Although Gilmore began working as an artist during the 1970s, his career did not take off until the 1980s, when he began actively working with various Canadian bands. Gilmore met Kevin Crompton (aka
CEvin Key) of
Skinny Puppy at a nightclub in 1982, and the two became friends with Gilmore subsequently designing artwork for a number of Key's projects. Crompton approached Gilmore to design the sleeve for the first Skinny Puppy release on Nettwerk Records which led to an ongoing relationship with the label. In the course of designing for Skinny Puppy, Gilmore developed several custom typefaces for the task. According to the sprawling history of Canadian popular music
Have Not Been the Same, "Steven R. Gilmore was enlisted as the resident artist to design a distinct look for the label’s promotional material and album covers. Shaping the look of the label would remain crucial throughout Nettwerk’s history…" Gilmore also created the soundtrack artwork and related promotional materials for films such as
The Dark Knight,
300,
Watchmen and
The Lord of the Rings. As both a DJ and artist, Gilmore helped shape the aesthetics of
industrial music, according to S. Alexander Reed's book
Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music. ==References==