Meet graphic artist Nick Cranston
Reading time: 2 mins
Graphic artist Nick Cranston's work is characterised by his use of punchy colours and clean lines and drawing on his passion for vintage graphic design. We sat down with Nick to find out more about how he developed his practise, and more specifically how his signature luggage tags came to be.
Q: Hey Nick, it’s great to talk with you. Tell us about your journey to becoming an artist.
A: I wouldn't say I am an artist, really.
Q: What was your experience like at art school?
A: I trained as a commercial illustrator at university, and it was a fantastic course—broad, hands-on, and rooted in the real world. We covered everything from printmaking and publishing to marketing and consumer habits. Most of my friends were on the graphics course, which, in comparison, felt surprisingly narrow in scope.
It's a shame the industry I had trained for didn't really exist by the time I graduated!
Q: Where did the concept for your luggage tag series come from?
A: I used to wander around boot sales, never really searching for anything in particular. Somehow, I’d end up bringing home wonderfully odd finds—transistor packaging, old lightbulb boxes, original cereal boxes, film packaging, matchboxes, polaroid and, of course, luggage labels.
It might seem like a strange mix, but my fascination was never about the objects themselves, their contents, or their destinations. What drew me in was the design—the charm of analogue printing and the artistry of that era. With luggage labels, it was never about travel or far-flung places; it was a purely personal love for the way they were designed.
Then one day, I was handed a brief for travel-related artwork. I thought, If you put these luggage tags in front of people, they’ll fall for them just like I did. And they did.
Q: Do any of the destinations featured in the series hold personal meaning for you?
A: Not at all! I suppose for most people buying them, it’s really about the travel or memories. But for me, the real fascination is the journey of the design itself. It might have begun out of pure necessity—say, in the ’50s or ’60s—you needed a luggage label so your bag ended up on the right plane. Someone, probably an illustrator, was hired to design it. No doubt it went through countless drafts before becoming the finished piece. And there is a general composition there, a template, to which all luggage tags then adhered to over decades.
And yet here we are, well into the next century, looking at that label and thinking, I want to buy that! There’s something fascinating about that, but why? I think nowadays, so much is generated digitally. I guess there is artistry in there somewhere, but it's not physical or real. I think for that reason, when you remove a human skill from the process, everything looks the same. So many objects, pieces of packaging, and designs from those years have a charm and craft that’s completely absent in modern commercial design.
It’s hard to imagine that in a hundred years, someone might stumble across a perfume box, or an old Argos catalogue at a boot fair, and think, Hey, that would make a great poster. No offence to Argos.
‘‘What drew me in was the design—the charm of analogue printing and the artistry of that era.’’
Nick Cranston
Q: Are there any artists that you admire or inspire your work?
A: My first real inspiration came from Kukryniksy—a collective of three Soviet illustrators—who launched a powerful propaganda campaign after Germany’s invasion. It might seem odd now, but at the time it was a crucial tool for motivating populations and keeping spirits high in the face of what looked like certain destruction. I was fascinated by their caricatures of infamous Nazi generals—Göring, Himmler, and the rest.
Weirdly, it inspired me to create caricatures of each of my teachers. Read into that what you will.
Q: Be honest - have you visited every place featured in the collection, or are some aspirational?
A: No, I can't stand cities. I mean, it's alright for an afternoon but I'm far more interested in the natural world.
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