Andrew Vella

Andy has previously worked as a Senior Lecturer at Middlesex University (18 years), Senior Lecturer at University of Westminster (6 years) and Visiting Lecturer at University of Brighton (3 years).

Andy’s favourite project, he says, is always the next one – and right now, he is excited to be teaching at AUB. ‘AUB has really turned heads in the industry and I want to build on that reputation,’ he says. His advice to aspiring graphic designers is to ‘be professional – but be different and offer something new. Be inspired – and inspire back.’ Andy aims to instil in his students the same conceptual approach that he developed when completing his MA at the RCA. ‘I really question myself, and what I’m trying to say and do in my work. Anyone can create a good image, but there should always be a concept that allows the design process behind it to emerge.’

Andy Vella works as a professional designer, photographer and artist producing book jackets, corporate identities and conceptual album covers. Andy was still at art school when he received his first commission to design Primary – the fourth single by The Cure. This led to a 35-year career documenting the band, photographing them on tour and designing some of their most iconic record covers and merchandise. His bestselling photographic book, called Obscure, tells the story of The Cure from 1981 to today.

His work with The Cure led to commissions from and collaborations with many other bands and artists, notably Swervedriver, Gene, Pavement, Mick Rock, The Warm Jets, The God Machine, Iggy Pop, Jeff Buckley, Arthur Baker and Vincent Gallo.

Andy has also worked extensively as a photographer, often on his own design commissions, conducting and overseeing fashion shoots, and supervising and commissioning the work of other photographers, most notably including Rankin, Perou and Matthew Donaldson. He has also produced the branding for many clients, including XFM and Planet Rock.

In the 90s, a commission to create a series of covers for Bloomsbury Publishing launched Andy’s career as a leading book designer for the likes of Stieg Larsson, Margaret Atwood, John Berger, Tobias Wolff and Nadine Gordimer. Andy has since worked for many major publishers, including Harvill Secker, MacLehose Press, Penguin, Abacus, Flamingo, John Murray, Quercus, Faber and Faber, and Foruli.

The Gothic was a 2014 major exhibition at The British Library in London, where Andy was a keynote panel speaker, alongside Dave McKean and Vaughan Oliver. In 2017, together with Deyan Sudjic and Jeremy Deller, Andy opened Bergen Institute of Arts, Norway. Andy collaborated with the South Bank Centre for Robert Smith's Meltdown Festival to create a range of limited-edition folio screen prints and merchandise, in 2018. And he also featured in a major exhibition at The National Gallery of Victoria, Australia, which included more than 200 key works of contemporary art drawn from The Museum of Modern Art’s iconic collection.

2019 saw Andy create an animated film, which was streamed worldwide and projected onto the sails of the Sydney Opera House, where his work was simultaneously exhibited. Andy’s work also featured as part of a major exhibition at The National Gallery of Melbourne.

Andy has recently exhibited at MOMA, New York, as well as having work in the permanent collection there. His newest commissioned photographic work has appeared in The Guardian, Time Out, and Rolling Stone magazine (in France and New York). Andy also featured in Creative Review’s regular interview piece, ‘How I Got Here’.