I feel like I’m looking into the mind of an Atari video game console, well, at least what I think it would look like beyond all the computer parts.
Bright colors and bold lines are what typify the work of Michael Willis: a London based designer who also runs an independent publishing platform called Panther Club, which specializes in graphic arts and illustration. Willis creates editorial and design works for numerous publications, clothing labels and illustrates books – he is one multi-talented fellow! He takes his inspiration from popular culture, literature and 1960′s psychedelia – a conglomerate of forces that merge to form intricate line patterns, most of which possess an airbrushed sheen.
As well as his own designs, Willis has also collaborated with illustrator Lindsey Gooden in a series titled “Fantastic Voyage“. Printed onto metallic mirror card, these bizarre images were inspired by the teachings of Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner & Richard Alpert in the 1960s. Using psychoactive drugs, they developed a manual called ‘The Psychedelic Experience’, exploring the different levels of consciousness that these drugs afford. Willis and Gooden give us a visual journey through such teachings and infuse it with both real photography and current popular culture imagery. The resulting prints are part fairy tale, part acid trip poster – either way, they keep my eyes entertained and require more than one viewing.
Text by Marion Piper.
