Alex Turvey

The best logos are designed to be simple but striking. Bold enough to appear recognizable when blown up on a billboard or shrunk down to the size of a stamp.

The same could be said of 26-year-old director, graphic designer and animator Alex Turvey’s work. A little bit macabre, a little bit camp, his instantly-recognizable aesthetic (which he describes as “surreal folk horror with sequins”) is expansive enough to fill a panoramic cinema. Yet the colorful sets and theatrical costumes he creates are striking enough to impress on the tiniest of screens.

The past year has been the London-based Turvey’s busiest. An interest in textiles, masks and wigs manifested itself in the cuddly woodland world he created for a Lily Wood & The Prick music video, and in the illustrated sets in the Cheatahs promo “Warrior”.

Turvey’s latest effort is a surreal fashion film for Dazed & Confused, for which he commissioned special hairpieces soon to be sported by none other than Lady Gaga.

Not surprisingly, the director he relates to most is American absurdist David Lynch. “I suppose I relate to [his work] by ensuring that my surreal images are as magical and inviting as possible,” he says. “Even if they are a little weird or perverse.”

Why did you start making films?
Ever since I was a child, I think, I’ve thought in motion. My very first sketchbooks are filled with intergalactic battle scenes whereby blue biro lasers fire at grotesque aliens, complete with comic book sound effects. It wasn’t until I began my graphic design degree, however, that I realized I found it pretty difficult to communicate what I wanted to say through a static image. As such, I soon began to animate and film my designs, devising absurd narratives and magical environments in which to contain my ideas.

How have your first projects shaped you as a director?
My style has developed very organically over the past few years due to my (often wildly optimistic) determination to make an idea work regardless of budget limitations. I’ve always seen small budgets as a huge challenge, almost a puzzle to solve, and I often find myself scripting purposefully big ideas to push my capabilities and lateral thinking. Q

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