Filmakers/producers Malcolm Boyle and Carl Stickley asked me to design a poster for their feature documentary titled ‘Hoppy – Underground Head’ www.hoppyfilm.com The film explores the pivotal role Hoppy played in the London/International counterculture scene of the sixties. The poster advertised the films preview screening at the Tabernacle, Notting Hill Gate on May 24 2024.
I found myself bound to Hoppy heart and soul in the mid sixties working on a number of his projects including the design and publication of London Free School material – art directing International Times – producing posters for the UFO Club and events such as the 14 Hour Technicolour Dream and Legalise Pot Rally in Hyde Park.
The image attempts to portray Hoppy as a symbolic figure at the spinning centre of a world in transition.
I met up with some old friends at the screening Q&A discussion: from right to left – Greg Sams, Craig Sams, the moderator, me and Barry Miles. The two Sams brothers opened SEED macrobiotic restaurant in 1968. Craig went on to found the Green and Black chocolate company. Barry Miles was also a pivotal figure in the sixties counterculture, founding IT newspaper with Hoppy, establishing the Indica Bookshop/Gallery and chronicling the counterculture in numerous books.