Joseph Melhuish, radio show artwork

The creatives making and illustrating their own radio shows

Jiro Bevis and Joseph Melhuish discuss how they landed their own radio shows, and what it takes to make the brilliant imagery that accompanies them

Like many of those who listen to London-based independent radio station NTS, I’m a big fan of Italo. That’s how I discovered Radio Jiro, the show helmed by illustrator and graphic designer Jiro Bevis; and how I realised the depth of his nerdery when it came to emulating the frequently gaudy, trashy brilliance of the original designs for one of the gaudiest, trashiest genres out there.

It’s easy to miss when just scrolling through the show thumbnails on the NTS site, but it turns out these wee images are often expertly precise homages to certain records and posters from lesser-known musical histories. “The designs are often references to music related graphics such as record labels (mainly Italo Disco ones),” Bevis explains. “When the shows are themed I try and relate the image to the music. It’s usually just a nice excuse to make some random bit of design and play around with the typefaces I’ve discovered.”

Jiro Bevis NTS designs
Top: artwork by Joseph Melhuish; Above: Jiro Bevis NTS designs