Hapshash and the Coloured Coat

Poster for Pink Floyd at the CIA-UFO club, July 28, 1967, by Hapshash and the Coloured Coat.

Hapshash and the Coloured Coat were a British graphics team in the 1960s, consisting of Michael English and Nigel Waymouth, that produced psychedelic posters.

They designed usually brightly coloured images with a strong art nouveau influence from Alfons Mucha of swirling lines and curving shapes. Posters were used to promote appearances by major bands of the time such as the Pink Floyd and The Incredible String Band, as well as singers such as Julie Felix, mainly for the UK underground UFO Club.

English and Waymouth met in late 1966. Waymouth had just opened London's first psychedelic boutique, Granny Takes a Trip, in the Kings Road, Chelsea. They worked together initially and very briefly under the name Cosmic Visions (producing only one poster) and then Jacob and the Coloured Coat (producing two posters), before settling on Hapshash and the Coloured Coat. Their posters were printed and distributed by Osiris Visions, a division of the underground press publication International Times. The duo also provided illustrations and posters for several editions of the London Oz.

They also released an album, titled Hapshash and the Coloured Coat Featuring the Human Host and the Heavy Metal Kids in 1967, and a second one, Western Flier, in 1969. By this time English had left, and Waymouth strangely is mentioned in the liner notes as having decided to "record" the album, but not listed as one of the musicians.

A. Mucha