Syd Brak was a
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
-based
illustrator
An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...
. He is particularly recognized for his top selling poster ''Long Distance Kiss''.
Early career
In the mid-1970s, Syd was awarded the 'gold award' for design and illustration in Johannesburg South Africa by
Bill Bernbach
William Bernbach (August 13, 1911 – October 2, 1982) was an American advertising creative director. He was one of the three founders in 1949 of the international advertising agency Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB). He directed many of the firm's breakth ...
. In the late 1970s, Syd moved to London. He started working as a freelance
airbrush artist. He has done work for companies including
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...
,
MSN
MSN (meaning Microsoft Network) is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps for Windows and mobile devices, provided by Microsoft and launched on August 24, 1995, alongside the release of Windows 95.
The Microsoft Net ...
, and
Levi's
Levi Strauss & Co. () is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's () brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, to o ...
.
The ''Kiss series''
The ''Kiss series'' that so inspired designer Martin Kidman was another big hit for Athena. Created by Syd Brak, an artist from an advertising background, it was planned specifically to appeal to teen and pre-teen girls who, Brak says, "aspire to maturity and sophistication". Pictures such as ''First Kiss'', ''Forget Me Not'' and ''Long Distance Kiss'' all contained some mini- narrative that chimed with the adolescent psyche, hinting picturesquely at the dramas of teenage melancholy, lost love and heartache. The icy, mysterious girls, their faces bleached out, their eyes smothered in electric blue eye shadow and their lips a streak of glossy red, inspired many imitations with cheap make-up. They also apparently inspired last year's homage to the 1980s in ''The Face
The face is a part of the body, the front of the head.
Face may also refer to:
Film
* ''The Magician'' (1958 film) or ''The Face''
* ''The Face'' (1996 film), an American television film
* ''Face'' (1997 film), a British crime drama by Antonia ...
'' which featured on its cover a photograph of airbrush-style perfection. The same photographer, Sølve Sundsbø, followed it up with his recent ad campaign for hip design house Bottega Veneta
Bottega Veneta () is an Italian luxury fashion house based in Milan, Italy. Its product lines include ready-to-wear, handbags, shoes, accessories, and jewelry; and it licenses its name and branding to Coty, Inc. for fragrances.
History
Found ...
- the collection, needless to say, inspired by 1980s style.
In 1982, his poster, ''Long Distance Kiss'' was the top selling poster in the world. It was sold in
Athena
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...
art retail shops.
Syd Brak was one of the most influential artists of the 1980s, perfecting an airbrush technique that allowed him to create some of the most iconic images of that decade.
Recent career
His retro style posters captured the new romantic / punk era of the late 70s early 80s. They have been sold by the hundreds of thousands. Syd did book covers for authors including
John Grisham,
Wilbur Smith and
Ken Follett
Kenneth Martin Follett, (born 5 June 1949) is a British author of thrillers and historical novels who has sold more than 160 million copies of his works.
Many of his books have achieved high ranking on best seller lists. For example, in the ...
.
References
General
''The Independent'' Jan 2007* An academic essay on Airbrush Art and Syd Brak: Kassaveti, U.-H. (2019). “Sharp Sybaritic” Retrofuturistic Deco Realism: Some Preliminary Notes on the 1980s Airbrush Art. Imaginations: Journal of Cross-Cultural Image Studies, 10(2), 89–117. https://www.academia.edu/41973677/Kassaveti_U.-H._2019_._Sharp_Sybaritic_Retrofuturistic_Deco_Realism_Some_Preliminary_Notes_on_the_1980s_Airbrush_Art._Imaginations_Journal_of_Cross-Cultural_Image_Studies_10_2_89-117
External links
Syd Brak images at the Folio illustration agency
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brak, Syd
South African illustrators
Living people
Date of birth missing (living people)
Year of birth missing (living people)
Artists from London
20th-century South African artists
South African expatriates in the United Kingdom