Martha Ladly

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Martha Ladly
Martha Ladly 2006
Nationality	Canadian
Occupation	Professor of design
Known for	Academic & Former international popstar

Professor Martha Ladly, AOCA RGD MCSD is a Canadian academic, designer and musician. She is currently an associate professor of design at the Ontario College of Art and Design^[1]. Ladly has also had a long career as a musician and achieved international fame as part of Canadian New Wave band Martha & the Muffins. She then had a solo career in the mid 1980s and then worked in design and education.

1 Musical Career
- 1.1 Solo Discography
2 Academic Career
3 Awards
4 References
5 External Links

[edit] Musical Career

A student at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto, Canada, Ladly was invited to join Canadian New Wave band Martha & the Muffins in 1978. Upon accepting the offer, she became one of two vocalists and keyboard players named Martha in the band. The other Martha was Martha Johnson, who sang lead on the majority of the group's songs, including their biggest hit, 1980's "Echo Beach".

Ladly played with the band from 1978-80, and sang lead vocals on the group's seventh single, "Was Ezo", which she also co-composed. Ladly left the band in August 1980 and relocated to the United Kingdom where she lived with designer Peter Saville.

Ladly established a short-lived solo career in the early 1980s, issuing two singles ("Finlandia" and "Light Years From Love"). She also moved into visual arts and design [2]: her painting Factus 8 was used by Saville for the sleeve of New Order's EP 1981 - Factus 8 - 1982.

During her time in England, while pursuing her twin interests in music and visual art, Ladly became friends with a number of popular British musical acts. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark credits Ladly for suggesting the titles of their 1981 hit album Architecture and Morality, and their 1984 hit single "Tesla Girls". In 1982, Ladly provided backing vocals on Roxy Music's album Avalon, and joined cult Scottish Post-punk act The Associates appearing with them on Top of the Pops. She left The Associates in 1986 and subsequently worked with Robert Palmer's band.

Between 1992 and 2001 she worked with Peter Gabriel as the manager of Real World Design, editor of Real World Notes.

[edit] Solo Discography

1980 Finlandia
1983 Light Years From Love

[edit] Academic Career

She is currently an associate professor of design at the Ontario College of Art and Design, where her specialty is interactive communication. She is a mentor with the Canadian Film Centre's Interactive Project Lab (IPL) and a faculty member with the Habitat Interactive Art and Entertainment Program. Prior to her appointment at OCAD, she was the creative director of HorizonZero; a bilingual internet publication dedicated to creating and showcasing the best in digital art and culture in Canada, in collaboration with the Banff New Media Institute and Culture.ca.^[2]

[edit] Awards

2007: SSHRC: Principal Investigator. ITST Mobile Nation Conference Grant
2007: Canadian Design Research Network: Co-Principal Investigator. Mobile Nation Publications, Workshops and Dissemination Grant
2006: Portage: Co-applicant, Canadian Heritage New Media Research Network
2005-06: The Mobile Digital Commons Network 2: Co-applicant, Canadian Heritage New Media Research Network
1996, 1982: British Designers and Art Directors Association (D&AD): Silver Citation for Best Multimedia Packaging Design for 'EVE. Silver Citation for Best Record Sleeve Design, for New Order ?Everything?s Gone Green?
1994: American Recording Academy: Grammy Award Nomination for Best Record Sleeve Packaging Design, for Peter Gabriel ?Secret World Live?
1981: Canadian Juno Award: for Single of the Year with Martha and the Muffins, for the single "Echo Beach".