1975 Capitol Records Inc.
WELCOME
By Jayne HudsonEULOGY
Delivered by Paddy Considine
MUSIC TO REFLECT BY
Best Days by Andy Mort, performed live, accompanied by Ted, Wilf and Lachlan Spivey
READING
From the Gospel according to Luke
Read by Ted Spivey
COMMITTAL
by Jayne Hudson
MUSIC ON COMMITTAL
Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band Live at the Giants Stadium, New Jersey, August 22, 1985
EXIT TO AFTER(LIFE) PARTY
Guy’s Cliffe Centre, from 3pm Coventry Road, CV34 5YD (opposite Hinton’s Garden Centre)
This was a tough brief. So, I put my A-Team on it!
Big thanks to Leigh Dunks, Malcolm Moore, Kimberley Spivey, Paul Smith, Mark Daniels, Laura Rainbow, John Emmerson and Jeremy Eaton. I knew they’d deliver. X
From the age of 15 Craig, wanted to be a graphic designer. Despite taking sciences for his O-Levels, he channelled his passion for art into things like the Scouts – chasing badges for anything creative like decorating woggles (while others went for hiking/knotting). This formed a big chunk of his portfolio for his B-Tec in Graphic Design at North Lindsey College of Technology.
At North Lindsey he was consistently top of the class and was lucky enough to secure a prestigious workexperience slot at Teasdale Graphic Advertising agency run by ex Ogilvy Creative Director, Geoff Teasdale. After leaving college he was accepted on the Graphic Design degree course in Coventry and after 3 years there, he graduated with a 2:1.
Leamington was Craig’s home for most of his adult life. So naturally he provided splashes of creative brilliance throughout Warwickshire.
Following his TGA experience, Craig was keen to connect with a real life client and to this end he worked alongside the Coventry Tourism & Conference Desk. This was the right call, as one of that team passed his CV to Tim Holmes who would become his first boss. This was at an established agency in Coventry called Parenthesis where he worked for a decade, meeting many talented people who he would work with again and again over the coming years.
In 2003 Craig shook things up career wise, joining Nicola Kleinmann to help get her new recruitment company (Big Fish) off the ground. He found connecting with candidates and clients really good fun, interaction with agencies and people he admired. Ultimately though he was lured back to agency life with a position of Executive Creative Director at Vital Marketing Limited where he worked on some amazing projects for 13 years.
In 2016, Craig struck out on his own as an independent freelancer.
1. At University of Warwick delivering a 10-week program in creative media management course
2. Acted as industry advisor on the HND in Visual Communications at Warwickshire College for 3 years
3. Regular judge on the B-Hive design competition
4. 2012 Leamington Looks Back history festival. Worked with Tony Benn
5. 2013 Backspace – award-winning computer games festival
6. Warwick District Council
7. TEDxLeamingtonSpa
8. Right up Craig & Johnathan’s Street Podcast
9. Star on Leam Walk of Fame
10. BID Leamington – Channel 4 BID and Covid Secure Warwickshire
11. Leamington Business Awards Finalist 2018
Temperance
I’ve known many designers over my career and what makes your work stand out from the crowd is your ability to communicate feelings. Most designers can put together something that looks nice. Adding decoration to words, like wrapping a gift with cheap off-the-self wrapping paper.
You my friend however were anything but off-the-shelf. You communicated through your own uniquely observed feelings. Rich powerful feelings that reflect your creative and artistic view of life in a honest way. Beautifully crafted feelings that moved people with wit and authenticity.
You see the reality is for design to be effective it has to affect how people feel. And that’s what you did through your choice of fonts, colours, words and images. You made people feel something. You affected how they saw the world. You gave them a better lens through which to see things.
That’s a very special gift and it takes a special person to not only tap into their feelings but have the skill to communicate them. It makes the world a better place. And you did it beautifully.
Richard Gillingwater Brand Psychologist Emotional BrandingSee more of Craig’s Portfolio here:
Most people who know Craig know his passion for collecting Star Wars memorabilia. But the truth is that there is so much more. Craig’s joyful enthusiasm for his hobby has motivated and immersed him into a wonderful journey of fun, excitement, creativity and inspiration.
Utilising his probing mind, Craig has merged his passion with his artistic talent to bring a unique perspective to the Star Wars hobby. He has used his knowledge and skills and worked tirelessly to discover and elevate elements of Star Wars art, culture and history to the surface, much of which was lost to history. This was all achieved through countless adventures, voyages of discovery and being inquisitive enough to ask the questions that no one else thought of. We have all benefited from Craig’s ability to show the importance in the dismissed, the perfection in imperfection and to celebrate the forgotten. To take that extra moment to reflect and be grateful for the treasures and moments we enjoy and sometimes take for granted.
Craig’s unique interpretations of Star Wars has inspired a fandom that wraps around the galaxy. He has opened us to consider the choices and influences so we can have a deeper understanding of the artistry and what it teaches us, allowing us to appreciate the wonders of our hobby more. Craig’s philosophy is one of optimism and celebration that has elevated our own journeys of fandom. We have all benefited from this and Craig’s work has also ensured that this can be continued for generations to come.
Uniquely, through all the projects, research, inspiration, and knowledge that Craig has contributed, the most important has been Craig’s ability to bring people together. Craig has been a steadfast rallying flag of positivity. A force of nature that has brought fans together from all different backgrounds. His passion and genuine personality have drawn us together to share and celebrate. A legacy of enriching lives with friendships and memories that will last forever.
Grant Criddle
1 Craig in Situ
If you type Craig’s name into Google, you get a lot of Star Wars and a lot of rare and interesting vintage Star Wars collectables as a result. Usually accompanied by Craig’s happy face, either surrounded by masses of Holy Grail items or hugging Luke Skywalker actor Mark Hamill. Many collectors have met Craig first just by searching for Star Wars on the internet.
6 Helix released
The 40th Anniversary Helix stationery was released in 2017 and was a big success with the fans. Everyone wanted the limited-edition Ben Kenobi and Princess Leia pencil case. Fans could plug gaps in their collections. Craig would promote the new products at major conventions, social media and organised opportunities for collectors to get personalised pieces.
7 tourism in ireland
Dressed in robes with beard, Craig was a finalist in the Star Wars Celebration cosplay competition as Luke Skywalker. So successful was Craig’s cosplay that Tourism Ireland hired him to don his Jedi robes with a lightsaber to promote the locations featured in the films. This was the opportunity for Craig to play one of his heroes and get paid for it. Or as Craig called himself, “professional Luke Skywalker”.
2 Press: Birmingham mail
When media in the Midlands required a “superfan” perspective they’d call on Craig, especially during the releases of new Star Wars films. They interviewed him in December 2015 where he highlighted some choice items for his collection. For the next movie, Craig had upgraded to the BBC website and then again on the radio in 2022, reflecting the fandom positively with his charisma and enthusiasm.
5 Product consultant
Craig initially met with the entire Helix team to show them the Star Wars Celebration presentation. Using his skills of persuasion, he built a case for an opportunity for a relaunch of the brand for 40th Anniversary. Helix agreed and Craig was onboarded as a Product Consultant for his dream project.
3 CElebration EuroPE
Craig met with his Star Wars brothers Mark and Grant in 2016 with a proposal to take the stage on the Collecting Track for the Lucasfilm convention, Star Wars Celebration. It was an opportunity to express his enthusiasm and knowledge and celebrate things like the rare Helix Stationary. Craig’s proposal was accepted and he took the stage for the first time.
8 Gallery in the galaxy exhibition
Fandom is the driving force for the success of Star Wars. It’s the continual output of passion projects that have ensured the enduring success. In 2016 he was asked by Nuneaton Museum & Art Gallery to showcase his collection. Never self-centred, Craig made it about the items and experience, even providing stationery for children to enjoy in the museum. A reflection of a kind heart that always considered others.
4 TWEET To helix
Helix is a stationery company and Craig was a fan of their design and naïve artwork, created as a rapid response to the success of Star Wars, and would investigate the licence like an archaeologist. After the success of the Collecting Track panel, Helix tweeted “maths sets have been used by many generations & remembered fondly”. Craig, replied “None more fondly than this one” with an image of his 1978 Star Wars version.
9 A STAR wars journey
Craig was an ambassador who gave a voice to the rest of us, embodying the message of hope an optimism reflected in the moral philosophy of the Star Wars story. He reflected excitement, creativity and joy that Star Wars gave him back into the world. His personality of compassion and humility was a magnet to all those who were inspired to go on the Star Wars journey with him.
Craig and I met when we were seventeen. He was from a village not far from town where brothers and sisters married each other, but he had a nice face and good hands. Together with a witty mutual friend, Sean, we formed a band called The Dead Goods. I played bass and Craig tried hard to play rhythm guitar. His Roland amp sounded like an icy wind swirling around a rocky mountain top. Sitting in my bedroom he would jangle his way through songs, amp cranked up to 0.5, his fingertips springing around on the strings just the way he did when he walked into a room. He would stick out his tongue as he played so as to lap up the vibrations in the air, or so it seemed. Dizzy and eager to play with his mates, he would start out trying to remain calm but gradually begin to sprint ahead of the beat.
The Dead Goods of 1989 became The Joyriders of 1990. Craig had the right haircut and an impeccable sense of style which surpassed musical ability. Not long after we formed, he heard from a source he was only in the band because he had a car, (having a car made it useful to get gear to rehearsals). This led to an acrimonious departure. He’d got it wrong though, it wasn’t his car, the real reason we wanted him out of the band was because he made an uncharacteristic sartorial mistake and insisted on wearing cycling shorts. Despite all this, Craig was always cooler than all of us.
He was always able to express himself completely and freely in everything he did, and he did many things, including wearing ace clothes. He was a unique, beautiful, and inspiring person and, luckily for me, he was my friend.
Richard Chester
Craig’s musical career continued beyond those early days and he was to feature in three others over the next 20 years – Letrasex, The Gladeye and Vital house band AppleZeds. More recently creating and designing the identity and album covers for Riding The Low.
Craig’s common language with the children was always music so he’s put together a playlist of 200 songs from his lifetime in the hope that something might chime with them. You are welcome to listen in…
Letrasex
Where the combination of good haircuts and musical ability failed Craig, it succeeded with his and Rachel’s ‘boys’, Ted, Wilf and Lachlan
Ted played his first gig at the legendary Rainbow, Digbeth in 2016, aged 16, and has remained actively involved in grassroots music creation, production and promotion in Birmingham ever since.
In 2022, he graduated from Birmingham City University with a BSc Degree in Music Technology and he notched up over 80 live performances as a member of Violet and Genevieve Miles’s live band. With his new band Gingham, Ted’s music career is entering its third stage at the age of 23.
Since starting on the Performance Arts course at Confetti, Nottingham, Wilf has had the pick of musicians to develop his unique sound under the moniker Wilf Spiv
The debut Wilf Spiv show at Jam Café in Nottingham sold out. Add ‘Might As Well Lie’ to your Spotify playlist now!
Not to be left behind, Lachlan can be found at several open mic nights and noodling on the guitar which he is teaching himself.
Watch this space.
Check Gingham out here:
Check Wilf Spiv out here:
An excerpt of Craig’s letter to Kimberley – 2nd February 2024
It seems odd creating a formal ‘thank you’. How do you thank someone who’s done so much, without sounding trite or insincere? Like it’s written for a book, hollow and artificial. I’ve never seen anyone give so much of themselves as Kimberley, not just when I got ill but long before.
We set out to have an amazing journey with incredible adventures, and that’s been cut short by this stupid disease. When it was clear it wasn’t going to unfold as we wanted it was frustrating, but we were determined to have those adventures and the few people we let in the inner circle would help make sure of that.
We took the decision to continue with TEDx in 2019, without any clue which way things would go, it was the right decision. I’m so proud of the work and it was a special time for us delivering that event. For us, it’s both tangible and emotional.
Then, without warning, it all stopped. Covid. Having a major liver operation at the height of a pandemic was not an inviting prospect, and the fear of being in the vulnerable sector of society was real. During lockdown the pressure was terrifying, and Kimberley had to deal with it all.
Every time Kimberley went to the supermarket it felt like a gamble. The numbers were scary, not statistics I wished to be a part of.
We decided early on, not to become ‘that Facebook cancer guy’. Don’t get me wrong, there were nights I wanted to tell everyone about it, and maybe to receive a thousand hearts or thumbs up might have given me great solace, but I didn’t want to be that guy. So just Kimberley and I, and a few chosen individuals knew what was going on. It begs the question why? The answer is that I believed in us – our strength as a team. But I know it came at a cost, and I know I denied you some of the support you probably needed then, and I’m sorry for that. It’s ironic that someone so gifted at communication was denied the opportunity to share our story, you respected my position, and I’m so grateful that you stuck to it, right to my final days. I want you to know that there was real thought behind this, mechanics to the decisions that were made not to go public.
A lot of it came from a place of hope, after all – ‘rebellions are built on hope’.
At one point it looked like it was going to be all clear. Having survived 10 months of the disease it fell into the background for a short while, and it looked like the adventures were back on.
But they weren’t, and cruelly, the rug was pulled from under us. We got the news that it had gone full systemic. We carried on, both crestfallen.
Following more tests, there was a short window, before the results, where I’d have just two weeks
– to propose! I had to do it before the results or else Kimberley would be put in a position where she was ‘pity’ marrying me. First thing I did was to spend time finding a suitable 70’s gold band. I proposed on the side of the River Leam, at Cecil’s favourite spot, where he stopped to have a drink. I was utterly delighted when you said yes. I don’t think you accepted with any pity; but she did ask why I would want to marry her!
That’s another thing about Kimberley, she’s so honest. I think her insecurities made her keep asking why, but I knew her path resonated with mine, although she couldn’t always see it.
Who we are is part of our being creative, it’s an expression of us both, and the reason it works.
Why we work. We can’t always explain it. It’s the same as trying to understand why a duck floats and why it can fly – it just works.
I know Kimberley, you’ll find a way to beat yourself up over things you couldn’t control, but I also hope you’ll find ways to cope. I know you will. I hope you’ll reach out to the people you need to and not hide behind ‘I’m fine’, and I hope you’ll find the right people at the right time. In case I haven’t managed to say it here, thank you.
Thank you for everything. You are such an incredible and special person and I love you so much.
Craig xx
DOWN 1. Former friend of Mr Flowers
15. Scunthorpe Rock Open heat runners up (band)
17. What time will you get here?
18. Sooty’s panda pal 19. Irish Dad
20. _ Axholme (school) and _ Lindsey (College)
21. Street greeting 22. Home bollockphoning with legs
23. To drink beer
24. ‘Half Past Whitehall’ was Craig’s first
Mini kip
Common big cat moniker
What collectors call action figures in worn condition
Sex Pistol’s lazy one
Spaghetti-faced Doctor Who alien
Craig fought for them in the smartphone wars
Obi-Wan’s name in hiding
39. Coventry design agency where Craig worked Valve to control the release of beer Designer’s computer of choice, went mainstream in the early 2000s
47. Where spice comes from on Kessel
49. Football club where Craig stood in as interim Creative Director
Not out
Racing or casting
Skywalker, X, or terrorists
Stated
“Computer says _”
A centre where Craig worked at 17
Captain Kirk’s diary
“Cover _” a hit for The Boss in ‘84
What today’s celebration should be filled with
A river in North Yorkshire
A freelance worker
What Craig said if a friend asked him to do a creative project A favourite social platform
Mid-century future family
What the Grange Hill kids said to drugs
Tattooed on Craig’s leg Cecil and Flossie
I see you baby, shaking it. _ me, _ you Short for Elizabeth or Bethany
First house (named after the craftmanship of the plastering)
Birth month Jedi Master Small Lincolnshire town where Craig grew up The best toyshop in Warwick
A breed of small dogs favoured by Craig Craig’s dead best friend, Lachlan’s middle name
Leamington Looks Back at the games industry Is there cash in there?
What freak was a hit for Chic in 1978?
What an eye does Fifth studio album of Peter Gabriel Expressing motion in the direction of a
36. A verbal shrug of the shoulders
37. Johann Sebastian
38. ‘_ Wars’
40. Green Day sang about an American _
43. Short for operation
44. Too long for a single, too short for an album
46. Bishop Brennan’s name
48. A mess of berries, meringue, and cream
49. Champions of _ where Craig took his dressing up to new heights in Florida
50. Soup server
51. Initially Radio 1’s first female DJ
55. For Craig, this Disney Star Wars film was the one
56. First Bond movie ‘Dr. _’
58. Synthetic Smart
59. _ Attack, 90’s show with Neil Buchanan
61. Government ruling the Star Wars Galaxy
63. Craig & Johnathan were right up this
64. Leia’s sibling
66. Not a standing ovation
70. One of Kimberley’s and Craig’s favourite
When I was first diagnosed with cancer in September 2019, I had a choice: to not let the disease define me or to be just another internet cancer guy.
I chose the former – just a guy that happened to have a disease. Here are some of the things I’ve spared you from... too much poo, not enough poo, gory operation photos, late night anxiety posts and every latest scan result.
People talk about how cancer is a battle. Some days it’s just a battlefield. The truth is, there’s a lot of sitting and passively letting things happen.
After my initial treatment and operation by Henry Ferguson, I was assigned the incredible Peter Corea as the general in my cancer battle along with the team at Sciensus including Jas, Kate, Phil, Libby and Nat to name five of the team there.
I’d also like to publicly thank my liver surgeons, the dashing Saddique Khan and Mr. Lamb.
I wouldn’t have lasted so long without the additional care and diligence of:
• Sciensus
• Nuffield Health Warwick
• Clinical Psychologist, Dr. James Parker
• Community Palliative Care team who provided physio, pain relief, nutritional advice and home equipment.
As I sit here contemplating my final days, it’s hard not to be in awe of the delicate yet methodical approach of Myton Hospice where I feel I have been supported every step of the way.
Craig xxPlease scan the QR code to donate to Cancer Research UK.
Thank you.
Please scan the QR code to donate via the Just Giving Page.
Thank you.
What a wonderful
Described by Craig as “the most enigmatic and romantic ruin that I know of” during a podcast recording in December 2021; Guy’s Cliffe tapped into “layers of iconography” from his childhood, and he joked how it was like “something from an Usborne children’s book of ghosts from the 70s”
Sitting at The Saxon Mill, with Guy’s Cliffe providing an impressive backdrop, Craig compared the wintery scene to a pre-Raphaelite painting, where “you could imagine Ophelia floating past” on the gentle flow of the river, through the reeds on the mill pond...
Nestled along the banks of the River Avon, Guy’s Cliffe is an enchanting estate, which boasts historic ruins, a medieval chapel, and Victorian mansion
Its rich history dates from Saxon times and is associated with Guy of Warwick, a legendary English hero of Romance popular in England and France from the 13th to 17th centuries.
Set amidst picturesque grounds, it has been a residence for nobility and a place of worship. The centrepiece is a ruined manor house with origins in the 18th century, which accommodated a hospital during the first World War, a school during the second World War, and a filming location for the ‘The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’ in the early 1980s, which resulted in fire that further damaged the already neglected site. Now owned by the Masonic Lodge, they are supported in restoration efforts by Friends of Guy’s Cliffe
Guy’s Cliffe captured Craig’s heart and imagination, and it’s a fitting place to raise a glass at his After(life) Party.
Listen to Craig and Johnathan’s Podcast here:
