mostly music projects. I recently completed the artwork for Sam Sparro’s debut album. He’s quite a popular singer over here in the UK at the moment, with a soul electro mix kind of sound. I’ve also just finished posters for a couple of music festivals, one called Beachdown which is a new festival being held in my hometown, Brighton. And another for a large festival in the US called the Bonnaroo festival in Tennessee. I am also acting as guest creative director for the forthcoming issue of Fake, a really cool Spanish magazine.

The Beetle with Steven’s flower decor, from 2006. © 2003-2008 Steven Wilson

We see you’re quite busy . . . Thank you, Steven Wilson for sparing the time!

88 Comments

  1. Realy cool stuff here. Much like a magical mystery tour…in vector.

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  2. Rad. I’m a big fan!

    Posted by: M W M on May 31st, 2008 at 2:00 am

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  7. it looks great, but this is not psychedelia!
    IMO - it just another colorful, pop and glamorous stuffs…

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  8. Excellent article. One of my favorite Wilson’s concept, not shown here, is when he stroke the shape of a face with parallel rainbow coloured bended lines on a black background !

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