Rozycki Design is the creative alias of Pete Rozycki, graphic
designer, illustrator and photographer since 1979, now based in
Plymouth, a vibrant city accessible to Dartmoor walks and
Cornish coastlines yet fully web linked to London and beyond.
Book cover design has remained central to
my work since I first started as an in-house designer at
Penguin Books, leaving the Cotswolds for the Kings Road,
Chelsea, an exacting and thorough apprenticeship under talented
Art Directors like David Pelham and Steve Kent. That period saw
major design and print technology change which Penguin was at
the vanguard of. I feel extremely lucky to have worked
alongside so many creative designers, editors and authors.
In 1985 I left to join two other
ex-Penguins in a Chelsea studio, then after a PostGrad course
in design for computers at St Martins went fully independent to
then fairly unknown Brick Lane at the start of the creative
explosion which has now thrust that whole area into the public
gaze.
I added Visiting Tutor at Central St
Martins, Holborn, part-time Art Directorships at André
Deutsch and Robinson Publishing, journalism for design magazine
3D and CD ROM design which included video, 3D animation and
sound editing to my portfolio and this was a highly productive,
often frenetic, period. The collaboration with Robinson Books,
now Constable & Robinson, has been a long and fruitful one
to which I feel proud to have contributed as they’ve
expanded into the highly respected and successful publishing
force of today.
From Brick Lane I moved out of London to
Cauldwell’s Castle, Oxford, after the 4 year lease of a
studio at Golden House, W1, in the heart of Soho’s
creative quarter.
Apart from Oxford being close to my roots
and Cauldwell’s Castle an inspiring and unusual location
on Folly Bridge, the internet made access for cleints possible
from anywhere and is how I mainly work today.
That was uppermost in my decision to move
to Plymouth. Now I can finish and send artwork to a client via
internet and within five minutes be on West Hoe pier fishing
for Bass.
As mentioned above the book cover section
of my Portfolio has formed the
backbone of my work and is probably over-represented by
comparison with the other sections. Choosing content was a
tricky balance; put in 90 covers and it seems I only did 90
since 1979, put in a select few and it seems I have limited
range or just do one-offs.
The Portfolio attempts to show a
rounded selection of design approaches, genres and formats and
represents only a small sample of the covers and other design I
have designed or contributed to, whether by Art and photgraphy
commissioning or my own illustration and photography.
I’d be more than happy to discuss any
project personally or by email. My personal ethos of attention to detail, a
crafted approach and dialogue unencumbered by creative or
corporate jargon is, I hope, reflected in the final design. I
was lucky enough to journey up to the Alan Fletcher
Retrospective at the Design Museum in 2007. His total
approach yet understated sense of fun is something I try and
keep at the front of my own vision.
