AS A TEENAGER THE MAIN INFLUENCES ON LAURENCE’S LIFE WERE PUNK ROCK, DIRK BOGARDE, LAUREL & HARDY, BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY, KRAFTWERK AND THE BAUHAUS DESIGN MOVEMENT.

THESE INFLUENCES HAVE REMAINED WITH HIM INTO HIS PROFESSIONAL WORKING LIFE AS A GRAPHIC DESIGNER. THEY ARE A CONSTANT SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND REFERENCE POINT FOR THE ALBUM  SLEEVES THAT HE DESIGNS, AND FOR THE ART DIRECTION THAT HE PRODUCES  FOR THE VARIOUS MUSIC INDUSTRY PROJECTS THAT HE WORKS ON.

LAURENCE STEVENS GRADUATED IN THE SUMMER OF 1982 FROM THE ‘LONDON COLLEGE OF PRINTING’ [LCP] WITH A BA HONS DEGREE IN
GRAPHIC DESIGN.

DURING HIS TIME AT ART COLLEGE HE SPENT ALL HIS TIME CONCENTRATING ON DESIGN AND MUSIC, AND DUE TO HIS INTEREST IN ELECTRONIC MUSIC AND BAUHAUS DESIGN [ESPECIALLY TYPOGRAPHY], IN THE EARLY 1980’s HE BECAME A MEMBER OF THE LONDON BASED ELECTRONIC/AVANT GARDE POP GROUP  “BLANCMANGE”.

” ..SINCE THE AGE OF 18 ALL I EVER WANTED TO DO WAS TO DESIGN RECORDSLEEVES..”  SO AS SOON AS LAURENCE LEFT COLLEGE WITH HIS DEGREE HE PURSUED HIS INTEREST IN COMBINING MUSIC AND DESIGN, AND FORMEDTHE COMPANY ‘1939 DESIGN’. THIS COMPANY WHICH WAS BASED IN THE  DINING-ROOM OF HIS FATHER’S HOUSE, CREATED GRAPHICS AND VISUALS FOR A NUMBER OF LAURENCE’S FRIENDS AND EARLY ‘INDIE’ BANDS.

IN AUGUST OF 1982 LAURENCE WAS COMMISSIONED TO DESIGN THE NEW SINGLE SLEEVE FOR THE BAND ‘EURYTHMICS’ [THIS WAS TO BE HIS FIRST PAID GRAPHIC DESIGN JOB AS A RECORD SLEEVE DESIGNER]. SINCE THE RELEASE OF THAT SINGLE, ‘LOVE IS A STRANGER’, HE HAS BEEN THE BAND’S DESIGNER AND ART DIRECTOR AND HAS BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DESIGN OF THE GROUPS 10 ALBUMS AND OVER 30 SINGLE SLEEVES DURING THE PAST 23 YEARS.

HE HAS CONTINUED TO WORK WITH BOTH DAVE STEWART AND ANNIE LENNOX DURING THEIR RESPECTIVE SOLO CAREERS DESIGNING THE ALBUM SLEEVES AND MARKETING CAMPAIGNS FOR ANNIE LENNOX’S AWARD WINNING “DIVA”AND “MEDUSA” ALBUMS. HE MOST RECENTLY DESIGNED THE ‘PEACE’ ALBUM  SLEEVE WHICH IS THE LAST OFFICIAL ‘EURYTHMICS’ STUDIO ALBUM, FEATURING  IMAGES FROM THE PHOTO SESSION THAT THE BAND PRODUCED WITH THE  LEGENDARY PHOTOGRAPHER RICHARD AVEDON, WHO SADLY DIED IN 2004.

LAURENCE HAS DESIGNED RECORD SLEEVES FOR A NUMBER OF INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS AND BANDS DURING HIS CAREER AS DIVERSE AS ANNIE LENNOX, MORRISSEY, EURYTHMICS, MUSE, SLEEPER AND BOB DYLAN.

HE HAS WORKED WITH SOME OF THE WORLD’S BEST PHOTOGRAPHERS, NAMELY – JEAN BAPTISTE MONDINO, RICHARD AVEDON, BETTINA RHEIMS, PAOLO ROVERSI, NICK KNIGHT …….. HIS WORK APPEARS REGULARLY IN GRAPHIC DESIGN BOOKS AND HIS RECORD SLEEVES HAVE FEATURED IN A NUMBER OF PUBLICATIONS INCLUDING CREATIVE REVIEW, CAMPAIGN, NYLON, BRITISH VOGUE, ELLE  MAGAZINE, SUNDAY TIMES MAGAZINE, DESIGN WEEK ETC ……….

HE HAS CREATED AND DESIGNED THE TOUR MERCHANDISING FOR A NUMBER OF BANDS, AND HAS PRODUCED A RANGE OF T-SHIRTS FEATURING HIS OWN  GRAPHIC SYMBOLS AND TYPOGRAPHIC ‘phrases’ FOR THE UK FASHION SHOP  ‘WAREHOUSE’.

HE HAS RECENTLY DESIGNED AND CREATED THE GRAPHICS FOR A NUMBER OF  FINE ART EXHIBITIONS AND BOOKS.  AND HAS JUST COMPLETED THE DESIGN AND ART DIRECTION OF THE BOOK & EXHIBITION ENTITLED “SLEEP WITH ME’ WHICH  SHOWS THE WORK OF THE FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHER ANOUSHKA FISZ, AND  WHICH WAS CREATED TO ACCOMPANY HER FIRST MAJOR SOLO EXHIBITION AT  THE ‘ALBERTINA MUSEUM’ IN VIENNA, AUSTRIA IN SPRING 2004.

HE IS CURRENTLY WORKING ON PUTTING TOGETHER A BOOK FEATURING ALL OF THE ‘LSD STUDIO’ COMMISSIONED AND HIS NON-PUBLISHED ‘Typographical Paintings’ INC. DESIGN AND ARTWORKS OVER THE PAST FEW  YEARS, FOR THE JAPANESE PUBLISHER OF
THE ‘+81 MAGAZINE’, D.D WAVE/SATORU YAMASHITA