TONY McDERMOTT
Starting in the late 1970’s UK-based designer and illustrator Tony McDermott has steadily added to his archive of cover art for over 45 years now, showcasing his trademark colour-saturated, bold graphic work - often using distinctive custom type-styles - as well as his celebrated comic-book inspired illustrations.
“(McDermott’s) signature cartoon covers becoming synonymous with dub records by Scientist and Mad Professor in the early ‘80s.” - Vinyl Factory
He has helped to shape the visual identity or ‘brand’ of several influential reggae labels, most notably Greensleeves Records. His best-known works include series of album artworks for the Dub maestros Scientist, King Jammy, Mad Professor and Augustus Pablo, but he has also designed seminal covers for many of the superstars who dominated the Dancehall / Ragga scene from the 1980s till now, including Yellowman, Eek-A-Mouse, Josey Wales, Frankie Paul, Shabba Ranks, Bounty Killer, Cocoa Tea, Lady Saw, Elephant Man, Shaggy, Mr. Vegas, Vybz Kartel, Sizzla Kalonji and Busy Signal.
“The work of the label's designer Tony McDermott, whose style came to define Greensleeves' album artwork” - Guardian
His work has been documented in the books “Stir It Up” (Chris Morrow, Thames & Hudson 1999) the Stüssy / Greensleeves co-production “Greensleeves: The First 100 Covers” (2010) and showcased in the exhibitions “Art Vinyl: Greensleeves - Tony McDermott” (London, 2005), ‘Art in the Dancehall’ (curator: Al Fingers) at London’s pop-up Puma Yard (2012), and the major 2017 exhibition ‘Jamaica Jamaica!’ staged at the Philharmonie de Paris, France (curator: Seb Caroyal) before it transferred to Los Angeles and Sao Paulo. It is estimated that Tony McDermott has created covers for over 1,000 music albums over the decades.