Background

Grant Louden was born in rural Aka Aka, New Zealand in 1964. Interests on the farm tended more towards the mechanical than agricultural, and school holidays were usually spent drawing trucks or 'transforming' Matchbox toys. Long hours at the work bench building models also introduced Grant to late night radio, and John Peel, and alternative music.
The film 'Alien' introduced him to the work of Chris Foss and HR Giger, and to movie model making. This naturally led to building sci-fi models of his own design, utilising anything that came to hand – plastic card, kit parts, crab shells, even turkey and cow bones.

Grant graduated from Waiuku College and completed a two year graphic design course in Auckland. His first job was at Aldus Creative Enterprises, in offices overlooking beautiful Mission Bay. Two particularly diverse interests were The Stranglers and Martin Bower – the 'Alien' chief model maker. In 1986 Grant took a two-year working holiday to the UK – officially to visit friends, unofficially with the faint hope of meeting either the band or Bower.
A year or so later he was introduced to the Stranglers' album designer, and was soon working with his heroes. Two years became twenty, and eventually residency in the UK.

During his first ten years in London Grant worked for many of the major record labels, with the likes of Squeeze, U2, Soundgarden and Jimmy Page, to Nana Mouskouri and James Last! The second ten were spent variously in design studios and freelance commercial art.
His own ideas still simmered away on the sidelines. Pictured above are a Submarine Fish Tank design, and the MOO TV, a minor sensation in London in 1994, earning a runner-up place in Home Entertainment magazine's 'Product of the Year' awards.

He met his wife Niamh ('Neeve') in Dublin in 1988, and they finally married in Conwy, Wales in 2003.
They share their home studio in Milton Keynes with their two cats; Pooky, 18, and Gibby, 17.

"Art is freedom"
Karl Pilkington



pixar \| killing joke \| stanley kubrick \| charles darwin \| steve albini \| syd mead \| matt groening \| ministry \| hg wells \| hr giger \| gran tourismo \| gary larson \| seasick steve \| the cohen brothers \| the farrely brothers \| the marx brothers \| apple computer \| wire (the band) \| niamh louden \| alien \| eraserhead \| heath robinson \| chris foss \| jg ballard \| jack lemmon \| barry lyndon \| sci-fi \| hi-fi \| david lynch \| david brent \| space: 1999 \| 2001: a space odyssey \| the pixies \| hunt emerson \| spaced \| bryce 3D \| beavis and butthead \| the young gods \| the screaming blue messiahs \| the jesus and mary chain \| grand theft auto \| monty python \| ian banks \| martin bower \| gerald wingrove \| richard dawkins \| formula 1 \| (terry gilliam’s) brazil \| peewee herman \| simon pegg \| michael moore \| pj o’rourke \| red dwarf \| white stripes \| blues \| killdozer Series of sculptured TV sets Fantasy F1 concepts		fortean times \| the killer b’s \| captain beefheart \| tim burton \| bladerunner \| tullamore dew \| thunderbirds \| nirvana \| dr strangelove \| dr evil \| dr zoidberg \| dr smith - “the pain” \| family guy \| clangers \| cinefex magazine \| big black \| the shining \| lloyd christmas \| lloyd bridges \| butthole surfers \| the revolting cocks \| gene hackman \| derek and clive \| hank hill \| john lydon \| john entwistle \| john peel \| the beastie boys \| the beagle boys \| homer simpson \| bender the robot \| robot - “danger will robinson!” \| nine inch nails \| the incredible hulk \| pete townshend \| peter sellers \| supergrass \| leonardo da vinci \| mark pauline \| full metal jacket \| bill hicks \| alan partridge \| kieth moon \| kevin spacey \| star wars \| life of brian \| star wars \| eddie izzard \| the final corner of the final lap of the final race of the 2008 formula one season Designs for a funky fish tank Early spaceship models crafted from bone

	Grant Louden was born in rural Aka Aka, New Zealand in 1964. Interests on the farm tended more towards the mechanical than agricultural, and school holidays were usually spent drawing trucks or 'transforming' Matchbox toys. Long hours at the work bench building models also introduced Grant to late night radio, and John Peel, and alternative music. The film 'Alien' introduced him to the work of Chris Foss and HR Giger, and to movie model making. This naturally led to building sci-fi models of his own design, utilising anything that came to hand – plastic card, kit parts, crab shells, even turkey and cow bones. Grant graduated from Waiuku College and completed a two year graphic design course in Auckland. His first job was at Aldus Creative Enterprises, in offices overlooking beautiful Mission Bay. Two particularly diverse interests were The Stranglers and Martin Bower – the 'Alien' chief model maker. In 1986 Grant took a two-year working holiday to the UK – officially to visit friends, unofficially with the faint hope of meeting either the band or Bower. A year or so later he was introduced to the Stranglers' album designer, and was soon working with his heroes. Two years became twenty, and eventually residency in the UK. During his first ten years in London Grant worked for many of the major record labels, with the likes of Squeeze, U2, Soundgarden and Jimmy Page, to Nana Mouskouri and James Last! The second ten were spent variously in design studios and freelance commercial art. His own ideas still simmered away on the sidelines. Pictured above are a Submarine Fish Tank design, and the MOO TV, a minor sensation in London in 1994, earning a runner-up place in Home Entertainment magazine's 'Product of the Year' awards. He met his wife Niamh ('Neeve') in Dublin in 1988, and they finally married in Conwy, Wales in 2003. They share their home studio in Milton Keynes with their two cats; Pooky, 18, and Gibby, 17. "Art is freedom" Karl Pilkington