@studiocatherine Not in the slightest! Our printers just require a little extra time.
Founded in London in 1958 the World Record Club was a mail-order company distributing long-playing vinyl records of mostly classical music, show-tunes and light jazz sourcing its early catalogue from “emerging European orchestras, young soloists and from ’boutique’ European publishers.”
A local arm of the WRC was established in Melbourne in 1960, with its own design studio under the guidance of art director Geoff Digby. The Melbourne studio ignored the lack of visual promotion necessary for direct mail subscriber operation, and on receiving master recordings, commissioned emerging Australian designers, photographers and illustrators to create cover art for more than 2000 recordings. Digby’s artistic vision meant that designers worked with the freedom that leading figures such as Ronald Clyne at Folkways, Reid Miles at Blue Note and Barbara Wojirsch at ECM enjoyed. Rather than developing a “house style” – the diversity of artists at the WRC reflected the energy of the Australian graphic art scene of the time.
“It was desirable to jacket every release in what was to become known as the classic World Record style – creative artwork, modern designs with limited colour, often spare typography, glorious illustrations and esoteric photography.” — Geoff Hocking
Contributors included John Copeland, Bob Haberfield, David Leonard, Guus Van Der Heyde, Tony Ward, Geoff Hocking, Bruce Petty, Max Robinson, Athol Shmith, Alex Stitt, Lance Stirling, Winston Thomas and Gerard Vandenberg to name a few.
As part of the Vol. Ctrl. series of talks at Monash Art & Design, a conversation featuring WRC art director Geoff Digby and studio designers Geoff Hocking, Max Robinson, and Winston Thomas will take place, followed by the launch of an exhibition of WRC covers.
This is a rare opportunity to see a significant display of Australian design history, and hear from some of the people that helped create it.
World Record Club
5pm, Monday August 27
Lecture Theatre G1.04 (Design Building)
Followed by an exhibition launch in G2.29 (Studio 7)
Free Entry / All Welcome
Copies of Geoff Hocking’s book It’s Another World Record will also be available for purchase.
