Gavin Connell

Dublin-based artist Gavin Connell’s passion for rave art comes from his “love of the music that comes from the parties the artwork promotes.” Before he moved into graphic design and illustration, the thirst for underground music and events was already a key part of Connell’s design process.

“When I did start to design flyers, it was only a natural progression from my prior passion for this scene,” he says. “I would feel extremely inspired to make a great poster if I already had an interest in the DJs that might be headlining, or friends who were billed for that night. My love for the music has helped me immensely in terms of the quality, care and love that I attempt to put into my flyers.” 

Connell’s designs are inspired by 1930s animations such as Fleischer studios, and early work from Walt Disney’s studios. He also references vintage comics, dating back as far as the 1940s, and right up to the modern-day. “I’m a big fan of bootleg characters and cheaper ways of printing in mass, such as risograph or silk screen painting. All of these elements help me to create my work. It’s fairly light-hearted and fun.” Using a palette of colours, or only singular colours, on a neon background help Connell achieve his larger-than-life, bubbly flyers – “it’s just an effective way to catch people’s eye,” he says, “and cost-effective too.”

Some of Connell’s favourite designs come locally, from Dublin’s Techno & Cans party. “Posters designed by James McGuirk. They’re inspired by old-school rave posters, but they have a contemporary twist,” he explains. “Axe On Wax is also a big favourite - especially the posters designed by Caterina Bianchini. It’s very vibrant, playful work that has inspired me and a lot of other flyer designers. I also like Joseph Lebus, very different from the other artists mentioned above. His style is so simple, and a lot of the time only features text.”

Gavin says himself that his work is inspired by old school rave posters with a contemporary twist - which is something that I really want to achieve within the project. I really love how he combines illustration and type in a bold, in-your-face type of way. I find it to almost be a combination of pointless illustration james and Gavin Connell's strong styles, yes Gavin Connell seems to pull it off so well without his designs looking overcrowded. I also find his se of grids to be extremely interesting and exciting - he uses them to block out different areas of the page.