Jonathan Barnbrook is an award winning graphic designer, type designer, and typographer. He was David Bowie’s go to collaborator for 15 years, from 2002’s Heathen for which he designed the type face and packaging, The Next Day, where he controversially, in an act of detournement, defaced 1977’s Heroes to create the album sleeve, to 2016’s ★ Blackstar, for which he won a Grammy Award. He has worked with other artists along the way, including John Foxx, Enter Shikari, and Tuxedomoon, and runs his own design company.
Jonathan, was the Artistic Director of the ‘David Bowie Is’ exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum, and created the visual identity for You’re Not Alone, the immersive Bowie experience in King’s Cross, London. In a special talk as part of the Bowie Night series of events, on the 19 May at The Lightroom, Jonathan talks about working with David Bowie. Tickets here.
In this interview with Louder Than War’sNigel Carr talks to Jonathan about working directly with Bowie, resisting nostalgia, visual culture and the strange afterlife of icons.From ★ (Blackstar) to Banksy, Damien Hirst and the legacy of post-punk disruption, Barnbrook reflects on art, identity and why Bowie still feels dangerously relevant in 2026.
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