THE man behind some of Britpop’s most iconic album artwork has opened a shop in the centre of Kendal.

Brian Cannon, 53, was responsible for the designs on famous records like Oasis’ ‘Definitely Maybe’ (1994) and The Verve’s ‘Urban Hymns’ (1997).

And Mr Cannon, who has run pop-up shops and exhibitions for the last few years, has decided to station himself permanently along New Shambles, Kendal, with partner Jill Hodgson.

“We just thought, you know, let’s give it a go because we have always done well so far,” he said.

“Some people might say it’s a weird place to do it - why haven’t you done it in Manchester?

“I live locally [Plumgarths] and, because of its proximity to the Lake District, you get a lot of through traffic anyway.”

Music lovers will find a variety of items on-sale at ‘The Microdot Boutique’, including promotional posters from the 1990s.

“This was pre-internet. The only way you could let people know a record was coming out was to put posters up in the street,” said Mr Cannon, adding that such items were particularly rare because, by virtue of their being out in the street, a lot of them were ruined or destroyed.

He first met Noel Gallagher in Manchester, when the guitarist was working as a roadie for rock band Inspiral Carpets.

As well as going on to design artwork for singles and albums released by the band in the 1990s, Mr Cannon was responsible for coming up with the iconic ‘Oasis’ lettering, which he said was inspired by the ‘Decca Records’ logo seen on the front of many classic albums. An early version of the ‘Oasis’ design, which used “adidas-type” font, had to be abandoned because it looked too much like ‘Oosis’ from a distance.

A number of Mr Cannon’s designs even featured his own parents, such as the cover for ‘The Masterplan’, while he himself appears on the ‘(What’s the story) Morning Glory?’ album art.

“It was just a wonderful, incredible era to be involved with. It changed my life and it continues to do so,” added Mr Cannon.

However, despite his rock ‘n’ roll connections, he thoroughly enjoys his life in South Lakeland - where he was brought by partner and Kendalian Jill.

“If I won the lottery I’d just buy a bigger house in the Lakes!” he said.