Jonathan Barnbrook Discusses David Bowie
- Sam McNaughton
- May 21
- 2 min read
Graphic designer Jonathan Barnbrook explores the process behind some of David Bowie's most iconic album artwork
At London's innovative immersive venue Lightroom in King’s Cross, graphic designer Jonathan Barnbrook held a masterclass in which he guided the audience on the process and symbolism behind his deep relationship with cultural icon David Bowie.
The venue was the perfect site for such veneration, as it currently holds the immersive David Bowie exhibit "David Bowie You Are Not Alone". As such, the audience felt fully submerged in the world of Bowie before Barnbrook emerged on stage.
Once he took to the stage, in roughly an hour, Barnbrook covered some of his most significant collaborations. With particular focus on Heathen, The Next Day, and Blackstar. Albums which chartered Bowie's late career reinvention and final curtain call. The broad-scope oration was kept thoroughly compelling as Barnbrook framed how the design of an album, and its packaging, acts as an extension of the underlying music's philosophy.
On "Heathen", Barnbrook explained how his interest in works of art that had been defaced aligned with the deeply introspective album. Though instead of being able to use real existing works that had already been defaced, Barnbrook has to recreate the effects. Hearing him describe the trust Bowie placed in him throughout this process served to show the emotional tone of the creative partnership, which would become a theme for the rest of the evening.
The room lit up when Barnbrook moved onto his polarising work for 2013's "The Next Day". With a defiantly humorous tone, he proudly explained how the irreverent work of Jamie Reid through acts like the Sex Pistols inspired the decision to deface the iconic “Heroes” cover with a white square slapped over Bowie’s face, and the album title stamped in a plain sans-serif. The simplicity of the white square was intentional: it was meant to be confrontational, but evolved as fans adopted the artwork into their identity-obscuring social media posts with the white square over their faces. Barnbrook recalled Bowie’s delight at the backlash, and while the story drew laughter, it also revealed his appetite for risk even in his sixties.
The emotional crescendo of the presentation was "Blackstar". Barnbrook spoke with visible reverence, knowing now that Bowie was creating the album in the final months of his life. The oppressive yet mystical black‑and‑white palette adopted heavily coded symbols to craft iconography that shadowed the album's themes of mortality, transformation and legacy. He revealed that the design was intentionally open‑ended and designed to be interpreted long after Bowie was gone. An aspect he loved was to never intentionally confirm any "easter eggs" people thought they had discovered, with his thinking being that "if you think it's important, then it is".
The evening served as a reminder of the importance of artwork and intentionality in how artists design their album eras, how Bowie thought about every layer of meaning and used that to craft his mythical personas.
Fans can continue this journey through the world of David Bowie by visiting "David Bowie You Are Not Alone" at London's King's Cross Lightroom
You can explore the work of Jonathan Barnbrook: HERE
