By Ruth Rowland
It was great to be asked to work on some hand lettering for the Simple Minds 40: 40 Years of Hits Tour Book 2020.
Beautifully designed by Stuart Crouch, the tour book is a celebration of the band's achievements over forty years and I was delighted to have some of my work included.
Hand Lettered Calligram for Winged Heart Spread : Simple Minds 40 Tour Book
I was also asked to create some new artwork for its pages, Stuart had designed a variation on the heart-shaped graphic, which fans will recognise as part of the iconography used by the band since the mid-80s. Created to work across a double page spread, I hand lettered the wings with the names of people who were important to Simple Minds' history.
Talk, Talk, Talk Lyrics Lettering: Simple Minds 40 Tour Book
Another new artwork was some graffiti-inspired lyrics from 'I Travel', to complement an early photo of the band by Ronnie Gurr. Working with markers, I wanted to give a loose, edgy, spontaneous feel to the words.
Front Cover: Simple Minds 40 Tour Book
Hand Lettered Calligram for Winged Heart Double Page Spread: Simple Minds 40 Tour Book
Talk, Talk, Talk Lyrics Lettering Double Page Spread: Simple Minds 40 Tour Book
I also worked on the hand lettering on the banners for the tour poster, originally created for the 2020 world tour and reused for rescheduled European gigs, cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Hand lettered banners: Simple Minds 40 Tour Poster
The tour books are still available for purchase at the time of writing, if you'd like to buy one click through to the Simple Minds' shop.
Are you a Simple Minds fan? To see more of my work for the band, click through to Simple Minds New Gold Dream Deluxe Boxset, Simple Minds Acoustic Album, Simple Minds Greatest Hits, Simple Minds Big Music Tour Guide and Simple Minds v The Stranglers Single. You can also find more of my lettering for the music industry in the dedicated Music folder.
