TDC53 Jury : Bruce Licher

Musician, artist/graphic designer & letterpress printer, Bruce Licher is the founder of Independent Project Records & Press and Licher Art & Design. At the UCLA Fine Arts Department in early 1980 Licher created his first "art record" during an ³Independent Project² course with performance artist Chris Burden. Two years later Licher took a class in letterpress printing and learned how to use the process to create album covers for his band, SAVAGE REPUBLIC. Since the mid-1980's, Licher has been designing and printing album covers and cardboard CD packaging for his record label along with other groups and labels large and small. He was nominated twice for a Grammy Award for his album packaging in 1986 and 1987, and is generally credited with starting the trend in letterpress printed CD and record packaging using industrial-style chipboard. His graphic design and letterpress work has been featured in two major design exhibitions at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York City, in 1996 and 2000.