I'm not sure how I came into contact with Chris Taylor and his X Ray Vision Design empire. I think it may have come from blindly falling into the traps of rock n' roll and being fascinated with its ever evolving design applications. Chris has demonstrated an intense work ethic through various record covers, posters, fliers and general DIY marketing. It's artists like this that I often find myself identifying with because of the sheer ability to make things happen on their own with little or no support. That is the exact fire that blows my soul crazy. Don't wait for projects or jobs to casually creep in. Invent them. Create for the simple fact of creating. Be passionate and let no obstacle dictate your direction.
Inhale the soul. Exhale the ego.
In addition to providing design work for a plethora of bands and artists, he can often be found rocking in various groups around the english countryside. Most notably, The Real Losers, who defined Leed's answer to the ravenous obnoxious punk rock mongoloid sound.
Thanks so much for taking the time to hang out. Can you give me a brief description of your design style and where you draw influences from?
Well I mainly look through my record collection, I’ve got a lot of tatty 60’s and 70’s singles and LP’s and I just love the way they look, there’s little imperfections in the print quality, and with the lack of computers back then, there’s a roughness to the finish and a less clinical and crisp feel, something I try and emulate when I design. It makes it feel warmer and somehow more timeless. Other influences include science-fiction films, the last one I saw was Moon, again that had a quality about it that films like 2001 & Silent Running had, there’s a feeling of isolation and melancholia, which I like. Visually it looks great and there’s little CGI trickery. I mean 2001 looks fucking amazing. I’m currently finding Simon Armitage’s book Gig inspiring. He’s a poet from Huddersfield, which is close to where I live. The book is partly based on how the music he likes has shaped his life, gigs he’s seen, records listened to. It’s something I can definitely draw parallels with. Plus he’s a birdwatcher, something I’ve just rekindled, and a Fall fan! I’ve never delved into the life of a poet before, but I’m finding it interesting. I’ve tried to write more as well. I’ve realised since leaving school that I never had much need or desire to write, now I keep a journal. I’m amazed at how shit my spelling is, and my grasp on sentence structure and grammar is shocking, but I write anyway, even if it’s just what we all had for tea. I took comfort in reading about Billy Childish. He’s dyslexic but insists that any mistakes aren’t corrected, they are part of who he is. That appeals to me. We can get hung up on these things, same with design, just because you haven’t got that college degree in art doesn’t mean that you can’t create something visually unique. Hey I’m rambling!
Are you primarily self taught or was this something that you pursued through school?
It’s a mixture really, art at school was my one saving grace. The art teacher was nicknamed ‘freaky’ Forward. He was a bearded long haired guy, a hippie really, but basically he just let you do your own thing. I can’t remember him actually teaching us anything, so right from the off I was drawing made up bands record sleeves. This was from 1983 to 1988. After that I went to college. I never pushed myself at college and didn’t feel I ever understood what on earth I was supposed to do. The guy who ran the graphics department was a throwback from the world of 1960’s advertising and was obsessed with getting us to do copywriting for products. To be honest I didn’t do that well grade wise. Came away from college and went on the dole.
You’ve worked with a lot bands and people involved in the underground rock’ n’ roll community. Has being in a prominent band yourself helped gain notoriety as an artist?
When we were doing the Real Losers I did all the sleeves. I loved doing it. I liked putting something visual to our music. It just seemed natural to do it and it was fun! So I’d definitely say that the Losers stuff is something I’m proud of. That was like the stepping stone that led me to other bands and labels, so when the band fizzled out I subsequently helped out other bands and labels we’d got to know. Squirrel Records deserve a mention, they put out our 1st 7” and LP. They took a big gamble on us and we were the first band to release an LP on Squirrel. It was a big deal to all concerned, so from that point we helped all we could, so delivering a sleeve that was already to send to the printers was part of that, everyone mucking in. From that point on I became good friends with Darren and Caroline who run the label and I’ve designed a good majority of their sleeves since. So yeah being in a band, and meeting like minded people served me well, even to further shores like the U.S, Spain, Sweden and Canada, even though I’m not regularly selling myself I always seem to get a few jobs each year.
What’s your process like for coming up with work? Everything has a sort of handmade feel but with a modern technological slant. How can you make all this magic come together so smoothly?
The handmade feel and quality to my work is pretty much the key. I do use illustrator and photoshop software to piece the overall thing together, but I like creating handmade elements, even just simple stuff like using lettraset, photocopying type several times until it roughens it up a bit and degenerates it slightly. It was a sad day at work when they got rid of the old photocopier. It was great. It left marks, dirt and specs over everything. The new copiers just don’t cut it. The image quality doesn’t get fucked up enough for my liking. That’s the trouble with advancements in technology, they’re designed not to make things look messy! You end up with something too pristine, and in my book, all the more kak.
Right on. I can dig that.
And to be honest the messy stuff seems to suit the type of bands who ask me to design their sleeves. As for the magic well it all starts off as something I visualise in my head, then I do a rough pencil sketch. I’m not the type who fires out loads of ideas, I tend to get one thing in my head, but as I’m working on it, it does change, I refine things as I’m doing them. I’ll layout text, choose fonts, then if needed mess around with them, or hand draw them, whatever needs doing. I use found photos, photos I’ll take myself (as for the Gut Reactions,) draw stuff. If it’s drawing I’ll keep it loose and almost retarded looking (like the Nobunny sleeve,) so whatever comes to hand I’ll use. Bands themselves supply photos or ideas and I’ll just kind of follow what they want. Does that sound like magic to you?
I’ve heard through the grape vine that you typically don’t charge for design work but instead stipulate free records as payment. I like that. It’s sort of like taking design back from the bourgeois professional world and putting back into the hands of real creative thinkers and artists. Can you give me some insight into how you operate your business and the benefits and disadvantages of being grass-roots?
I’ve heard through the grape vine that you typically don’t charge for design work but instead stipulate free records as payment. I like that. It’s sort of like taking design back from the bourgeois professional world and putting back into the hands of real creative thinkers and artists. Can you give me some insight into how you operate your business and the benefits and disadvantages of being grass-roots?
I decided right from the start that I wasn’t going to charge. This decision was primarily due to working with Squirrel and them being friends and budgets for design being non existent. I also believe in an exchange of energies rather than monies. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. I think it should happen more, people helping each other out and not being driven by money all the time. Maybe reading John Sinclair’s book has rubbed off, maybe I’m turning into a fucking hippie!
HA! Get out your granola and hackey sack!
I always thought that when money comes into play it sours things, peoples expectations suddenly become higher and they can get over critical because it’s their money they’re throwing at you. Suddenly they know everything about graphic design and the visual arts. So keep it loose and I always liked what Handsome Dick Manitoba’s opening line is on the Dictators record, Go Girl Crazy, ‘this is just a hobby to me.’ I like that, it’s also how we approached the Real Losers, we never took it seriously.
That’s awesome. I personally know a lot of designers that could benefit from that way of thinking.
I’ve also found that in most bands there’s always someone who likes to dabble in graphics. So if I didn’t offer to do it, someone else would, again for free.
Do you have a full time gig out of this as well?
I’m fortunate enough to have a full time creative job. It’s very commercial. I’m in the greeting cards business, it’s all very cutesy and nice, you know that whole Hallmark moment thing. So my sleeve work is also a reaction to that and to general design rules that were imposed when I was at college. That’s the beauty of doing X~Ray vision, there’s no bloody rules, other than if the band don’t like
it they won’t use it. The advantage is -there is no disadvantage. I get stuff printed, records given, sometimes books. I get a portfolio that doesn’t just include sickly greeting cards! Occasionally things don’t work out, a band may not like something but I don’t fret too much. I can experiment, I can turn down stuff I don’t wanna do.
it they won’t use it. The advantage is -there is no disadvantage. I get stuff printed, records given, sometimes books. I get a portfolio that doesn’t just include sickly greeting cards! Occasionally things don’t work out, a band may not like something but I don’t fret too much. I can experiment, I can turn down stuff I don’t wanna do.
What can we expect in the near future from X-Ray Vision? Any new projects in the works?
I guess you might see one or two sleeves, I don’t shout about it. I’m not that driven. I’ve done other bits of design work for our local community Christmas fair, again for free. There’s a brochure required for a local nature reserve near by. I might have a crack at that. I’m just finishing off another CD sleeve for Squirrel Records at the moment. After that who knows, I think I need to concentrate on doing more creative things with my two daughters. Because ‘daddy’s’ doing his creative thing at work all day I tend to come home and just want to do anything other than getting the wax crayons out! Saying that, I’ve just drawn an eyeball on the fireplace.
