Rufus Segar
Rufus Segar | |
|---|---|
| Born | 28 August 1932 |
| Died | 7 May 2015 (aged 82) |
| Education |
|
| Occupations |
|
| Notable work | Anarchy (1961–1970) |
| Movement | Anarchism |
| Spouse | Sheila Bullard |
Rufus Segar (28 August 1932 – 7 May 2015) was a British anarchist, illustrator and graphic designer who was best known for his designs of the monthly Anarchy magazine throughout the 1960s. He was born in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, the second son of who he described as 'an itinerant pharmacist'[1].
Education
[edit]Segar attended Rhyl Grammar School and St Asaph Grammar School. He recalled that he really wanted 'to be a cartoonist' and that he 'was quite good at drawing'[2]. Consequently, in 1949 he entered Liverpool College of Art.[3] As a student, he shared a house with Harold Sculthorpe[4], who in 1949 or 1950, had started the Liverpool Anarchist Group[5].
The London years
[edit]Segar graduated in 1953, after which he moved to London[6] and began working as an assistent designer in advertising for Horatio Myer & Co. Ltd. Three years later he got a job in what he described as 'a top rank advertising agency, SH Benson.'[7] However, he recalled: 'You're nowhere, just an assistant in the system. I watched that for three years, just seeing how it worked, then I said, "It's not for me."[8]
In 1955 Segar was imprisoned for three months for refusing to perform National Service.[9] For 30 years, he worked as an illustrator and graphic designer for the Economist Intelligence Unit in London.[9] He also worked freelance illustrating books.
From 1961, when Segar was still working for SH Benson, he began to design the covers for Anarchy, which Colin Ward had started, in Segar's words, 'as a foil to Freedom[10].[11] From issue six onwards, Segar became the resident art director of the magazine.[12] Ward gave him significant freedom in his design of each issue, albeit while working to a tight deadline. Segar recalled that Ward lost interest in the magazine when he got to volume ten.[13] In Segar's words, 'a new lot' took over, after which he 'lost patience with it'.[14] Moreover he told them 'Well, obviously you can do what you like inside, and now you can do what you want on the cover, with which he dropped it because 'just wasn't interested anymore'[15].
Retirement
[edit]Segar retired to Saltwood in Kent, followed by Pershore in Worcestershire, although he continued to illustrate books. He died on 7 May 2015 at the age of 82.[16] Anarchist author David Goodway described Segar's series of covers for Anarchy as 'superb'[17] and acknowledged his help in producing his book[18].
Notes
[edit]- ^ Dunn and McPhee 2010, p. 119.
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ Sculthorpe had his book 'Freedom to roam' published by Freedom Press in 1993.
- ^ Dunn and McPhee 2010, p. 121.
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ Dunn and McPhee 2010, p. 120.
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ a b Segar, Rupert (19 May 2015). "Rufus Segar obituary". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
- ^ Dunn and McPhee 2010, p. 121.
- ^ Goodway 2012 observed that Ward urged the case to his fellow editors for a 'more reflective' Freedom, to which they eventually responded 'by giving him his head with the monthly Anarchy from March 1961' (op. cit.: 312).
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ Dunn and McPhee 2010, p. 140.
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ Dunn and McPhee 2010, pp. 140-141.
- ^ Johnson, Lydia (14 May 2015). "Popular Pershore illustrator dies aged 82". Stourbridge News. Archived from the original on 8 July 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
- ^ Goodway 2012, p. 312.
- ^ Op. cit., p. xii.
References
[edit]- Dunn, Alec; MacPhee, Josh, eds. (2010). Signal 01: A Journal of International Political Graphics. Oakland, California: PM Press. ISBN 978-1-60486-314-7. OCLC 732955750.
- Goodway, David (2012). Anarchist Seeds Beneath the Snow: Left-Libertarian Thought and British Writers from William Morris to Colin Ward. Oakland, California: PM Press. ISBN 978-1-60486-669-8.
- Sculthorpe, Harold (1993). Freedom to roam. London: Freedom Press. ISBN 0 900384 68 9. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
Further reading
[edit]- Ferguson, Kathy E. (2023). Letterpress Revolution: The Politics of Anarchist Print Culture. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press Books. ISBN 1478016590.
- Poyner, Daniel, ed. (2012). Autonomy: The Cover Designs of Anarchy 1961–1970. London: Hyphen Press. ISBN 978-0-907259-46-6.
External links
[edit]| International | |
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| National | |
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