VALE NEIL TURNER

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VALE NEIL TURNER

Neil Turner, one of Western Australia’s most respected and successful designers, passed away last week. His design studio, Turner Design, was at the forefront of Western Australian and Australian design over his long career – especially in the 1980s and 1990s. Turner Design created designs for most of Western Australia’s largest clients of the time including BHP, Lotteries Commission, Swan Brewery, Red Rooster, SGIO, R&I Bank, EventsCorp, Cape Mentelle, and WA Museum. Their Red Back Beer design scored a Silver Pencil at AWARD and the studio kick started the careers of top designers Roland Butcher, Steve Castledine, Paul Dennis, Gino Giorgi, and John Pallett amongst others. Perth creative director John Ilian posted this dedication to Neil Turner on his Facebook page.

 

A pioneer designer, the industry owes much to Neil who passed away last Sunday, aged 75.

Neil more or less pioneered local design in WA as a commercial business.

During the eighties, his business employed some extraordinary designers, many of whom went on to create their own unique and renowned reputations including Roland Butcher (largely responsible for the award-winning RedBack beer branding) and Dome Coffee (now a successful franchise), as well as Steve Castledine who created the now famous Boxing Kangaroo for Alan Bond to use during the successful 1983 America’s Cup.

Steve’s Boxing Kangaroo design lives on as a national symbol now owned by the Australian Olympic Committee.

A mature age student during the late Rosie Barter’s tenure as former Head of Design at WAIT (West Australian Institute of Technology – now Curtin University), Neil was a long time design partner to the Bond Corporation during its heyday, responsible for how the corporation presented itself through its corporate profiles, Annual Reports and prospectuses.

His business was an early supporter of the PADC and designed Perthfolio, the printed record of the first PADC Awards.

I can not say that I was ever close to Neil, but we did undertake a few projects together from time to time whenever he sought my services to remedy a poorly written executive biography or company profile. I remember naming ‘Arena Joondalup,’ for him while he created all its signage and branding.

On a personal level, I was very fortunate on rare occasions, to share his passion for twilight sailing on the Swan.

Neil was a very commercial creature and took the lead in charging high for what he thought was high quality work. He was always more interested in the business of design than pondering any deep and meaningful philosophy behind it.

In recent years – as print publications contracted into the digital realm, Neil’s business specialised in brand identity, packaging, wine labelling, site and environmental design.
Few would disagree that the output from Turner Design over the past forty-five years or so, was nothing less than world class.

My overall impression of Neil was that he was a measured man, largely unflappable (I never saw him lose his cool), who gave deep consideration to his clients, respected his designers and consultants (like me), and their work.

Thoughtful, intelligent, articulate and erudite, Neil Turner was, if nothing else, a unique combination of pragmatism and professionalism.

He will be missed.

RIP Neil Turner

Source: John Ilian’s Facebook post – Friday 17 July.

VALE NEIL TURNER