At art school in Madrid back in the 1980s I began a love affair with Pedro Almodóvar’s films. In the darkness of the Alphaville cinema I was entranced.
These early films where made on shoestring budgets. Fame, international recognition and success where still a few years away, but his sassy visual style was already apparent and this spiky-haired young graphic designer couldn’t get enough.
My art school gang would hang out in the cafés, bars and clubs of the still seedy district of Chueca. There in post-Franco Madrid a cultural renaissance was taking place – La Movida, as it is now known. Designers, film-makers,
artists, writers and musicians were without knowing it creating a new brand for Spain, and Almodóvar was at the heart of it.
I’ve just been to see Volver and I confess that the love affair continues. After more than 20 years in London, my passion for vibrant colour inspired in the darkness of the Alphaville still lives on.
In fact, I may have to get the Pantone book out and pump up the colours on the latest Designhouse work.
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