Nic Hughes

Designer Nic Hughes (1968-2012) created many of the graphic materials for both Abundant and Vaux, and the Grace logo. His work for Vaux had a modernist rigour [stylistic and philosophical] that was genuinely groundbreaking and formed an essential part of Vaux's impact. His work for Grace continues to shape the group's presentation and identity.

Haunted Geographies blog | Flickr set of selected Nic Hughes work | Vaux VX1.0 website 01.2000

Nic at Vaux, 1999

Abundant flyer 1995

A rejected proposal for a logo for Dbass Records, 1995, which gave birth to the Grace logo [next image]. Photo by Nic Hughes.

Nic wrote "Here's the evolution of the Grace logo. It started as a Dbass logo for Tim (Riches, I think) in Leeds. It got rejected, so I kept it on ice. It worked perfectly for Grace. One of those things. The form is so comfortable with G-R-A-C-E, but really awkward with D-B-A-S-S. I learned a lot from this. Wordbites like 'grace' and 'dbass' actually have the visual solution already present within their structure, you just have to explore it and not impose a structure on it. Withdraw and not suffocate whats there."

Flyer for the relaunch of Grace in 1996. The logo, strapline and Neue Helvetica set a look and feel for Grace that still continues. In 2005 Nic suggested that Grace remove the ellipse and other extraneous parts of the logo to leave just the word.

Vaux VX1.0 website January 2000, built entirely in Flash. Stunning for its time, but soon replaced by a more conventional site because it was so hard to update. Click to go to the movie - the only way to experience a Flash website now!

Vaux at Greenbelt 2001 - the Urban Mass logo and big Helvetica

The Hughes look applied to an order of service. At a time when even the most experimental churches were still doing 'religious' or grunge typography, Nic applied a ruthless Swiss modernism to Vaux. It was hugely influential in breaking completely with 'religious' styling, but controversial because of the level of artistic control implied in the context of an avowedly non-hierarchical community. At least until everyone wanted to use Helvetica.

Nic: "At the time I was obsessed with design's modernist legacy and wanted to recreate Vaux in Basel’s image. One could spin this as lament or hauntology, but to be honest, it was more to do with practicing a covert strain of modernism! It’s not surprising the clothes never really fitted. The group's structures, ideas and relationships were elsewhere."

Projection for Vaux service, 2002 [but here in a car park]. Photo by Nic Hughes.

Nic's feature in Grafik magazine March 2007.

Nic's feature in Grafik magazine March 2007. A 'meme tent' to inhibit the transfer of cultural thoughts.

Nic's feature in Grafik magazine March 2007. Left, cognitive maps. Right, tumbleweed - bundles of tape were released in the streets of east London, with a website on for people to contact if they found the tumbleweed.

Nic: "We cannot continue the course of relentless accumulation and exponential growth. The planet will no longer support the cradle to grave system that underpins our so-called wealth. Bluntly, turning natural resources into products and burying them in the ground is not sustainable. We are hitting a limit.

This crisis is debilitating. It induces chronic inertia. How does one design in the now without curtailing the future? We’re moving into the situation where even thoughts have a carbon footprint and the internalization of eco-surveillance seems inevitable. How do we curtail the violence of design or at least steer our making-unmaking into a more sustainable territory?"