Brett Wickens
{{short description|British-Canadian creative director (born 1961)}}
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| name = Brett Wickens
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| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1961|04|15}}
| birth_place = Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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| citizenship = Canadian, British, American
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| occupation = Graphic designer, musician, photographer
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| known_for = Logo design and branding, Spoons, Ceramic Hello
| notable_works = The logotype for HBO's The Sopranos
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| spouse = Coraline Langston-Jones
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| children = 2
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| website = {{URL|studiobrettwickens.com}}
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Brett Wickens (born April 15, 1961{{Cite web|title = Brett Wickens Video, Interviews|url = http://www.ovguide.com/brett-wickens-9202a8c04000641f8000000005733c37|website = OVGuide|accessdate =June 9, 2015|archive-date =March 4, 2016 |url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304231737/http://www.ovguide.com/brett-wickens-9202a8c04000641f8000000005733c37}}) is a Canadian graphic designer and musician known for his work with identity design. He is a partner with the Ammunition Design Group, and lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area. Among other musical endeavors, Wickens was a founding member of the bands Spoons and Ceramic Hello.
Biography
Wickens worked with British graphic designer Peter Saville{{Cite web|title = Behind the Leeo Logo: A Q&A with Brett Wickens|url = https://www.leeo.com/behind-leeo-logo-interview-designer-brett-wickens/|accessdate =June 9, 2015|website = Leeo, Inc.|date =January 9, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150318112608/https://www.leeo.com/behind-leeo-logo-interview-designer-brett-wickens/ |archive-date =March 18, 2015|url-status = dead}}{{cite news|title=Outstanding Alien|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/22/magazine/outstanding-alien.html?src=pm&pagewanted=2|last=Silva|first=Horacio|date=September 22, 2002|work=The New York Times|page=82|accessdate=September 24, 2011|url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422123048/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/22/magazine/outstanding-alien.html?src=pm&pagewanted=2|archive-date=April 22, 2016}} as a partner in his London studio during the 1980s and 90s, where they developed campaigns for clients such as Yohji Yamamoto, Factory Records,{{cite web|url=https://www.factoryrecords.org/brett-wickens.php|title=Brett Wickens|website=FactoryRecords.org|access-date=January 2, 2023}} Peter Gabriel{{cite web|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/peter-gabriel-so-artwork/|title=How Peter Gabriel's So Artwork Defined Him for a Decade|last=Kielty|first=Martin|date=May 21, 2021|website=Ultimate Classic Rock|access-date=January 2, 2023}} and the French Ministry of Culture. Wickens was involved in the creation of the artwork for Gabriel's So (1986), which, according to Creative Review, is "widely regarded as a design classic".{{cite web|url=https://www.creativereview.co.uk/25th-anniversary-edition-of-peter-gabriels-so/|title=25th anniversary edition of Peter Gabriel's So|last=Lucas|first=Gavin|date=October 17, 2012|website=Creative Review|access-date=January 2, 2023}} In 1990 he became an Associate Partner in Pentagram's London office, departing three years later.{{cite book|last=Poynor|first=Rick|author-link=Rick Poynor|date=1998|title=Design Without Boundaries: Visual Communication in Transition|publisher=Booth-Clibborn Editions|page=113|isbn=978-1861540065}}{{cite web|url=https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/14-october-1999/brett-wickens-sapient/|title=Brett Wickens, Sapient|date=October 15, 1999|website=Design Week|access-date=January 2, 2023}}
In 1993 Wickens moved to Los Angeles to become VP Creative Director at Frankfurt Balkind Partners.{{Cite web|url=http://www.designthinkers.com/Speakers/Brett-Wickens.aspx|title=Brett Wickens |date=2008 |website=Design Thinkers |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506050013/http://designthinkers.com/Speakers/Brett-Wickens.aspx |archive-date=May 6, 2016 |url-status=dead}} He designed the logotype for HBOs The Sopranos.{{Cite web|title=From The Sopranos's Logo Designer, A Brilliant Brand ID That Morphs Over Time|url=http://www.fastcodesign.com/3021982/innovation-by-design/from-the-sopranoss-logo-designer-a-brilliant-brand-id-that-evolves-over|accessdate=June 9, 2015|date=November 22, 2013|website=Fast Company|last=Wilson|first=Mark|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131125115315/http://www.fastcodesign.com/3021982/innovation-by-design/from-the-sopranoss-logo-designer-a-brilliant-brand-id-that-evolves-over|archive-date=November 25, 2013}} In 1999, Wickens became the Global Creative Director of Sapient before joining MetaDesign as VP Creative Director in 2002.{{Cite web|url=http://archive.gdusa.com/issue_2009/03_mar/people/|title=Creative Professionals & People|date=2009-03-01|website=Graphic Design USA|access-date=2016-05-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160603043059/http://archive.gdusa.com/issue_2009/03_mar/people/|archive-date=2016-06-03|url-status=dead}} He was a founding partner of DreamSurface, a mobile application design company best known for the product TimeTuner.{{Cite web|title = Radio Ink Magazine|url = http://www.radioink.com/Article.asp?id=1556345&spid=24698|website = Radio Ink|accessdate = 2015-06-09|date = 2009-10-21}}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Wickens subsequently became a partner with the Ammunition Design Group.{{cite web|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/3034007/whats-the-difference-between-a-logo-and-a-symbol|title=What's The Difference Between a Logo and a Symbol?|last=Brownlee|first=John|date=August 7, 2014|website=Fast Company|access-date=January 2, 2023}}
He has been a guest speaker on NPR, contributing editor at EYE magazine, teacher at the California Institute of the Arts, and speaker at many symposia, including the RGD Design Thinkers Conference 2008 in Toronto, and the Creative Review Click Conference 2010 in San Francisco. Wickens was awarded in 2016 the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award.{{Cite news|url=http://aigasf.org/brett-wickens/|title=Brett Wickens|date=2018-02-04|work=AIGA San Francisco|access-date=2018-07-10|language=en-US}} He has said of his approach to design, "I've pretty much based my career on one philosophy. Good design is not about what you put in, it's about what you leave out."{{cite web|url=https://www.sfgate.com/homeandgarden/article/Putting-the-I-in-Eichler-4221294.php|title=Putting the I in Eichler|last=Labong|first=Leilani Marie|date=January 24, 2013|website=SFGate|access-date=January 2, 2023}}
Music career
Wickens was a founding member of the band Spoons, playing keyboards.{{cite magazine|date=October 6, 1984|title=Tell No Lies Stabilizes Spoons Success|magazine=RPM|volume=41|issue=5|page=1}} He appeared on the group's debut single, "After the Institution" (1980), released on then-manager Paul Abrahams' Mannequin Records.{{cite web|url=https://postpunkmonk.com/2022/11/01/40-years-of-the-spoons-arias-symphonies-demands-close-inspection-of-canadas-best-album-part-1/|title=40 Years of Spoons Arias + Symphonies Demands Close Inspection of Canada's Best Album [part 1]|date=November 1, 2022|website=Post-Punk Monk|access-date=January 6, 2023}} Wickens subsequently left Spoons and joined with classically-trained musician Roger Humphreys to form the duo Ceramic Hello.{{cite news|last=McMillan|first=Greg|date=March 9, 1981|title=Ceramic Hello Cracks Air|work=The Hamilton Spectator}} Through Mannequin they released a single, "Climatic Nouveaux" (1980),{{cite web|url=https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/tecs-25-tracks-from-the-circuit-boards-of-canada/|title=25 Tracks From the Circuit Boards of Canada|last=Lai|first=Chi Ming|date=February 17, 2020|website=Electricity Club|access-date=January 6, 2023}} and an album, The Absence of a Canary (1981);{{cite web|url=https://www.factmag.com/2010/01/26/20-best-minimal-wave/9/|title=The 20 Best Minimal Wave Records Ever Made|last=Vasicka|first=Veronica|author-link=Veronica Vasicka|date=January 26, 2010|website=Fact|access-date=January 6, 2023}} Abrahams produced the duo.{{cite magazine|date=November 2, 1985|title=Production Line|magazine=Music Week|page=22}} Trouser Press pondered whether Ceramic Hello would be the "toast of the music press", had they been from London.{{cite magazine|last=Young|first=Jon|date=July 1981|title=Hit and Run|magazine=Trouser Press|page=48}}
The Absence of a Canary has twice been re-released, and has garnered a legacy among electronic music enthusiasts.{{cite web|url=http://music.ckut.ca/2016/02/11/a-canadian-minimal-wave-retrospective-ceramic-hellos-absence-of-a-canary-1981/|title=A Canadian minimal wave retrospective: Ceramic Hello's Absence of a Canary (1981)|last=Bulatovic|first=Danilo|date=February 11, 2016|publisher=CKUT-FM|access-date=January 6, 2023}} Elsewhere, Wickens has composed with William Orbit, Jah Wobble (Public Image Ltd),{{cite magazine|last=Smith|first=Jerry|date=May 10, 1986|title=Singles (Brett Wickens & Jah Wobble: Between Two Frequencies)|magazine=Music Week|page=22}} Andy McCluskey (OMD){{cite web|first= Paul |last= Browne |title= Brett Wickens Interview |website= Messages |date= 15 February 2014 |access-date= 5 March 2021 |url= https://www.omd-messages.co.uk/brett-wickens-interview/}} and Martha Ladly (Martha and the Muffins),{{cite magazine|date=September 10, 1983|title=Island Scores Cancon with Martha Single|magazine=RPM|volume=39|issue=2|page=2}} among others.
Personal life
Wickens is married to Coralie Langston-Jones and together they have twins, Jasmine and Sophia. They reside in the town of Lucas Valley in Marin County and live in an Eichler house.{{Cite web|url=http://www.curbed.com/2016/5/6/11594152/home-tour-joseph-eichler-midcentury-house-calls|title=A Classic Eichler Home Steps Into the 21st Century|last=Bowling|first=Mary Jo|date=May 6, 2016|website=Curbed|access-date=May 7, 2016|archive-date=October 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004091454/https://www.curbed.com/2016/5/6/11594152/home-tour-joseph-eichler-midcentury-house-calls|url-status=dead}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.studiobrettwickens.com Official site]
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Category:People from Burlington, Ontario
Category:Musicians from Hamilton, Ontario
Category:Canadian new wave musicians