Wire report
‘We didn’t care what the client wanted!’: Sheffield’s Designers Republic on their art for Aphex Twin, Pulp … and Pringles
Their eye-popping designs burst out of Sheffield in 1986, making them the toast of the music scene. Founder Ian Anderson reveals why some fans think his art is worth remortgaging the house for Forty years ago in Sheffield, Ian Anderson founded one of the most influential UK design companies by mistake. “The name the Designers Republic was a joke, because we weren’t designers,” he recalls. “Early on, everything we did was in black and white because we didn’t know how to make it colour.” With co-founder Nick Phillips, The Designers Republic (TDR) quickly became synonymous with music, designing record covers, packaging, logos and campaigns for everyone from Aphex Twin to Autechre, Pulp to Nine Inch Nails. They worked on groundbreaking video games, such as Wipeout and Grand Theft Auto, collaborated with brand behemoths like Coca-Cola and Adidas, and their work is held in the MoMA and the V&a
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Their eye-popping designs burst out of Sheffield in 1986, making them the toast of the music scene. Founder Ian Anderson reveals why some fans think his art is worth remortgaging the house for Forty years ago in Sheffield, Ian Anderson founded one of the most influential UK design companies by mistake. “The name the Designers Republic was a joke, because we weren’t designers,” he recalls. “Early on, everything we did was in black and white because we didn’t know how to make it colour.” With co-founder Nick Phillips, The Designers Republic (TDR) quickly became synonymous with music, designing record covers, packaging, logos and campaigns for everyone from Aphex Twin to Autechre, Pulp to Nine Inch Nails. They worked on groundbreaking video games, such as Wipeout and Grand Theft Auto, collaborated with brand behemoths like Coca-Cola and Adidas, and their work is held in the MoMA and the V&a
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What happened
According to The Guardian’s linked report, ‘We didn’t care what the client wanted!’: Sheffield’s Designers Republic on their art for Aphex Twin, Pulp … and Pringles, Their eye-popping designs burst out of Sheffield in 1986, making them the toast of the music scene. Founder Ian Anderson reveals why some fans think his art is worth remortgaging the house for Forty years ago in Sheffield, Ian Anderson founded one of the most influential UK design companies by mistake. “The name the Designers Republic was a joke, because we weren’t designers,” he recalls. “Early on, everything we did was in black and white because we didn’t know how to make it colour.” With co-founder Nick Phillips, The Designers Republic (TDR) quickly became synonymous with music, designing record covers, packaging, logos and campaigns for everyone from Aphex Twin to Autechre, Pulp to Nine Inch Nails. They worked on groundbreaking video games, such as Wipeout and Grand Theft Auto, collaborated with brand behemoths like Coca-Cola and Adidas, and their work is held in the MoMA and the V&a
Context
The development sits in VINI’s Culture coverage for readers following arts, entertainment, fashion, film, music, celebrity, and the business of culture. The original report is linked so readers can check the source account, follow later updates, and compare new coverage against the first published record. The linked report is dated 2026-07-23T04:00:33+00:00.
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Source
Primary source: ‘We didn’t care what the client wanted!’: Sheffield’s Designers Republic on their art for Aphex Twin, Pulp … and Pringles via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.
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- ‘We didn’t care what the client wanted!’: Sheffield’s Designers Republic on their art for Aphex Twin, Pulp … and PringlesThe Guardian - 2026-07-23T04:00:33+00:00
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