With our inaugural blog post we would like to introduce you to the man behind the recent graphical vision and creative identity of We Love. David Tazzyman, originally from Leicester studied illustration during the heady days of early 90′s Manchester. By his own admission he “enjoyed going out a bit too much…”. After 3 years at Manchester Metropolitan University, ’90 to ’93, there was another 3 spent traveling Asia with friends – from where he drew the inspiration for his first solo exhibition showing drawings from India and Nepal. He cites Picasso, Egon Schiele and Ralph Steadman as some of his biggest influences.

Anti-Cooler by David Tazzyman

Drawing with a minimum of lines to show the whole volume and essence of a figure has been a challenge to artists since Greek vase artisans circa 400BC. The line is at the heart of breathtaking drawings by Picasso ranging in style from cubist to “neo-classical”. The brilliance of technique and fertility of his imagination is no-where better represented than in his use of the line. Picasso, master of all methods, always returned to his origins in line. In his own words: “Art is the elimination of the unnecessary.”

Nude And Draped Models by Picasso 1934

After moving to London in 1997 commissions came quite quickly for David Tazzyman. His first big break was working for Darren Hughes at Cream (also founder of We Love) in 1998, designing all of the artwork for the summer residency at Amnesia in Ibiza.

A collage of the Cream Ibiza artwork by David Tazzyman 1998.

The variety in subject available to the line artist is vast. Ralph Steadman most famous for his work with Hunter S Thompson as “Gonzo” journalism uses the line as wit. Slaying political egos with ironic violent imagery – in the words of Thompson: “By way of exaggeration and selective grotesquery”. Another artist to revel in the line, Egon Schiele, used it to explore not only human form but also explicit human sexuality.

Schiele Drawing A Model In Front Of A Mirror by Egon Schiele 1910 / Cartoon of Nixon by Ralph Steadman.

Since his commission for Cream in 1998, Tazzyman has designed campaigns for clients such as Vodafone, Orange, Natwest, Yahoo, Renault and Virgin Atlantic. As well as advertising he has worked on numerous design projects, published across magazines and the broadsheets. He has a uniquely playful yet mature and sincere style. To paraphrase what Darren Hughes said of David Tazzyman’s work: It provides a graphic identity which is totally in sync with how the musical output is “rolling out” this year in Ibiza and beyond.

A collage of We Love... Space Ibiza 2009 Flyer Artwork

Landscape drawing of D'Alt Vila Ibiza by David Tazzyman

David Tazzyman Agent Website

Picasso: Line Drawings And Prints

“Spike Magazine” – Interview with Ralph Steadman.

Ralph Steadman – Official Website

Lenin Imports – A biography of Egon Schiele

100swallow.wordpress.com – Great Line Drawings