David Costa (graphic designer)
David Costa | |
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![]() 2016 photo by Judith Costa | |
Background information | |
Birth name | David Costa |
Born | Westminster, London, United Kingdom | November 18, 1947
Genres | Folk rock |
Occupation(s) | Graphic Designer, Art Director, Musician |
Years active | 1969–present |
Labels | CBS, Rocket, Sony |
Website | whereforeart |
David Costa (born November 18, 1947) is an English graphic designer, art director and musician.[1] Notable design collaborations include those for Elton John, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, The Beatles, Moody Blues, Genesis, Rolling Stones, Phil Collins and Nelson Mandela.
Early life
Costa was born in London, England, his grandfather a songwriter and pianist with the Savoy Orpheans, father, the popular 1930’s singer and post-war BBC radio celebrity Sam Costa. He attended Merchant Taylors' public school, pursuing Fine Arts at the University of East Anglia in 1966.
Career
In early 1969 he left university and brought together Barry Clarke, Bias Boshell, Unwin Brown and Celia Humphris to form the folk-rock band Trees, subsequently recording two albums: The Garden of Jane Delawney and On the Shore. In 1971 he left Trees to pursue freelance graphic design, eventually with Dick James Music in 1972, leading to a sequence of album sleeves for Elton John,[2][3][4][5] and subsequently as art director in the UK offices of Rocket Records. During this period, Costa and guitarist Barry Clarke went on to write, record and produce the band Casablanca and subsequent eponymous album[6] in 1973.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s freelance design projects included work with ex-Beatles press officer Derek Taylor to instigate the "Brighton Pier" label for Warner Bros. Records UK. From 1977 through 1979 Costa ran his studio Jubilee Graphics from the previous offices of Rocket Record Co. in Wardour Street, London. Over the ensuing decade he worked as a freelance designer/art director on the re-launched Tatler magazine with Tina Brown; redesign and art direction on the relaunched The Field; early visual proposals for Today, Eddie Shah’s publication that pioneered the use of computer systems with photo-typesetting and full-colour offset printing, and, the redesign and frequent illustration of covers for Encounter magazine.
Wherefore Art?
Costa established the Wherefore Art? design studio in 1988 with activities predominantly divided between the music and book publishing industries. In 1992 the studio moved to Primrose Hill where it continued to operate through 2008.
Wherefore Art? is accredited for work on numerous album sleeves[2][3][4][7][8][9][10][11] and associated merchandising projects. Book projects crediting design and art direction by Costa and Wherefore Art? include The Beatles Anthology,[12] The Rolling Stones: A Life On The Road,[13] Punk: A Life Apart,[14] Michael Cooper's Blinds & Shutters,[15] Eric Clapton and Peter Blake's 24 Nights,[16] Sometime in New York City,[17] Stuart: The Life & Art of Stuart Sutcliffe,[18] Ravi Shankar's Raga Mala,[19] Will The Circle Be Unbroken: Country Music in America,[20] Genesis: Chapter and Verse,[21] and Jimi Hendrix's Starting at Zero.[22]
A working relationship as art director on many albums with photographer Gered Mankowitz, led to the forming of Ink Icon, leveraging images from Mankowitz’s archive across a variety of limited edition media. Two original silkscreen portraits of Jimi Hendrix from Gered’s archive led to Wherefore Art’s controversial[23] repackaging of the three original Jimi Hendrix albums (Are You Experienced?, Axis: Bold As Love and Electric Ladyland) under the supervision of Alan Douglas, and subsequently the cover of the 1993 MCA compilation The Ultimate Experience. The Portrait Edition Fender Stratocaster, featuring one of the original Hendrix silkscreens, was produced by Ink Icon and Wherefore Art? in association with both Fender Guitars and Experience Hendrix.
In 2001 Costa curated the Art of the Luthier[24] exhibition for the furniture maker David Linley, son of Princess Margaret and the late 1st Earl of Snowdon, as a showcase for thirty British guitarmakers.
Costa was brought in as the creative director and consultant for 46664, the campaign vehicle of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, to develop strategies and literature for Mandela’s 90th birthday celebrations in London in 2008, and subsequently in New York in July 2009 to launch, through combined efforts of the United Nations and 46664, worldwide recognition of Nelson Mandela Day.[25]
Discography
Musician
Year | Album | Artist | Label |
---|---|---|---|
1969 | The Garden of Jane Delawney | Trees | CBS Records, 2007 Sony Rewind, Sunbeam Records |
1970 | On the Shore | Trees | CBS Records, 2007 Sony Rewind, Sunbeam Records |
1973 | Casablanca | Casablanca | Rocket |
Graphic art, design and packaging
Books
Graphic art, design and packaging
Year | Title | Author/Artist | Publisher |
---|---|---|---|
1990 | Blinds & Shutters | Micheal Cooper | Genesis[26] |
1991 | 24 Nights | Eric Clapton/Peter Blake | Genesis[27] |
1994 | Liverpool Days | Astrid Kirchherr/Max Scheler | Genesis[28] |
1994 | Lady Cottington’s Pressed Fairy Book | Brian Froud/Terry Jones | Pavilion Books[29] |
1995 | Mason's Yard to Primrose Hill | Gered Mankowitz | Genesis[30] |
1995 | Sometime in New York City | Bob Gruen | Genesis[31] |
1996 | Strange Stains and Mysterious Smells | Brian Froud/Terry Jones | Pavilion Books/Simon & Schuster[32] |
1996 | Stuart: The Life & Art of Stuart Sutcliffe | Stuart Sutcliffe | Genesis[33] |
1997 | Raga Mala | Ravi Shankar | Genesis[34] |
1998 | Eye-Contact | Gered Mankowitz | Genesis[35] |
1998 | Wyman Shoots Chagall | Bill Wyman | Genesis[36] |
1998 | The Rolling Stones: A Life On The Road | Phil Dodd/The Rolling Stones | Virgin[37] |
1999 | Hamburg Days | Astrid Kirchherr/Klaus Voorman | Genesis[38] |
1999 | The Vogue Book of Blondes | Kathy Phillips | Pavilion[39] |
2000 | The Beatles Anthology | The Beatles | Cassell/Chronicle Books[40] |
2001 | The Book of Rock | Phil Dodd | Pavilion[41] |
2002 | Shooting Sex: The Definitive Guide to Undressing Beautiful Strangers | Bob Carlos Clarke | Bob Carlos Clarke[42] |
2002 | Martin Guitar Masterpieces | Martin Guitars/Dick Boak | Bulfinch Press[43] |
2003 | Punk: A Life Apart | Stephen Colegrave/Chris Sullivan | Cassell/Chronicle Books[44] |
2005 | Drawing Blood Forty Five Years of Scarfe Uncensored | Gerald Scarfe | Little, Brown Book Group[45] |
2006 | Will The Circle Be Unbroken: Country Music in America | Country Music Hall of Fame | DK Publishing[46] |
2007 | Genesis: Chapter & Verse | Genesis | Weidenfeld & Nicolson[47] |
2009 | Woodstock: Three Days That Rocked the World | Mike Evans, Paul Kingsbury, Museum at Bethel Woods | Sterling[48] |
2011 | No Direction Home: The Life and Music of Bob Dylan | Robert Shelton | Backbeat Books[49] |
2013 | Starting at Zero | Alan Douglas/Peter Neal | Bloomsbury[50] |
Tour Programs and Books
References
- ^ David Costa discogs.com, Accessed October 14, 2017
- ^ a b c Art Direction thanks to David Costa albumlinernotes.com, Accessed October 9, 2017
- ^ a b c Art Direction - David Costa albumlinernotes.com, Accessed October 9, 2017
- ^ a b c Art Direction and Design: David Costa and David Palmer for Wherefore Art albumlinernotes.com, Accessed October 9, 2017
- ^ a b Art Direction and Design: David Costa for Wherefore Art? albumlinernotes.com, Accessed October 9, 2017
- ^ Casablanca discogs.com, Accessed October 14, 2017
- ^ Art Direction and Design: David Costa for Wherefore Art? albumlinernotes.com, Accessed October 9, 2017
- ^ a b Art direction: David Costa albumlinernotes.com, Accessed October 9, 2017
- ^ a b Design by Wherefore Art? albumlinernotes.com, Accessed October 9, 2017
- ^ a b Redesign and Art Direction: Sian Rance & David Costa for Wherefore Art? albumlinernotes.com, Accessed October 9, 2017
- ^ Original Art Direction and Design: David Costa and Nicky Hames of Wherefore Art albumlinernotes.com, Accessed October 9, 2017
- ^ The Beatles Anthology chroniclebooks.com, Accessed October 6, 2017
- ^ The Rolling Stones: A Life On The Road isbnsearch.org, Accessed October 8, 2017
- ^ Punk, Cassell, 2001 google.com, Accessed October 14, 2017
- ^ Blinds & Shutters genesis-publications.com
- ^ 24 Nights genesis-publications.com
- ^ Sometime in New York City genesis-publications.com
- ^ Stuart: The Life & Art of Stuart Sutcliffe genesis-publications.com, Accessed October 9, 2017
- ^ Raga Mala genesis-publications.com, Accessed October 6, 2017
- ^ 'Will The Circle Be Unbroken' isbnsearch.org, Accessed October 9, 2017
- ^ Genesis: Chapter & Verse rollingstone.com, Accessed October 14, 2017
- ^ Starting at Zero bloomsbury.com, Accessed October 6, 2017
- ^ Hendrix Controversy wikipedia.org
- ^ Guitarist, May 2001, pg 14
- ^ Mandela Day mandeladay.com, Accessed October 3, 2017
- ^ Blinds & Shutters ISBN 0904351378 genesis-publications.com, Accessed October 6, 2017
- ^ 24 Nights ISBN 0904351424 genesis-publications.com, Accessed October 6, 2017
- ^ Liverpool Days ISBN 0904351440 genesis-publications.com, Accessed October 6, 2017
- ^ ISBN 0760711070
- ^ Mason's Yard to Primrose Hill ISBN 0904351483 genesis-publications.com, Accessed October 6, 2017
- ^ Sometime in New York City ISBN 0904351459 genesis-publications.com, Accessed October 6, 2017
- ^ ISBN 0684832062
- ^ Stuart: The Life & Art of Stuart Sutcliffe ISBN 0904351521 genesis-publications.com, Accessed October 9, 2017
- ^ Raga Mala ISBN 0904351467 genesis-publications.com, Accessed October 6, 2017
- ^ Eye-Contact ISBN 0904351610 genesis-publications.com, Accessed October 15, 2017
- ^ Wyman Shoots Chagall ISBN 0904351629 genesis-publications.com, Accessed October 6, 2017
- ^ The Rolling Stones: A Life On The Road ISBN 1852275324 isbnsearch.org, Accessed October 8, 2017
- ^ Hamburg Days ISBN 0904351734 genesis-publications.com, Accessed October 6, 2017
- ^ ISBN 1862052611
- ^ Template:Http://www.chroniclebooks.com/the-beatles-anthology.html ISBN 978-0811826846 The Beatles Anthology chroniclebooks.com, Accessed October 6, 2017
- ^ ISBN 1862052921
- ^ ISBN 0954346203
- ^ Martin Guitar Masterpieces ISBN 0821228358 martinguitar.com, Accessed October 7, 2017
- ^ ISBN 0304359874
- ^ ISBN 0316729523
- ^ 'Will The Circle Be Unbroken' ISBN 0756623529 isbnsearch.org, Accessed October 9, 2017
- ^ ISBN 0297844342
- ^ ISBN 9781402766237
- ^ ISBN 9781617130120
- ^ Starting at Zero ISBN 9781408842140 bloomsbury.com, Accessed October 6, 2017
- ^ The Red Piano ASIN: B002GXUBRQ, 66 p., 2004
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