Hugh_Syme

Hugh Syme

Hugh Syme

Canadian graphic designer

This article is about the Canadian graphic artist. For the Australian recipient of the George Cross, see Hugh Syme (GC).

Hugh Syme is a Canadian Juno Award-winning graphic artist and member of the Premier Artists Collection (PAC) who is best known for his artwork and cover concepts for rock and metal bands. He is also a musician and has appeared on some Rush albums as a keyboard player. Syme is notably responsible for all of Rush's album cover art since 1975's Caress of Steel as well as creating Rush's famous Starman logo. In 1983 he told Jeffrey Morgan that he never imagined the band would use it as their main logo.[1] Syme also plays piano on the album Thrilling Women, which Morgan recorded with Dean Motter.[2]

Quick Facts Born, Nationality ...

His client base includes major record companies like Geffen Records, EMI Records, Mercury Records, RCA Records, Capitol Records, Sony Music, Atlantic Records, Warner Bros. Records and A&M Records.[3]

Iron Maiden fans remember him best as the designer of The X Factor cover, which shows the band's mascot Eddie dissected. It is remembered for its gritty realism. Whereas all previous Maiden albums were oil paintings, the X Factor Eddie was a puppet with some digital touch-ups to enhance its look. In some countries the cover was considered so gruesome that a less gory alternative was offered (the alternative cover is actually the back of the original CD booklet).[citation needed]

Def Leppard's Retro Active album cover, which he co-designed with Nels Israelson, shows a lady sitting at a dressing table, looking in a mirror. From another perspective, it takes the form of a skull (a type of vanitas art), the woman's head forming the left eye socket, and her reflected head in the mirror forming the right eye socket. The mirror itself forms the shape of the skull and the accessories on the dressing table form the nose, nostrils and teeth. It was inspired by Charles Allan Gilbert's most famous work, All Is Vanity (1892).

Other bands Syme has done artwork for include: Megadeth, Saga, Styx, Altered State, Fates Warning, Whitesnake, Queensrÿche, Aerosmith, and Dream Theater.

Personal

Hugh Syme has studios in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and in Indiana, USA. Syme is co-host of the Music Buzzz Podcast along with Dane Clark and Andy Wilson.

Album cover art

Chronological list of Hugh Syme's album cover art (including studio, live, compilation and extended play LPs).

More information Year, Artist ...

Discography

Syme has contributed as a musician with Ian Thomas Band,[32] Rush and Tiles.

with Ian Thomas Band

  • Delights - piano, Fender Rhodes, Mellotron and background vocals
  • Calabash - keyboards, background vocals and creative companionship and album cover artwork
  • Still Here - keyboards and background vocals (co-arrangement on "I Really Love You" and "Tinkerbell")
  • Glider - keyboards and all songs arranged with Ian Thomas
  • The Runner - keyboards and background vocals

with Rush

with Tiles

  • Window Dressing - keyboards on "Slippers in the Snow"
  • Fly Paper - keyboards on "Crowded Emptiness" and solo piano on "Passing Notes"

with Alice in Chains

  • 2112 - 40th Anniversary Deluxe Reissue - Mellotron, string arrangement, woodwinds, and boy's choir on Geddy Lee's re-released song "Tears"

with Jim McCarty

  • Walking in the Wild Land - Piano, nylon and steel string acoustic guitar, synths, string arrangements, boy's choir, Mellotron on "Changing Times", "Dancing Leaves" and "So Many Questions". James Stanley McCarty (born 25 July 1943) is an English musician, best known as the drummer for the Yardbirds and Renaissance.

Awards

Juno Awards: 5 wins and 18 nominations.[34]

References

  1. [1]
    Morgan, Jeffrey. CREEM Magazine, 1983.
  2. [2]
    Thrilling Women: The Lost Air Pirates Sessions – Toronto: 1978 – 1980
  3. [3]
    "Hugh Syme". Hugh Syme. Archived from the original on 2014-07-30. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  4. [4]
    Archived March 27, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  5. [5]
    Archived October 25, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  6. [6]
    Archived February 23, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  7. [7]
    Archived December 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  8. [8]
    Archived February 19, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  9. [9]
    Archived February 20, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  10. [10]
    Archived April 14, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  11. [11]
    Archived December 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  12. [12]
    Archived December 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  13. [13]
    Archived December 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  14. [14]
    "SAGA: In transit ::". Saga-denmark.com. 1982-02-05. Archived from the original on 2014-07-26. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  15. [15]
    Archived December 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  16. [16]
    Archived May 5, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  17. [17]
    Archived April 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  18. [18]
    Archived February 23, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  19. [19]
    Archived December 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  20. [20]
    Archived December 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  21. [21]
    Archived December 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  22. [22]
    "Extol cover". Ecx.images-amazon.com. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  23. [23]
    Archived December 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  24. [24]
    Archived April 25, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  25. [25]
    Archived December 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  26. [26]
    Archived April 25, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  27. [27]
    Archived February 24, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  28. [28]
    Archived December 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  29. [29]
    Archived April 25, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  30. [30]
    "Mike Portnoy on Eddie Trunk Show". FileFront.com. 2009-03-17. Archived from the original on 2009-03-22. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
  31. [31]
    "Radiant Records. Flying Colors - Second Nature". radiantrecords.com. Archived from the original on 2014-08-10. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  32. [32]
    "Official Site of Ian Thomas Band". Archived from the original on 2009-10-25.
  33. [33]
    Archived February 22, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  34. [34]
    "Juno Awards site".
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