Swifty – The Lone Wolf of the Graffix Community
This article was penned by Paul Bradshaw of Straight No Chaser
Ian Swift aka Swifty is the lone wolf of the UK graffix community. Even if you’’ve never heard of Swifty you can bet your life you’ve seen or even own a piece of his artwork. For two decades this man has cast an innovative and distinctive visual shadow over contemporary culture as we know it. Think: Talking Loud, Mo’ Wax, Straight No Chaser, Far Out, Especial, Camo, Reggae Britannia, The Peep Show, East London Arts Club, Derren Brown…
Let’s start this journey back in 1988. That was the summer of love for the rave generation. Swift had notched up a degree in Graphic design in Manchester and was working in East London as the right hand man to the Neville Brody – the designer of the day. He was working on The Face and on the frontline of design.
At that time, through the former editor of the NME, Neil Spencer, he was introduced to the crew who had initiated a designer fanzine called Straight No Chaser. He was looking to do something of his own and Straight No Chaser – the magazine of World Jazz Jive – was a blank canvas. He was already a Mac daddy! Technology was shaping a new world and he was loving it… especially when it came to creating new type and fonts.
By ’91 he had left Neville and set up shop with Straight No Chaser in Hoxton – back then the pubs didn’t even open there at the weekend! He immersed himself in the nu-jazz /jazz dance and rare groove club scene. The office became club flyer central. Prior to Swift, club flyers had been knocked out, punk fashion, either with a felttip or letraset. It was Swifty who upped the flyer design stakes and when Gilles Peterson launched the Talking Loud label he was the natural choice for art director/designer.
Hip hop’s sampling sensibilities collided with the art of Blue Note records on the LP sleeves covers and 12” singles of the Young Disciples, Galliano, Marxmen and Omar amongst others. As a body of work, it was mightily impressive and pretty soon he was designing for labels as far away as Japan. Back then it all work and clubbing. Wag Club, Talking Loud at Dingwalls, Soul II Soul at the Africa Centre, High On Hope, Jazz 90, Jah Shaka… pure inspiration information.
Around that time he hooked up with 17 year old James Lavelle. They were both on a blunted vibe and both were obsessed with toys and iconic Seventies TV programmes. Mo’ Wax was born out of herbally infused late nights in Swift’s studio, it was there that they hatched a plan: U.N.K.L.E. came into being and with it a freestyle mash up that was “Kickin’ phunk like a Shaolin Monk!”. Mo Wax featured hand drawn type, Toshi from Major Force’s drawings and graff from artists like Futura 2000. It was radical stuff.
In ‘95 Swift moved from Hoxton to the Harrow Road end of the Grove. He set up shop and invited a bunch of younger designers to join him. It was called Studio Babylon and it became home to Mitchy Bwoy (deep illustrations and rootical independent music labels – bruk beat to dub step), Kam Bohgal (film & video – MTV), Robbie Bear (now Canada based – Brownswood to fine art) and Fred Deakin (Airside & Lemon Jelly).
There’s definitely a Studio Babylon exhibition to be done. Swift’s stay in the Grove resulted in hundreds of album sleeves for labels like Far out and B&W. Along with Paul Tully he introduced Street Art into the marketing world via the live street art pieces for Fosters Ice. He notched up his techniques to include film title sequences and as he slipped into the new millennium Swifty titles hit the screen via The Peep Show, Smack The Pony and Derren Brown as well as music programmes like the Reggae and Jazz Britannia.
Over almost two decades he art directed 97 issues of Straight No Chaser magazine and presided over two major redesigns. Swift was tuned to The Freedom Principle. He constantly changed the fonts and created some of the most mind blowing spreads you’d ever seen.
Today, Swift still does flyers, album sleeves, logos, fonts, clothes for Addict and designs and makes his own skateboards (old skool – he still skates!). But most crucial are his own artworks. Branded but twisted, he loves the opportunity to mesh the technology with rootsy lo-fi production techniques. Visit him at his yard and he’ll be knocking out screen prints or working on etching techniques! He’s a modernist with a nostalgic streak and it’s recently earned his artwork a place in the Red Dot Art Fair, East London Art Club and the Art Car Boot Sale along with solo shows in London, Strasbourg and Adelaide.
Author Credit: Paul Bradshaw – Straight No Chaser
Images: Swifty