SMA have begun helping the Sheffield Archives in their mammoth task of logging the collection of Martin Bedford’s Leadmill design work. Martin was clearly a methodical person and kept an awful lot of his production artwork going back to the start of what I think will be regarded as the venue’s golden years in 1980. Simon is making an initial listing of this material. “It is fun work on a lot of levels. Firstly recalling all the old school ways of putting artwork together before designers moved on to Macs. So each job is on board, and incorporates elements done in felt pen, ink, Letraset, photocopies, with bits of art done using the Agfa copyproof system also on show. Martin’s instructions for the printer are often on display, the enlargement sizes, quantity required and even his shopping lists for graphic materials!
Once the Archives listing is done, the material will be scanned for public access as some of it is already quite fragile where the adhesive has dried out and felt pen begun to leech through the surfaces.

Aside from the technical details though, the work does bring over the astonishing amount of events the Leadmill put on across some 40 years, contributing to the city in innumerable ways, and something as an occasional gig goer there I certainly had not fully appreciated.

We will take a few snaps along the way. Here we have a design for the brilliant German noise merchants Einsturzende Neubauten, a gig I will never forget, and a similar one for the Jesus & Mary Chain. Both have large black felt penned solids with white poster painted hand lettering. The third is for a double header Oxfam benefit with local heroes The Pulp supporting the Railway Children. You can see Martin’s fun literal approach here; a found image of a steam train and a couple lifted from a pulp magazine! And being the 1980s, all the shows had reduced admission for unemployed folk on showing a dole card, the infamous UB40 (I must still have mine somewhere). Dynamic pricing as it should be practised.