In 1980 The Face magazine was set up on the princely sum of £7,000 by publisher Nick Logan. Before it finally closed in 2004, the magazine was involved in just about every major youth and style movement – from Ray Petri’s Buffalo Boys style to Corinne Day’s photograph of Kate Moss. The Face revolutionised the magazine industry.

For the first few years, none of the contributors got paid. Robert Elms and his then-girlfriend, the pop singer Sade, were living in a squat in Tottenham when she was invited onto Top of The Pops for the first time. It was winter and the outside toilet was frozen, so the glamourous singer had to pee in a bucket while the limo waited outside to take her to the BBC studios. Her picture adorned a back cover of the magazine as a last minute filler when the adspace hadn’t been sold. Months later she was an internationally renowned star and Grammy award winner.

30 years on, we are making a Radio 4 documentary about its influence and role in changing the visual landscape of Britain; from Sunday newspaper supplements, to television ads, to ordinary high street shop fronts.

Presented by Robert Elms, the show will feature interviews with Nick Logan, art director and typographer Neville Brody, photographers Juergen Teller and Jamie Morgan as well as journalist Kathryn Flett.

The programme will go out on Thursday the 6th of May on BBC Radio 4 and will be produced by Barney Rowntree.