1
Born 1955 in Manchester
Peter Savile is a British designer
factory records
peter saville, tony wilson, alan erasmus
In 1978, Factory Records emerges as an independent record company in Manchester.
Saville also became a partner in Factory Records along with Tony Wilson, Martin Hannett, Rob Gretton and Alan Erasmus.
joy
division
01
unknown pleasures
1979
03
love will tear us apart
1980
04
closer
1980
peter hook, ian curtis, stephen morris, bernard samner
02
transmission
part 1
1979
In 1979, Factory Records began working with Joy Division to record their debut album Unknown Pleasures, and Peter Savile began working on it's cover artwork.
unknown
pleasures
01
It was the first and only time
the band provided me with something they would like to see on the cover
The idea for the cover came from the band's drummer Stephen Morris. It was he who suggested to Peter Saville that he use an illustration he had come across in the Cambridge Astronomical Encyclopaedia.
The mysterious waves turn out to be a graph of eighty radio pulses from pulsar B1919+21.
Another collaboration with Joy Division, and the cover art for this 1980 album was designed by Saville with Martin Atkins.
The monochrome image is a photograph of the Appiani family tomb in Monumental Cemetery of Stalieno in Genoa, taken by Bernard Pierre Wolf in 1978.
On 18 May, Curtis made a noose on his laundry drying rope and hung himself at his home in Mucklesfield.
In a 2007 documentary about Joy Division, Saville noted that upon learning of the suicide of vocalist Ian Curtis, he expressed concern about releasing an album with Appiani's photograph, as it depicted a funeral, saying, "we have a grave on the cover of the album a grave!"
The remaining members of Joy Division decided to continue their activities under the name New Order.
closer
03
New
order
01
blue monday
1983
02
power corruption and liers
1983
03
true faith
1987
04
technique
1989
05
total
stephen morris, bernard sumner, peter hook, gillian gilbert
2011
part 2
01
One of Saville's best-known works, this dance classic from New Order became the fastest-selling 12-inch single of all time.
The cover was created by Saville with Brett Wickens, and it was cut with a silver inner envelope.
Its production costs were very high, with the label losing money for every copy sold.
blue monday
02
power corruption
and liers
The cover is a reproduction of Fantin-Latour's painting Basket of Roses, which has been part of the permanent collection of the National Gallery in London for decades.
Savile realised what a great idea this was. And he said that flowers "tell us how power, corruption and lies infiltrate our lives.
They are seductive." The cover was also designed to create a contrast between the romantic image and modular typography.
03
true faith
This is by far the most serene artwork Saville has ever created.
"I was parking the car one night, and a leaf slowly flew past the window, and I thought it was so beautiful. It was in the frame of the windscreen, so I probably saw it as an image. So we made a sheet."
It was the first real-life job I ever had. In 1986, I had a trauma in my personal life, and it made me very attentive to the world around me. Suddenly I had no filters.
04
technique
This album is one of the most notable works of the band and Saville.
Partly recorded on the holiday island of Ibiza and inspired by vocalist Bernard Sumner's experiences at a party at the Shoom club.
Saville told The Guardian in 2011: "I moved away from interest in 80s consumer products and started going to Pimlico Road to look in antique shops. It was there that I saw the statue of a cherub that we used "Technique". It was a garden ornament, and we rented it for the film.
05
total
The cover has a "layer a lot, sell cheap" aesthetic.Saville realised that this record would be sold in supermarkets and advertised on television.
When you unfold it, it says Total, but folded you only see O. It says, "From Joy Division to New Order."
06
ceremony
4:37
05
atmosphere
4:10
04
she’s lost control
4:46
03
isolation
2:54
07
temptation
5:24
01
transmission
08
3:38
02
blue monday
09
7:29
thieves like us
3:56
love will tear us apart
10
3:36
the perfect kiss
4:26
11
bizarre love triangle
3:46
12
true faith
4:12
13
fine time
3:10
14
world in motion
4:32
15
16
regret
crystal
4:20
17
krafty
3:47
4:10
18
hellbent
4:29
part 3
playboy reputation
He has never been married, never leaves the house before noon and loves to spend huge sums of money on expensive clothes like Comme des Garçons suits. His perennial disregard for deadlines is also well known.
This feature was amusingly played in the 2001 film "24 Hour Party People" about the history of Factory Records, where the role of Savile was played by actor Enzo Cilenti.
The designer himself explains his habit of missing deadlines by his morbid perfectionism - he is unable to hand over a job until he considers it perfectly done.
