Last Night with Bob Gill
Last night at Pentagram London, the legendary Bob Gill entertained a crowd who had come to see his work and hear his words of wisdom.
Gill’s started by showing pieces of his renowned portfolio which included the RentaNooYawka logo, his illustration to make pipe smoking look sauve, the AGM identity and the party invitation for his friend John Cole that blackmailed guests to bring a bottle.
Afterwards he took questions and shared his thoughts on the design process, telling the audience that “there is no such thing as a bad client, there are only bad designers,” and that “form should always come from the idea.” Gill also shared his main way of gathering inspiration: through seeing things. “If you’re going to create an identity for a Laundromat, you go to a Laundromat. You don’t sit in front of a computer looking up images of laundromats”.
Gill also spoke about the strengths of being involved in a partnership, reflecting on his experience working with Alan Fletcher and Colin Forbes with whom he set up Fletcher Forbes Gill, the studio that eventually became Pentagram. He explained how the biggest strength in their partnership was in the way they collaborated: “two designers’ heads were always better than one.”
We’d like to thank Bob for a very entertaining and inspiring evening. And thank you to everyone who
came along.
