I must have been about nine years old when these first appeared. I was more drawn to the design than the music. It might have been a bit too grown up for me at the time, but I started to get into it in my late teens. I could draw a Madness logo or the 2Tone rude boy, complete with checker trim if you give me a piece of paper, a biro and a shatterproof ruler. This is what I would have been doing while everyone else in class was learning and paying attention… But I was learning something; identity, continuity, everything must match. It must line up. It must be square. It must be perfect. Black and white, contrast, cool.
I knew little of the origins of the originator David Storey, but to him I am truly thankful.
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2 Comments so far. Leave a comment below.Hi Andrew.
David Storey was just one of a team who created the fantastic 2-Tone style. The hands-in-pockets version of “2-Tone Man” (also named Walt Jabsco, after a bowling shirt I believe) was originally drawn by Jerry Dammers, keyboard player of The Specials.
John “Teflon” Sims designed many of the most iconic 2-Tone graphics, under Jerry Dammers’ creative direction. Examples include the Walt Jabsco “Nutty Dancer” version and The Specials “Rat Race” single graphics (for which he won a D&AD Award in 1981). He has a website dedicated to his part in the 2-Tone graphic style. John is a colleague of mine so I won’t publish the website name, to avoid accusations of spamming.
Other names to note in the 2-Tone graphics story are Chrysalis Records Creative Director Peter Wagg, and PA & Video Co-ordinator Carole Burton-Fairbrother.
Thanks for the information. It’s absolutely fine to post the link. http://www.2toneposters.co.uk/