Saville & Deadlines

Because of his concerns to get a job done right, Peter Saville and business have long had an uneasy relationship. "There's no notion in any industry that they will wait for graphic design. They will not wait. They'll spend longer negotiating your work-for-hire contract than giving you to do the job!" he says with rising incredulity. "It's just the finishing, but it's in the finishing that you make it or break it."

Does he think that his deadlines are unrealistic? "They are if you want something resolved or of any quality," he says. "My problem comes when it's my work. I become territorial, and self-indulgent and maybe arrogant. If it takes till next Friday, it's gonna take till next Friday. You know, I had this mistaken understanding of professional when I was younger that it meant being really good." He laughs in cynical astonishment. "But it's actually about doing what has to be done within the circumstances within which you are allowed to do it."