Tag: research

Freeing Liberty through information design

This July, Rachel Warner and Emily Allbon presented their project ‘Freeing Liberty through information design’ at the International Conference on Typography and Visual Communication (ICTVC). Their project focuses on designing information on our civil liberties, provided by Liberty. Liberty gave Rachel and Emily a challenge: to identify how information design might help to make their online legal information advice more accessible, useful, and understandable. At the conference, initial ideas were presented for information on:

  • Stop and search – a downloadable online checklist to use when faced with a stop and search event
  • Police complaints – a flowchart that aims to communicate the steps and roles involved in the police complaint process
  • Immigration – the use of illustrations to accompany text to acknowledges experiences and emotions

The project continues to develop, with future plans for workshops with information users, legal experts, and advisors. So, watch this space!

Sketch of a flowchart working out the police complaints processDesign process: sketching out the police complaints process

An image that displays text as a checklist that can be used as an aide memoire in a stop and search eventInitial ideas: draft solution for stop and search information

 

Join us for our February 2019 postgraduate open day

The Department of Typography & Graphic Communication warmly invites prospective MA applicants to visit us for a postgraduate open day. The open day will be held in the Department on Thursday 28 February 2019 from 10.15–14.00. It’s a fantastic opportunity to find out more about the specialist postgraduate study routes we offer through exploring the work of past and present students and talking to our subject experts in Book Design, Communication Design, Creative Enterprise, Information Design, and Typeface Design. We’re also planning some talks that incorporate highlights from our world-renowned Collections and give you a taste of teaching and research at Reading.

We look forward to sharing with you exciting developments about how we’ve refreshed our postgraduate taught programmes to build a stronger, integrated typographic foundation for research and practice across all programmes and specialist pathways. We’ve introduced a new general Communication Design pathway to complement our well-known established pathways in Book Design, Information Design and Typeface Design. These four specialist pathways are all offered as part of our newly renamed MA Communication Design – the ideal degree for anyone wishing to develop their professional practice within a world-class research environment.

Postgraduate student Darryl Lim looking at student displays of work including digital and printed projects

In addition to the practice-intensive pathways for the MA Communication Design programme, we also offer a multidisciplinary Creative Enterprise programme and two research-intensive programmes. Our MA Creative Enterprise is designed for individuals who wish to combine their study of research and practice in Communication Design with studies of management and law for the creative sector. Our MA Research Typography & Graphic Communication is the ideal route to prepare you for independent research and doctoral study and our MRes Typeface Design is a bespoke route for experienced, practicing typeface designers who want to develop a deeper understanding of the historical and theoretical aspects of their field.

To register your interest, please email Victoria Gifford – typography@reading.ac.uk.

Two postgraduate students looking at historic posters in our Collections

Have you thought about doing a PhD in Typography?

DS ind JB ws thinking TK DB LH

Our experienced supervisors welcome applications in the history, theory and practice of design for reading. Here are some of our recent and current PhD topics

If you have any ideas do get in touch with Sue Walker for an informal chat, and to discuss funding opportunities.

Why not join us as an AHRC-funded Design Star student?

Our Graduate School at Reading is excellent, and provides a stimulating environment.

And the experience we provide in Typography is world leading, not least because much of our PhD work is supported by our outstanding collections and archives, and the research training we provide.