Lethal brands documentary on Punk icon

The consultancy had just 24 hours to complete the design after being approached by film director Alan Miles in May.

By transposing imagery associated with Strummer on to a guitar, the prop has become the identity and will feature in the film, played by actors and musicians including Billy Bragg, Bruce Springsteen and Robert De Niro.

Lethal director Jesse Boyce says, ’Researching [the documentary], we found that Strummer would often customise his guitar ad hoc with found stickers and protest imagery.’

He adds, ’We had to run to Paddington Station the next day so [Miles] could take the guitar with him to catch a flight from Heathrow and start filming abroad.’

The marque found in the ’o’ of Joe is borrowed from the Strummerville charity brand to give continuity to the Strummer portfolio, according to Boyce. It features a silhouette of Strummer, over a star within concentric circles.

A Tanglewood guitar has been donated to the project by Billy Bragg’s Jail Guitar Doors charity. Lethal was responsible for branding the charity and created the identity of Miles’ last film, Breaking Rocks.

Lethal is now working on transferring the identity to film credits, film posters and other communications.

Musician Tom Morello, who appears in the film, has now commissioned Lethal to create a replica of the Meeting Joe Strummer guitar for his own collection.