For thirty years Steve Simpson has been applying his multidisciplinary skills to creative projects for a diverse range of clients from across the globe. His innovative, award-winning approach to graphic design, typography, and illustration is built on fresh thinking, traditional skills, and a dose of fun. Simpson lives on the east coast of Ireland, where a good sense of humor is essential.
At what stage do you start developing a specific letter style? Do you have styles in mind at the beginning? Or is it strictly compositional at that stage?
steve simpson: To my way of working, illustration and lettering style are intrinsically linked. I tend to develop letter styles at the outset, however roughly. It is a balancing process, trying to create a combination of letter styles that are pleasing to the eye as well as complementary to the design.
I approached this label as if I was creating one large illustration rather than a design with an embedded illustration, as is more often the case. My vision was to have the whole label illustrated and to use hand lettering as much as possible. This led to illustrating the barcodes as well.
Your playful, cartoony lettering evokes vintage type (and artistic, like Posada). Can you talk about your influences, and how you’ve channeled those sources?
I have always had an interest in classical lettering. My boyhood home, in the north of England, is built on Roman burial grounds, and I spent lots of time with my dad digging up remnants. I used to pour over these finds, and this led to an interest in Roman and early Christian lettering and stone carvings of the period. I tended to pick up letterforms in an organic way over the years and automatically stored them in my mind to be drawn on when needed. I never feel as if I am shoehorning them into place.
Also, I studied graphics at college at a time before desktop publishing, which involved a lot of hand lettering, and continue my study of typefaces to this day.
How directly do you reference those lettering sources? Is it more an osmosis thing? Or like many lettering artists, do you build from existing classic forms?
I usually draw on my bank of mental imagery when referencing lettering. Occasionally, I come across a particular letter that does not work out, and at this point I reference a classical source, like William Morris’s letterforms or early Christian carvings. More often, though, I’ll be visiting a museum and come across some inspirational lettering that leads to me getting my sketchbook out; when a suitable project comes up, it will find its way into my work.
product: Mic’s Chilli
client: Mic’s Chilli
art director/designer/hand letterer: Steve Simpson
medium: Pencil and digital
country: Republic of Ireland
Simpson is “hugely influenced by a mixture of classical and medieval letterforms, often combined with vintage 1950s advertising and a dash of William Morris.”
The chisel serif logo appears across the entire product line, evoking the spirit of the American Southwest and wanted posters.
