Nick Phillips is a graphic designer who co-founded The
Designers Republic
The Designers Republic (also tDR, and styled as The Designers Republic™) is a British graphic design studio based in Sheffield, England, founded in 1986 by Ian Anderson and Nick Phillips (graphic designer), Nick Phillips. They are best kno ...
and has produced award-winning work for
Sony games. In 2022, Nick has broadened his horizons in establishing his new venture of yurt making.
Background
Phillips studied sculpture at
Sheffield Hallam's
Psalter Lane
Psalter Lane was the location of a former campus of Sheffield Hallam University in Sheffield, England. One of the former polytechnic's three bases, the campus officially closed on 31 August 2008 and work to demolish all but the old Bluecoat Schoo ...
college.
[Andrew Collins]
Design o' the Times
''NME'', 11 February 1989, retrieved 29 May 2015 He played organ in an early line-up of
World of Twist. Through the
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...
music scene, Phillips became friends with graphic designer Ian Anderson. Together they set up The Designers Republic in July 1986.
[Liz Farrelly]
Reputations: Ian Anderson
''Eye Magazine'', Spring 2009, retrieved 29 May 2015
Career
The Designers Republic
As a duo, Phillips and Anderson have been described as 'the design gurus associated with electronic music'.
[Cláudia Almeida]
Ian Anderson, English
''Up Magazine'', 30 September 2011, retrieved 29 May 2015 They produced album artwork for artists such as
Pop Will Eat Itself
Pop Will Eat Itself are an English alternative rock band formed in 1986 in Stourbridge in the West Midlands of England with members from Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country. Initially known as a grebo act, they changed style to incorp ...
,
Pulp
Pulp may refer to:
* Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit
Engineering
* Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture
* Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper
* Molded pulp, a packaging material
...
,
Supergrass,
The Orb
The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential 19 ...
, and
Warp Records
Warp Records (or simply Warp) is a British independent record label founded in Sheffield in 1989 by record store employees Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell and record producer Robert Gordon.Southern, Richard (2003) "Label of Love: WARP", X-RAY, ...
including
Aphex Twin. ''
Q magazine
''Q'' was a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1986 by broadcast journalists Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, who were presenters of the BBC television music series '' The Old Grey Whistle Test''. ...
'' included a Designers Republic sleeve in their list of the 100 Best Record Covers of All Time.
Work by Phillips and Anderson is held in the permanent collections of
MoMA and the
V&A.
Other work
Phillips went on to help design the Sony
Psygnosis
Psygnosis Limited (known as SCE Studio Liverpool or simply Studio Liverpool from 1999) was a British video game developer and publisher headquartered at Wavertree Technology Park in Liverpool. Founded in 1984 by Ian Hetherington, Jonathan Ell ...
game
Wip3out, which won the
BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Award for Best Design in 1999.
[BAFTA Awards 1999](_blank)
IMDB, retrieved 29 May 2015[Wipeout3, Full Cast and Crew](_blank)
IMDB, retrieved 29 May 2015
His cover for Richard Hawley ''Lady's Bridge'' was nominated for
Best Art Vinyl
Best Art Vinyl is an annual award that began in 2005. It celebrates artists and designers of vinyl record cover art. The nomination process begins in November and the winners are announced in January, and are exhibited at venues across the United K ...
in 2007.
[Best Art Vinyl 2007 Winners & Nominees](_blank)
Art Vinyl, retrieved 29 May 2015
Phillips worked on the first editions of
SingStar, and on Sony's
EyeToy
The EyeToy is a color webcam for use with the PlayStation 2. Supported games use computer vision and gesture recognition to process images taken by the EyeToy. This allows players to interact with the games using motion, color detection, and a ...
. Other games credits include''Wipeout 3: Special Edition'', ''
Global Domination
''Global Domination'' is a 1993 strategy game modeled closely on the board game ''Risk''. Impressions Games expanded on the game dividing the world into more territories, adding unit types which could be controlled in a mini-game, adding the conc ...
'', ''
Conflict: Denied Ops'', ''
Pilot Academy'', the
LMA Manager series
''LMA Manager'' is a football management video game series developed and published by Codemasters. Developed primarily for consoles, the franchise differs from the PC-based ''Football Manager'' and '' Championship Manager series'' by focusing on ...
and
Lemmings Revolution
''Lemmings Revolution'' is a puzzle video game released in 2000. Like previous games in the ''Lemmings (video game), Lemmings'' series, the object of the game is to guide the lemmings characters to an exit by giving them specific skills. Each Le ...
.
[Nicholas Phillips Video Game Credits and Biography](_blank)
MobyGames, retrieved 29 May 2015
Phillips now works solo, producing sleeve art for
Richard Hawley
Richard Willis Hawley (born 17 January 1967) is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. After his first band Treebound Story (formed while he was still at school) broke up, Hawley found success as a member of Britpop band Longp ...
. He has done design work for
Sheffield Doc/Fest
Sheffield DocFest (formerly styled Sheffield Doc/Fest), short for Sheffield International Documentary Festival (SIDF), is an international documentary festival and Marketplace held annually in Sheffield, England.
The Festival includes film sc ...
and LoveBox Festival and Adelaide Fringe Festival.
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Nick
English graphic designers
English organists
Video game designers
British video game designers
1962 births
Living people
Alumni of Sheffield Hallam University