Art of Mo’ Wax: Ben Drury
Part of the appeal of a Mo’ Wax release, other than the music, is their amazing artwork, and the label became famous for their visually appealing packaging. This series will take a a brief look at some of the artists who worked with Mo’ Wax between 1992–2003.
Born in Southampton, Ben Drury’s family moved to Cornwall where he studied at the nearby Falmouth college of Art & Design, and later London’s Central Saint Martins School of Art, where he studied graphic design.
Drury began his career designing album artwork while he was at Saint Martins, in partnership with fellow student Will Bankhead. The two had met in 1991 and worked on releases for Irdial Discs, before they met James Lavelle and were invited to take over the design work at Mo’ Wax. Drury later recalled working with Will Bankhead at Mo’ Wax:
We collaborated on all our early projects, including sleeves for Attica Blues, Sam Sever, Air and Money Mark. Will using his pioneering darkroom techniques while I focused on logo, layout & type design.
James encouraged us to source new materials, use special printing processes, develop new packaging solutions and to experiment across the range of formats, his mania for novelty and the profuse output of the label made this both an instructive and intense period and some of these sleeves are among my personal favourites.
When Bankhead left to pursue other projects, Drury became the labels Art Director and also took part in MWA (Mo’ Wax Arts) which released projects like two Money Mark figures, a sculpture collaboration with Mark Gonzales, and book from Futura.
In 2000 Drury set up his own studio in his home in South London, working with Gareth Bayliss and Ben Chatfield as his assistants. While he was working with Mo’ Wax, Drury also designed work for All Tomorrow’s Parties, Turin Brakes, and Dizzee Rascal.
Following the closure of Mo’ Wax, Ben Drury continued to work with James Lavelle on his clothing label Surrender and several UNKLE albums. Drury was also involved in the initial design stage of Lavelle’s DUNKLE shoe for Nike, before he was invited to design his own.
In 2006 he created the Ben Drury x Nike Air Max 1 Hold Tight, inspired by the “radio transmission and London’s pirate radio culture”. These were followed in 2009 by two more shoes, Silent Listener and Tongue In Cheek, in partnership with Dizzee Rascal.
Drury’s work with James Lavelle has also included designing the logo for Lavelle’s Urban Archaeology: 21 Years od Mo’ Wax Recordings book, and an identity for Lavelle’s Daydreaming with…James Lavelle exhibition, which included prints by Drury. Some of the prints designed by Drury featured a camouflage pattern which had been used on releases from Mo’ Wax and Mo’Wax Arts. Their design was inspired by the work of Futura, who created similar artwork for Mo’ Wax, and in 2021 they featured on a BAPE x UNKLE/Mo’ Wax “Original Headz” collection of clothing.
Outside of his designs for albums and shoes, Ben Drury has also created branding and patterns for Palace Skateboards, artwork for the ACE Hotel, London, and has had regular collaborations with Cav Empt, a brand founded by SK8THING and Toby Feltwell (who also previously worked for Mo’Wax).
Most recently, Drury has continued his work with Dizzee Rascal, and is credited as Art Director on Dizzee’s 2020 album E3 AF. Also in 2020, both Will Bankhead and Ben Drury contributed artwork to the latest album from Michael Paradinas’ Tusken Raiders alias, Bantha Trax Vol. 3.
External Links
Ben Drury has a portfolio of work on his his website.
He is also on Instagram,
