Interview: Pete Mould

"Always do everything to the best you can" is the motto, which our most published typographer lives by. 

How I got into advertising...

A long time ago Capital Radio used to have a Job Shop and at 16 years of age I walked in and saw a job for a messenger for a small studio, had an interview and started a week later. Did that for six months then became a Past-Up Artist. Back then everything was hand-crafted and it took a week to produce anything. When Macs came along it changed everything for me. I went from doing what other people asked to very quickly suggesting better options all at ten times the speed. I’ve been very fortunate over the years to work very closely with some amazingly talented people, Dave Wakefield, Mark Reddy and Justin Tindall to mention just a few. If you ever get to work with people this talented and can’t learn from them, you should probably try another profession.

A run-down of the most recent campaign I worked on...

Not really a campaign, more of a project. I wanted to produce the coolest client list I could. Our logo involves a helmet, so I bought 20 motorcycle helmets off ebay and then found a group of illustrators who were into the project as much as I was. Shotopop were up for it and we started by creating 12 pieces of original art, hand-painted designs on the helmets, (no logos allowed), inspired by Atomic London’s clients. These are displayed at the Atomic offices and continue to grow.

The next big advertising trend is going to be...

I don’t like to make predictions, but there’s one thing I think will have to happen. As people have more and more ways to avoid advertising – through the increasing use of catch-up TV, or ad-blocking apps for example – our industry is going to have to work harder than ever to produce great looking and sounding, original work that people won’t want to avoid – and in fact actively want to seek out. This is not so much of a trend, but a necessity. 

The piece of advertising work I wish I had thought of is...

805 Million Names – Zlatan Ibrahimović

I don’t like football, but I loved this. Footballers seem to have a lot of tattoos so to put so much meaning into them was genius. The perfect canvas and typography, what’s not to like?

My favorite app at the moment is...

Instagram is my favourite App at the moment. It's perfect for me because I'm such a visual person. It has proved invaluable helping me get involved with my son, JACKMOULDBMX and his burgeoning BMX career.

The best piece of creative work around at the moment is...

As I’m writing this the week before Christmas off the top of my head I’m going to say Sainsbury’s Mog ad. It’s not groundbreaking, but I love the way that it has something for everyone – it’s brilliantly crafted, looks great, without feeling like it’s trying too hard. Kids and their parents and grandparents who remember the original stories will all like it.

In a film about my life, I’d like to be played by...

Brad Pitt. I had to give a pic of a young Mould for a Christmas party a few years back and found a pic of Brad playing tennis. He wore glasses then so I used that and no one questioned it.

A word or phrase I overuse...

“Are you sure about that?”

My last social media update said...

“Probably one of my funniest days at work, EVER!” After making the ‘Merry Flaming Christmas’ for Atomic London, Christmas card. A helmet, Christmas lights, fire, fire extinguisher and a lot of mess. Still laughing now.

My dream collaboration would be with...

There are so many people I’d like to work with, but I have been trying to work with an Illustrator called Raymond Biesinger for far too long. Fingers crossed one day it will happen.

A piece of criticism I’ve received was...

I say ‘no’ quite a lot (but not always directly – see Q8)

A great piece of advice I received...

"Always do everything to the best you can" from my then boss Gary Lane back when I was a 16-year old messenger. One of the first good bits of advice I had, and one that’s stuck with me ever since. 

See all Pete Mould works in Lürzer's Archive