Thursday 25 June 2009

Mehr Show! Mehr Show! Part Two



The Private View at Norwich University College of the Arts is always a buzz. And not only one of the highlights of the summer but the culmination of the work of the graduating students.

We arrived early for the Principal's reception and it was great to catch up with a few old faces. But it was seeing the student's work that we're here for, which was a criticism from one of my colleagues. It was too crowded to see it - and they were right, perhaps in future there should be a few hours set aside for industry to stroll around and see the work unhindered. Much like the set up at D&AD's New Blood private view. I think I've gotten used to the chaos over the years, because it's a delight to see the relief and satisfaction in all the students.



Studio had a great time this year working with the third year of the Graphic Communication course - We wish you all the best for the future - do well. Next stop for twelve of them: D&AD New Blood at Olympia.

Thursday 11 June 2009

Vaughan Oliver and the Making of Minotaur



There are only a few bands that are defined not only through their music, but by their design too. One example of this exclusive gang are the american band Pixies and the graphic designer Vaughan Oliver.

His work, together with photographer Simon Larbalestier was instantly recognisable and stood out in the record racks. In fact Oliver's design practise became a style in its self – decorative typography, sometimes three dimensional, imagery that was surreal, macabre or just odd - take a look for yourself and discover men with hairy backs, eyeballs, breasts and heavenly monkeys.

Oliver is now tasked with doing it all over again, with the new Pixies boxset 'Minotaur' and it's huge. Literally. Vaughan is a lecturer now at the University College of the arts in Epsom and together with a team of selected students, are re-designing the entire Pixies back catalogue. Please take the time to see this film on its making - it's inspiring to see designers working like artists - hands on, getting dirty, using film, drawing - and not a mac in sight.



Minotaur is available from June 13th - more info from www.ainr.com.

Sunday 7 June 2009

Wim Crouwel – What Makes Him Go?



I found out at his recent lecture at the Royal College of Physicians.

Firstly, I have to say what great shape he's in considering that the chap is 81. And quite a gentleman too. The tall, silver haired dutch design legend talked about his hugely influential work while being entertaining and free from ego. Even referring to his famous 'new alphabet' font as being unreadable. I came across it when Saint Peter applied it to the front cover of Joy Division's 'Substance'. And it looked like the future, or how I imagined it might be. What was in the water in the 1960's? As we know, the invention and creativity was incredible which still resonates today.



And despite creating illegible fonts, he was an advocate of readability and functional design. And he loves a grid system, so much so he was nicknamed 'Gridnik'. Inspired by Bauhaus and swiss design, he was buzzing when he discovered the font Akzidenz Grotesk (Helvetica's Big Daddy) telling us that it was unavailable in the Netherlands, so he would cut it out from magazines. On the way, he tipped his hat to Univers and Fruitger, to finally exclaim, "I like the Gill". In a dutch accent.



Working on macs makes the design process so easy for us today. I marvelled at how on earth Wim created his work. Just take a look at his posters for the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, which are a triumph of simplicity of structure, colour and modernist typography. Each of these projects fed directly from an encouraging yet honest relationship with the client, who once remarked, "Gridnik – this is automatic". Wim favoured strong criticism at the conclusion of a project, enabling you to "keep your lessons" for the next job.

Studio had the pleasure of meeting the man afterwards in the Dorchester Library. Introducing ourselves as first generation mac designers, he surprised us again when he told us that he had been designing on macs since 1993. I was cheeky enough to ask whether he would speak at NUCA – but his lectures are rare. But he did have this pearl of wisdom - if a school has good architecture – something good will come out. For sure.

And to answer the question – "System and grids make me GO". What a superb evening.



Secret squirrel photos by Jason Hyde. More info on Wim Crouwel this way.

Tuesday 2 June 2009

Mehr Show! Mehr Show!



Yes, Degree Show season is almost upon us.

Apologies for the poor pic above, shot on my mobile. But I wanted to record work in progress at the Norwich University College of the Arts, where Year 3 Graphic Communication students were getting their graduating shows together. And Studio was helping out, calming nerves and giving direction for hanging their work.



And that big white space is a layout design task in itself, so we firstly positioned work on desks to create that pleasing arrangement, then onto the walls. Bit to the right - bit more. Nice. All the work had to be up and ready for assessment by 6pm, so the room was a buzz with excitement and chin stroking. Plus, special mention for the floor - replaced only last week by order of NUCA's new principal John Last. The room has a white aura now and feels like a proper exhibition space. Cheers John.

Please come and see the Degree shows from Thursday 25th June to Thursday 2nd July 2009. Mehr Show! (Top marks for anyone who spotted the obscure Beatles reference. No? Nevermind). nuca.ac.uk