AMANDA HANCOCK The lady who designed DMC

Amanda Hancock

Tell us about your career back in the 1980s…

Well, in the mid 80’s in Manchester, my career as an independent graphic designer sharing a vibrant mixed studio space on Sackville Street, had begun. By the time the DMC logo request came in, Jim Barron and I had established Hancock and Barron Design (H&B), working alongside a small team of designers in our studio based in the railway arches, just down the road from the Haçienda nightclub. I guess the connection to DMC came through the Manchester scene – I’d already designed record sleeves for local musicians, promo flyers for the Berlin Club and gig posters for the Haçienda. Back then, everything happened through the company you kept – the creative collaborations and connections.

Did you know about DMC at the time, was the world of DJing and Hip Hop part of your life?

The black music scene was particularly prominent in Manchester at that time. As my chum and co-designer Simon Wint recalls, “These were to be my most enjoyable and memorable years in Manchester. You introduced me to such incredible characters as Aniff, Hewen, Jelly and Kermit of the Ruthless (Roofless) Rap Assassins. Our office ghetto blaster – with its twin cassette deck! – constantly played Marvin Gaye, Latin Jazz, Funk, Soul and Hip-Hop on a seemingly endless loop.” It was the soundtrack to our creative process. It was perfect.

The DMC logo has become as synonymous in the dance world as the Ministry of Sound and Cream logos. What were your initial ideas/motives/themes that first entered your wonderful creative brain when looking at the DMC job?

The actual creative process is something Simon ‘Winty’ describes vividly: "You and I are sitting opposite each other in the meeting room, with the long black table, courtesy of Hancock and Barron. We're deep in concentration and drinking Nescafé whilst storming our brains. We have pencils and paper and a number of books for reference as we sketch: I recall Dadaism and Bauhaus..." For hours we sketched, experimented, giggled, and listened to Rare Groove, House and Rap. And then, as Winty puts it, "something happened. The black and white Bauhaus counter-change composition, featuring two ecstatic, faceless DJs wearing child-sized baseball caps, suddenly appeared before us. An immaculate conception!"

The logo quite simply unites people. It unites black and white, it bonds people worldwide. Back in the 80s there was tension all over the planet - your logo helped bring people together under the umbrella of music. Were you aware of this, was this part of your plan?

Looking back, I'm struck by how the logo came to unite people – bringing together black and white, bonding people worldwide under the umbrella of music. There hadn’t been a grand plan to achieve this, simply a clear and personal obligation to represent and unify. The fact that the DMC logo has had such wide reach is an absolute joy! Sometimes design transcends its initial purpose in ways you never fully anticipate.

DMC Unites Black and White