Idea Generation - Hapshash Takes a Trip: The sixties work of Nigel waymouth

Last Sunday we headed over to the Chance Street to attend the Pyschedelic Sundaze event hosted by the Idea Generation gallery. The current exhibition is a major retrospective of the sixties work of Nigel Waymouth, including works created with Michael English as part of the British design duo Hapshash & the Coloured Coat. During this short 18 month burst of creativity they created the now iconic psychedelic posters for the London underground music venue the UFO club.

First up we had some readings from Michael Horovitz and his son Adam, it was a real treat to hear this legendary British beat poet perform. The life and energy in his performance was captivating and it was great to see this energy carried on through in the work of his son Adam Horovitz.

Finally Nigel Waymouth took to the stage for an interview and Q&A session. It was really interesting to hear time talk about designing the posters during the late sixties, the influence of the Aesthetic movement in his work and the genuine desire to get colour, life and technicolour back into London. Nigel Waymouth and Michael English helped create a new visual language for poster design, having the type as image meant legibility was secondary, it was designed for the enjoyment of their generation.

Feeling inspired i bought the book '200 Trips from the Counterculture - Graphics and Stories from the Underground Press Syndicate' which has a fantastic collection of underground magazine of the period. More photos from the event and the book can be seen on my Flickr account here.