Category: events

Simplicity at the London Design Festival

Simple is smart

Alison Black, Professor of User-centred Design, shared a platform with leading designers and creative thinkers at the 2012 London Design Festival, explaining the importance of simplicity when developing products and services. Charing the event, which took place at the V&A Museum, was Philip Davies of Siegel+Gale. Other panel members were Merlin Crossingham, creative director of Wallace and Gromit at Aardman Animations; Stephen Fear, British Library entrepreneur-in-residence; and Charlie Allen, bespoke London tailor.

The panel shared their perspectives on the fundamental significance of implementing simplicity to connect to the modern consumer. They also provided their views on a wide range of topics, including how to embrace simplicity while avoiding the simplistic. Another interesting discussion centered around the idea that people have different perceptions and interpretations of simplicity.

“Brands that provide simpler interactions and experiences are winning the battle to stand out in the competitive marketplace,” said Philip Davies. “Simplicity is a powerful tool that helps brands get into consumers’ heads faster, and stay there for longer. As the UK continues to struggle in economic uncertainty, those brands that offer experiences that are clear, direct and easily communicated will generate strong customer loyalty and forge ahead.”

The lively debate played out on Twitter. Highlights from both #SimplicityTalks and the live event will be curated, together with opinions, images and ideas from select influencers who are renowned for simplicity in their fields, to create a book that will showcase the profound impact of simplicity.

Typecon Education Forum slides online

Opening the Education Forum in Typecon Milwaukee, Gerry offered a model for design education focused on typographically-rich environments on tablets, mostly. He talked about teaching the combination of paragraph-level typographic skills, information architecture, and interaction design required for designing complex documents like newspapers on small tablet screens. The slides (without commentary) are on SpeakerDeck.

The problem of black ephemera

Should offensive images be consigned to history? On Wednesday 4 July, we host a unique conference that will examine how black people have been visually portrayed in printed material from the 1800s to the 21st century, organised by the Centre for Ephemera Studies and Hackney councillor and cultural historian Patrick Vernon.

An accompanying display of everyday printed items, including packaging, advertising, postcards, and sheet music, will offer insights into the ways in which black people of African descent have been depicted over the years, typically through stereotypes that we now recognise as offensive. Delegates will hear from historians of black culture and design, curators and collectors of ephemera.

Professor Michael Twyman, Director of the University’s Centre for Ephemera Studies said: “Facial, bodily, and behavioural stereotyping was so deeply embedded when artists depicted black people that even those with no particular racial agenda fell into the trap. But others wilfully played on such stereotypical traits for the purpose of advertising, humour, or in order to make political or social points. This conference will ask if we should sweep such images under the carpet as too obnoxious for viewing, or whether there is value in reminding ourselves of the dangers of any persistent kind of graphic stereotyping.

“Some themes, particularly ones contrasting black and white or clean and dirty, were endemic in advertising. The study day will reflect the many ways and numerous situations in which stereotypes of black people have been disseminated from the days of slavery through to recent times.”

Patrick Vernon said: “Black ephemera provides the opportunity for people of African descent to reclaim and revisit this period in the life of black communities after slavery, but before the civil rights movement and the struggle for independence in Africa and the Caribbean. When one looks at a range of black ephemera from postcards, trade cards/advertising, photographs and newspapers, most of these images tend to be racist and stereotypical. Tens of thousands of these negative images are still in circulation today up and down the country at postcard, book/ephemera fairs and in the possession of private dealers.”

The study day, ‘Black ephemera: depictions of people of African descent’ – 11.00 to 18.30, costs £50 (including lunch and drinks). Applications and enquiries to Diane Bilbey d.j.bilbey@reading.ac.uk

Universities are living things…

A keepsake for the Secretary of State for Education
A keepsake for the Secretary of State for Education

So starts a quote by this University’s first Vice-Chancellor, selected by the current VC, Sir David Bell KCB. On a very tight deadline, we produced a keepsake (pictured above) to present to the Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Education, on the occasion of the launch of the University’s Institute of Education, on 21 June (press release). We wanted something special, that would reflect the breadth of University life.

Rafael Saraiva, a student on the MA Typeface Design programme, did the lettering and designed the typeface in which the text is set in. Darren Lewis, Head of the University’s Design & Print Studio, oversaw the printing on the University’s digital press. Gerry Leonidas, Director of the MA Typeface Design, specified the typography and supervised the project.

 

Colin McHenry talk to BA students

Colin McHenry, most recently Group Art Director for Centaur Media,  delivered a very engaging and inspiring talk to students on the BA programme yesterday. While recounting entertaining stories from his long and varied experience, Colin stressed the value of typographic skills and their contribution to a successful career. Colin urged students to read widely, engage with events, and pursue opportunities with vigour. He rounded off the talk showing some wonderful hand-rendered paste-ups from the pre-DTP era, while describing the changing professional roles in print production.

Typography in Istanbul

ISType 2012

The second ISType conference is on today and for the next three days, in Istanbul. Reading is represented strongly: staff members Gerard Unger and Gerry Leonidas are giving talks, as are MATD graduates Veronika Burian & José Scaglione (a.k.a. Type-Together), Dave Crossland, and Eben Sorkin. Frequent visiting teacher and honorary friend of the Department John Hudson is also talking, as is MATD External Examiner Fred Smeijers. Veronika and José are jetting over from Brighton, where they presented today at the second Ampersand conference.

BA and MA final displays of work

The public viewing for the BA and MA displays of work this year is from Tuesday 19 June to Saturday 23 June. This will include work by BA Graphic Communication, MA Book Design, and MA Information Design students!

We are open from 9.00am to 5.00pm, and on Saturday from 10.00am to 3.00pm. All are welcome to visit; some helpful location information is here, or contact Charlene McGroarty (c.mcgroarty@reading.ac.uk) for more information.

Gerard Saint in the Department

Two business cards: one for clients, one for suppliers. ‘Clients’, says Gerard, ‘preferred the bottom one.’

Inspiration and a fresh perspective for the next Part 3 project was provided last week from Gerard Saint, founder and creative director of Big Active.

Big Active, who are responsible for the visual image of hundreds of artists since it was founded in the early 90s, (notably Keane, Beck, Goldfrapp, Basement Jaxx) work on the philosophy that the best work is appropriate to the ‘spirit’ of the artist or band. Ideas and input to the final brief comes from ‘all sorts of people’ — from the band or artist themselves to their management and the record label. Each project, Gerard told us, is really different; some artists have a very clear idea of how they want themselves and their sound to be ‘packaged’, others prefer less involvement and take their lead from the creative thinking and image making of the designers, illustrators and photographers that form part of the Big Active network.

Gerard spoke about the changing landscape of music design. In a world where CDs and downloads are essentially delivering the same information, and, furthermore, consumers can ‘cherry-pick’ tracks without hearing the whole album, designers need to rethink the physical product in a way that gives it a reason to exist outside the digital content it carries (make it collectable! make it interactive!)

He is optimistic: ‘It’s just the medium of delivery that is changing. CDs, vinyl, digital formats can sit side by side, each making the most of its own particular strength. Music design is becoming a much broader discipline; that can only be a good thing for designers in the future.’

Questions from students went into extra time and students were invited to visit the Big Active studio in London.