ART OF GOLD
Designer Jon Barmby – the man behind Architects’ Doomsday artwork, and the special Metal Hammer art print made for their Alexandra Palace show – explains what it’s like to work with one of the UK’s most forward-thinking metal bands
HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE IDEA FOR THE DoomsDay ARTWORK?
“I used to work very closely with tom on the creative, particularly on The Here
And Now. he was incredibly creative, and always knew exactly what he wanted. I channelled what he would like into Doomsday, which is based on things we’d spoken about. And it’s kind of like what Dan said – he wanted to create something tom would be proud of. I was working to the same premise with the artwork. to be asked to do that was a huge honour.”
HOW ABOUT THE POSTER?
“When we pulled together Doomsday, we were playing around with the idea of type on the cover. We had this really nice complex design that had all these shapes and angles, and then the text on it felt so dull, so we made it more abstract. I was really happy they gave me the creative freedom to do that. I wanted to bring that across in the poster as well.”
WHAT DO THE SHAPES IN THE BACKGROUND MEAN?
“When we were doing Doomsday, I hated the square; I wanted to extend it further. It was very much a sketch around the shape, and there’s huge meaning within that shape. the quote Dan said to me was ‘As above, so below’ [a lyric in All Our Gods’ Memento Mori], and it was about two triangles connecting, and when we designed that shape, we really made the emphasis on those two triangles in the middle. I like the poster – I like the fact it’s got that kind of natural vibe, like it’s almost been scribbled on. And it’s almost like the blueprint to Doomsday, and Alexandra Palace being the culmination of the hard work for them.
I’m extremely proud of the result.”