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A black ink drawing of a dense jungle scene. Stylised palm trees and broad leaves overlap in a complex pattern of lines and splatters.
Words
Will Hudson
—
Date
11 June 2015
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Fletcher's Sketchbooks: An exclusive insight into the sketchbooks of the late, great Alan Fletcher

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Words
Will Hudson
—
Date
11 June 2015
Tags

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Alan Fletcher is arguably the biggest name in 20th Century British design. The man responsible for Pentagram and D&AD has a legacy that lives on in his industry’s landscape to this day, through the two towering organisations he founded and modern designers’ continual referencing of his progressive creative vision. It’s pretty humbling to pore over this great man’s sketchbooks and to see first-hand his mind in action; to watch him work out the bad ideas from the good; make shopping lists, sketch dogs and remind himself to pick up a Christmas card for Peter Blake…

An open sketchbook filled with simple, colourful drawings of palm trees, suns and horizons. The sketches are arranged in a loose grid, with some featuring handwritten notes including “Sunset/Sunrise”.
An open sketchbook shows two watercolour illustrations. The left page depicts abstract figures in red and blue with the handwritten caption “Football”, while the right page shows a cluster of green trees labelled “Parks”.
An open sketchbook featuring four hand-drawn diagrams of a person’s head in profile. Each head is divided into sections with red handwritten labels such as “Vision”, “Ideas” and “Determination”.
An open sketchbook showing two drawings. On the left, a simple ink sketch of a doorway with the handwritten text “Door detail La Gazelle d’Or”. On the right, a coloured pencil drawing of a person wearing oversized sunglasses with vibrant, multi-coloured lenses.
An open yellow notebook with handwritten notes in blue ink. The pages contain a to-do list including phrases such as “Take the Book to Tokyo” and a simple line drawing of a square containing the letter “B”.
An open sketchbook showing black ink drawings on white paper. The left page is filled with dense, overlapping geometric patterns and organic shapes, while the right page contains sparse sketches of figures and the words “Warwick Arts Trust”, “nose” and “eye”.
An open notebook with handwritten notes in black ink. The left page reads “Drawing is a nice way of saying hello”, followed by a note on sketches, memories and paintings. The right page contains a quote from Gertrude Stein: “When you get there there isn’t any there”.
An open notebook with a dark cover and red edges. The left page features a vintage wine label for “lac des Roches” with ornate gold flourishes, while the right page is a product catalogue for notebooks overlaid with a bold black ink signature.
An ink drawing in a sketchbook of dense tropical foliage. Handwritten text at the bottom reads “Casuarina Beach Hotel 16/4/98”.
An open sketchbook featuring ink drawings of stylised, four-legged animals. The grey figures are scattered across two white pages in various leaping and running poses.
An open sketchbook featuring four simple ink drawings. The sketches are labelled “cup of tea”, “slice of toast”, “doughnut” and “pièce of toast”.

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Further Info

About the Author

Will Hudson

—

Will is co-founder of It’s Nice That. Once one of the main contributors to the site, he stepped back from writing as the business expanded. He currently works across It’s Nice That, Creative Lives in Progress and If You Could Jobs.

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