Mark Farrow

Farrow attended art college for a short time but quit to work in a Manchester design studio. He also worked at The Discount Record Shop in Manchester's Underground Market. With the advent of punk rock, the shop was frequented by clientele like Ben Kelly and Peter Saville, both connected to Factory Records and The Haçienda nightclub.{{Cite web |last=Dempsey |first=Mike |date=11 November 2009 |title=Profile – Mark Farrow |url=https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/12-november-2009/profile-mark-farrow/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808013743/https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/12-november-2009/profile-mark-farrow/ |archive-date=8 August 2022 |access-date=26 October 2023 |website=Design Week}}{{Cite web |title=Factory Records: MARK FARROW |url=https://factoryrecords.org/mark-farrow.php |access-date=2023-10-27 |website=factoryrecords.org}}

In 1982, after befriending groups as part of the Manchester scene, Farrow was given the chance to design the cover for the 7-inch single "Fairy Tales" by the Stockholm Monsters, a Factory release. Throughout the early 80s, he designed experimental sleeves and posters for both Factory and The Haçienda, which placed him at the forefront of contemporary music graphic design. After 1991, Farrow began working under the name of his studio, Farrow Design.

File:Pet Shop Boys - Very.png album Very]]

Farrow has had a longstanding creative partnership with Pet Shop Boys{{cite book |last=Hawkins |first=Stan |title=The British pop dandy: masculinity, popular music and culture |year=2009 |publisher=Ashgate |isbn=0-7546-5858-9 |page=72}}{{Cite web |title=PSB's designers |url= https://www.pet-shop-boys.eu/pers_visual.html |access-date=2023-10-27 |website=www.pet-shop-boys.eu }} and other bands such as the space rock group Spiritualized.{{cite book |last=Rivers |first=Charlotte |title=CD-Art: Innovation in CD Packaging Design |year=2008 |publisher=Rotovision |isbn=2-88893-013-7 |page=11}}{{Cite web |last=Arnone |first=Joey |date=27 April 2021 |title=Spiritualized Announce Vinyl Reissue of “Pure Phase” |url=https://www.undertheradarmag.com/news/spiritualized_announce_vinyl_reissue_of_pure_phase |access-date=19 January 2024 |website=www.undertheradarmag.com |language=en}} As the 12" vinyl went out of style, Farrow challenged contemporary notions of CD packaging. For Pet Shop Boys' 1993 release Very, Farrow designed an "orange Lego®" CD jewel box which is featured in the New York Museum of Modern Art.{{Cite web |last=Studer |first=Wayne |title=Very |url=http://www.geowayne.com/newDesign/very/very.htm |access-date=26 October 2023 |website=Geowayne}} In the mid-90s, Farrow designed the cover for Everything Must Go (1996), the breakthrough album by the Manic Street Preachers.{{cite web |url= https://www.creativereview.co.uk/farrow-for-the-manic-street-preachers-remembering-everything/ |title=Farrow for the Manic Street Preachers: Remembering Everything |last=Burgoyne |first=Patrick |date=27 May 2016 |accessdate=22 February 2017 |publisher=CreativeReview.com}} For Spiritualized's 1997 album Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space, he used an authentic tablet blister-pack which contained the CDs and accompanying text. For their 2001 release Let it Come Down, he included a 3-D, vacuum-formed face as part of the cover. He has also worked with artists such as Kylie Minogue, Burt Bacharach, Calvin Harris, and Snow Patrol.{{Cite web |title=Farrow Design |url=https://www.farrowdesign.com/ |access-date=26 October 2023 |website=Farrow Design}}

Farrow also works outside of the music industry, for designers, photographers, publishers, and other industry projects. He has worked with Oliver Peyton on restaurants and bars, designed the cover of the 1999 Design and Art Direction annual, worked with SCP furniture on designing clocks, developed a packaging system for Levi's, collaborated with The Science Museum in London, and designed a yacht for Campers' Volvo Ocean Race.{{Cite web |date=1 February 2002 |title=The best of Mark Farrow |url=https://www.designindaba.com/articles/creative-work/best-mark-farrow |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606055927/http://www.designindaba.com/articles/creative-work/best-mark-farrow |archive-date=6 June 2023 |access-date=26 October 2023 |website=Design Indaba}}{{Cite web |date=30 July 2014 |title=The North's Most Prolific Graphic Designers: Mark Farrow |url=https://www.orchard.co.uk/blog/the-norths-most-prolific-graphic-designers-mark-farrow-8188.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411114550/https://www.orchard.co.uk/blog/the-norths-most-prolific-graphic-designers-mark-farrow-8188.aspx |archive-date=11 April 2023 |access-date=26 October 2023 |website=Orchard}}

His minimalist approach, and a rigorous, highly precise attention to detail defines his aesthetic. He enjoys close, collaborative work.

Farrow was named Designer of the Year in the Creative Review Peer Poll in 2004, voting him ‘the most important graphic designer working today’.

In 2009, by which time he had won nine Design and Art Direction Silver Awards, he was given the honour of Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) by the Royal Society of Arts.{{cite web |title=Current Royal Designers |date=November 2010 |publisher=Royal Society of Arts |url= https://www.thersa.org/about-us/royal-designers-for-industry/current-royal-designers |accessdate=28 June 2011 }}

Farrow also has four Grammy Award nominations, 10 Music Week CAD awards, and two Art Directors Club of Europe Gold Awards.

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Category:English graphic designers

Category:British graphic designers

Category:Living people

Category:Factory Records

Category:Royal Designers for Industry

Category:1960 births