Floyd Hughes
Encyclopedia
Floyd Hughes is a Brooklyn
based production designer
, storyboard artist
and comic book
illustrator
. He is also an art
professor at the Pratt Institute
.
to Guyanese
parents. He spent his early years working in London's Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed
fantasy book and comic shop, situated deep in London's SoHo
district, in the late 1970s. Then he had a stint in Forbidden Planets
' first store in London's Denmark Street
in the early 1980s.
and worked in the film and television industry as a storyboard artist, production illustrator and special make-up effects technician on films that include Clive Barker
's Hellraiser
and Hellbound: Hellraiser II
, and Highlander
.
In 1988 he moved to New York City and continued his freelance career working in comics, illustration, film, music videos and as a designer for MTV Animation
's Downtown
and Celebrity Deathmatch
. Hughes illustrated the Marvel Comics
mini-series Hellhound and served as art director on Russell Simmons Presents B.A.D Magazine
, a project funded by Time Warner
under its Mad
brand. Hughes also produced on screen artwork for the movie Antitrust
and pre- production illustrations for the Will Smith
film I Am Legend
. Hughes also did two CD sleeve paintings for the AC/DC
album Ballbreaker
.
In 1990 Hughes collaborated with music journalist Charles Shaar Murray
on Purple Days, a comic strip inspired by the life and times of Jimi Hendrix
. Purple Days appeared in Revolver, a 48-page magazine-sized comic book published in the UK.
In mid 2008, Hughes worked with director Spike Lee
on a Burger King
commercial starring P. Diddy
. His graphic novel adaptation of fine artist Danny Simmons
’ 2003 novel Three Days As the Crow Flies
was published February 2008 by Simon and Schuster.
Hughes is presently an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Pratt Institute
School Of Art and Design in Brooklyn
, New York, and was the recipient of the prestigious "Most Distinguished Teacher Award 2008/2009".
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
based production designer
Production designer
In film and television, a production designer is the person responsible for the overall look of a filmed event such as films, TV programs, music videos or adverts. Production designers have one of the key creative roles in the creation of motion pictures and television. Working directly with the...
, storyboard artist
Storyboard artist
Storyboard artist is a profession specialized in creating storyboards for advertising agencies and film productions.A storyboard artist is able to visualize any stories using quick sketches on paper at any moment...
and comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
. He is also an art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
professor at the Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute is a private art college in New York City located in Brooklyn, New York, with satellite campuses in Manhattan and Utica. Pratt is one of the leading undergraduate art schools in the United States and offers programs in Architecture, Graphic Design, History of Art and Design,...
.
Early life
Floyd Hughes was born in the East End of LondonEast End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
to Guyanese
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
parents. He spent his early years working in London's Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed
Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed (bookshop)
Dark They Were And Golden Eyed in London was the largest science fiction bookshop and comic store in Europe during the 1970s. Specialising in science fiction, occultism, and Atlantis, the central London shop also played a key role in bringing American underground comics to the UK...
fantasy book and comic shop, situated deep in London's SoHo
SoHo
SoHo is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City, notable for being the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, and also, more recently, for the wide variety of stores and shops ranging from trendy boutiques to outlets of upscale national and international chain stores...
district, in the late 1970s. Then he had a stint in Forbidden Planets
Forbidden Planet (bookstore)
Forbidden Planet is the trading name of two separate science fiction, fantasy and horror bookshop chains across the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the United States of America, after the feature film of the same name....
' first store in London's Denmark Street
Denmark Street
Denmark Street is a short narrow road in central London, notable for its connections with British popular music, and is known as the British Tin Pan Alley. The road connects Charing Cross Road at its western end with St Giles High Street at its eastern end. Denmark Street is in the London Borough...
in the early 1980s.
Later career
Hughes began his professional career in 1980 working as an artist/writer in British comics and magazines. Hughes' first professional work was published in a 2000 AD Summer Special and his fanzine work had been in David Hornsby's Apocolypse fanzine published in the UK. In the early 80’s he produced concert stage artwork for The ClashThe Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
and worked in the film and television industry as a storyboard artist, production illustrator and special make-up effects technician on films that include Clive Barker
Clive Barker
Clive Barker is an English author, film director and visual artist best known for his work in both fantasy and horror fiction. Barker came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories which established him as a leading young horror writer...
's Hellraiser
Hellraiser
Hellraiser is a 1987 British and American horror film based upon the novella The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker, who also wrote the screenplay and directed the film. Hellraiser explores themes of sadomasochism and morality under duress and fear. The film spawned a series of sequels...
and Hellbound: Hellraiser II
Hellbound: Hellraiser II
Hellbound: Hellraiser II is a 1988 horror film directed by Tony Randel. It draws heavily upon, and was made by much of the same cast and crew as its precursor, Hellraiser.-Summary:...
, and Highlander
Highlander (film)
Highlander is a 1986 fantasy action film directed by Russell Mulcahy and based on a story by Gregory Widen. It stars Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Clancy Brown, and Roxanne Hart. The film depicts the climax of an ages-old battle between immortal warriors, depicted through interwoven past and...
.
In 1988 he moved to New York City and continued his freelance career working in comics, illustration, film, music videos and as a designer for MTV Animation
MTV Animation
MTV Animation is the animation department of the television network MTV. It was created in the late 1980s were it made several of the animated shorts that aired as bumpers for the network. It is often grouped with its Nickelodeon Animation Studios but they are completely separate departments...
's Downtown
Downtown (TV series)
Downtown was an animated series on MTV on urban life, based on interviews with real people. The show follows a diverse and multiracial cast who live in New York City, and presents their everyday lives through quirky, humorous, and imaginative perspectives from the characters...
and Celebrity Deathmatch
Celebrity Deathmatch
Celebrity Deathmatch is a claymation television show that depicts celebrities against each other in a wrestling ring, almost always ending in the loser's gruesome death. It was known for its excessive amount of blood used in every match and exaggerated physical injuries...
. Hughes illustrated the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
mini-series Hellhound and served as art director on Russell Simmons Presents B.A.D Magazine
Russell Simmons Presents B.A.D Magazine
Russell Simmons Presents B.A.D Magazine was an attempt by Time/Warner to develop an “urban” oriented spin off from its Mad Magazine brand...
, a project funded by Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
under its Mad
Mad (magazine)
Mad is an American humor magazine founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines in 1952. Launched as a comic book before it became a magazine, it was widely imitated and influential, impacting not only satirical media but the entire cultural landscape of the 20th century.The last...
brand. Hughes also produced on screen artwork for the movie Antitrust
Antitrust (film)
Antitrust is a 2001 thriller film written by Howard Franklin and directed by Peter Howitt....
and pre- production illustrations for the Will Smith
Will Smith
Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
film I Am Legend
I Am Legend (film)
I Am Legend is a 2007 post-apocalyptic science fiction film directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Will Smith. It is the third feature film adaptation of Richard Matheson's 1954 novel of the same name, following 1964's The Last Man on Earth and 1971's The Omega Man. Smith plays virologist Robert...
. Hughes also did two CD sleeve paintings for the AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
album Ballbreaker
Ballbreaker
Ballbreaker is the 13th Australian and 12th international studio album by the Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released in September 1995. It was the band's first studio album in five years, since The Razors Edge...
.
In 1990 Hughes collaborated with music journalist Charles Shaar Murray
Charles Shaar Murray
Charles Shaar Murray is an English music journalist. His first experience in journalism came 1970 when he was asked to contribute to the satirical magazine Oz...
on Purple Days, a comic strip inspired by the life and times of Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
. Purple Days appeared in Revolver, a 48-page magazine-sized comic book published in the UK.
In mid 2008, Hughes worked with director Spike Lee
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....
on a Burger King
Burger King
Burger King, often abbreviated as BK, is a global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The company began in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida-based restaurant chain...
commercial starring P. Diddy
Sean Combs
Sean John Combs , also known by his stage names Diddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He has won three Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards, and his clothing line earned a Council of Fashion Designers of America award. He was originally...
. His graphic novel adaptation of fine artist Danny Simmons
Danny Simmons
Daniel " Simmons, Jr. is an abstract expressionist painter. Older brother of hip-hop impressario Russell Simmons and rapper Joseph Simmons , he is the co-founder and Chairman of Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation which provides disadvantaged urban youth with arts access and education...
’ 2003 novel Three Days As the Crow Flies
Three Days As the Crow Flies
Three Days As The Crow Flies is a novel by art impresario Danny Simmons. A "slice-of-life", all of the events of the book unfold within a three day period. Published in 2004, Three Days As The Crow Flies gives the reader a glimpse of the 1980s art scene in downtown Manhattan.- Plot :The book opens...
was published February 2008 by Simon and Schuster.
Hughes is presently an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute is a private art college in New York City located in Brooklyn, New York, with satellite campuses in Manhattan and Utica. Pratt is one of the leading undergraduate art schools in the United States and offers programs in Architecture, Graphic Design, History of Art and Design,...
School Of Art and Design in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York, and was the recipient of the prestigious "Most Distinguished Teacher Award 2008/2009".