Syd Brak

This week we mourn the loss of an industry icon, and a great friend.

Syd Brak, one of the most influential airbrush artists of the 80’s & 90’s passed away this week. He designed ‘Long Distance Kiss’ for Athena, the hugely popular high street poster retailer. Long Distance Kiss was, at one time, the top selling poster in the world.

Before moving to the United Kingdom in 1978, Syd was creative director of several advertising agencies in Johannesburg including J Walter Thompson & McCann Erikson. He and I worked together for many years on some truly fantastic and memorable illustration projects for clients including Coca Cola, Guinness, Microsoft, The Royal Mail, Levi’s and more. He created the movie posters for Terry Gilliam’s ‘Brazil’ The Last Starfighter and Sexy Beast.

Syd was a master of the airbrush technique that defined 80’s poster art style and was a true artistic icon of the era.

He will be greatly missed by many.

Nicholas Dawe – Founder of Folio

You can view an interview with Syd here.