Chris Heath and Philip Hoare’s Catalogue, a lavish coffee-table book celebrating the Pet Shop Boys graphic design, was published in 2006 and now fetches collectors’ prices. Volume, their new updated version, is a beautiful work of art itself, and as much as anything a showcase for the vision of Mark Farrow, a designer as intrinsically linked to the PSB aesthetic as Peter Saville was to New Order.
When the duo’s debut album Please was released 40 years ago, Farrow’s sleeve design was striking: well-thought-out photography, minimal sans-serif typography and extensive use of white space, the latter a rarity at the time. These factors became PSB benchmarks, and the designs became more complex on later releases.
The orange plastic CD case for 1993’s Very, designed by Farrow and London firm Pentagram, is spotlighted in Volume too – as is their sleeve art from more than four decades, stills from every PSB video, tour projections by the late Derek Jarman, book cover designs and rare photo shoot offcuts. Explanations are also provided for the thought process behind each creative venture. Whether or not you like the Pet Shop Boys’ musical output, the visual art showcased within Volume is magnificent.
