Amusing ads from the Chip Shop Awards

As I was talking to a friend about the coming election he pointed me in the direction of a controversial advertisement on on The Chip Shop Awards website, The Chip Shop Awards are a chance for anyone to win awards for good advertisement that is often restricted by briefs set by some of the larger award companies. It is littered with tongue and cheek, controversial and witty ads, I've picked out a few that tickle me. I am not the best at advertisement projects and really appreciate when an idea comes together.

Photographs taken from www.chipshopawards.com

Neil Roland

In May I am attending a wedding in Portugal of some friends who lived in Chorlton for a few years before moving back to London, and after a lot of deliberation my sister and I came up with getting them a print made by Didsbury based photographic artist Neil Roland as their wedding present. I became aware of Neil Roland when my mum got one made for the house (shown below) What I really like about the prints is you hand pick the images you want to be included. I went to meet him to discuss the print for the wedding. We mainly wanted it to be focussed around places in Chorlton and the odd place around Manchester that held significant memories to Charlie and Lorna and we sifted through hundreds of photographs of bars, streets, signs and it was fantastic to look all these familiar places but shot from fantastic angles etc. The print will be ready to collect in a few weeks so fingers crossed that it will look great!

Photographs taken from www.neilroland.co.uk

Spencer Tunick

As it is common knowledge that Spencer Tunick is bringing his wonderful exhibit of the human body to Greater Manchester I have been looking at some of his other amazing installations that he has arranged all over the world. Tunicks trade mark is a mass use of the naked human figure in public areas and has created some truly amazing images with the way in which he has arranged each person. The idea of stripping off in the name of art is quite inspiring however I can't say i'll be joining in with the one he has planned to take place outside the Lowry Centre in Salford in early May. I expect it will look just as stunning as his others. You can still sign up if you want to take part just click here.

Photographs courtesy of www.spencertunick.com

Alan Fletcher - Fifty years of graphic work (and play)

"Design is not a thing you do, It's a way of life"

- Alan Fletcher

I recently visited the Alan Fletcher exhibition at the Cube Gallery in Manchester. The exhibition is the same collection I saw at the Design Museum shortly after his death in 2006! The exhibition celebrated the life and work of one of Britons finest Graphic Designers. A man who's intelligent approach to witty design and a fantastic understanding of communication has shaped graphics for over 50 years. Fletcher was probably the first artist that really inspired me to want to do design. I enjoyed the playfulness of alot of his work, and more than anything the hand crafted style he uses throughout. Looking at his vast range of work now, compared to when I first saw it means I can appreciate it in a completely different way. The first time I saw the exhibition it made me realise how much I loved design but I couldn't tell you why, whereas now after a few years learning about design and taking on a real understanding of what design is I have really enjoyed revisiting the same exhibition and looking at the work from a design angle. I think the beauty with Alan Fletchers work is that it can be enjoyed by anyone, I suppose most forms of graphics should be able to appeal to a wide audience as its communication however Fletchers precise playful approach is amazing. The broad range of work on display also shows the multitude of skills and opportunities that his career has given him, and is brilliant to see such an array of different design outcomes. I found the section dedicated to his book 'The Art of Looking Sideways' was fantastic as it showed how he went about designing the book that he effectively spent a lifetime making! I have been to four exhibitions of Alan Fletchers work since 2006 and everytime I am blown away by his work even though it is always the same. One thing that really inspires me looking at his work is the simplicity he uses. The art of making something look so effortless yet perfect at the same time. A truly brilliant collection.

Noma Bar

During a critical studies lesson where we all were talking about an artist of our choice and showing examples of their work and Noma Bar was spoke about. I instantly loved the style obtained by the Israeli Graphic designer and recognised some of the pieces from illustrations in the Guardian newspaper. What attracted me about the pieces i have shown here is the simplicity of the ideas and the fantastic use of negative space and colour to convey dual meanings and a combination of elements. The spreads are minimal yet extremely effective. He released a book called 'Negative Space' in 2009 featuring a series of designs.

As i was looking through the collection of work from the negative space book I came across these prints he did for the V&A which fall nicely into the research I am doing about the museum for my end sting project. What i find interesting is the different elements he has chose to include showing the vast range of items shown in the V&A museum. Again Bar uses colour and space to create really effective pieces of design.

St. Gallen book design - Evening talk.

When I was looking into events at the St. Bride library i noticed a talk was being held in the evening about the book design exhibition, which i thought would be really interesting to attend. I have never been to a talk about an exhibition before so i thought this was a great opportunity. The talk was held by 3 publishers Roland Fruh, Richard Hollis and Robin Kinross each talking for about 20 minutes each.

Roland Fruh:

Roland Fruh mainly talked about Rudolf Hostettler, an infamous typographer and print maker who was the co-editor of SGM a typographic magazine. Within the magazine was a dispute for years between Max Bill and Jan Tschichold about the difference between traditional design and new typography. Fruh talked largely about the articles written from both sides of the argument highlighting examples and influences. He talked alot about the importance of continual debate within Graphics and Design and how design is always evolving through time and with added technology.

I wrote down a quote he read out that i thought was really interesting.

"with every thesis someone believes himself to be telling the truth; he only notices that is merely half of the truth when he meets the other half of the thesis"

He also highlighted some familiar design magazines such as Eye, CR, Issue etc that he said generate a form of debate yet are formed by careful editing and many of them lack controversy stating "they all have something, but they all lack something".

Richard Hollis

I was really excited to hear Richard Hollis speak as I own a few of his books and find he explains things in a really understandable way. He began talking about Hostettler similarly to Roman Fruh, and about the influence English typography had on him and his remarkable understanding of Graphic culture. Hollis talked about the intense precision that the Swiss aplied to their books, the sensitivity they had for the content of the book paired with the design. and the careful use of typography that ran throughout. Hollis talked through all the names that shaped The International Typographic Style, from Josef Muller-Brockmann who was the creator of the grid and formed the Swiss style to Paul Klee who was a typical 'Basel designer' who very much worked Asymmetrically and in block type. He went on to talk over the two types of design in Switzerland with symmetry linked to book design and traditional symmetrical layouts and Asymmetry linked to modernist typography and advertising.

He finished by highlighting the pleasure in the exhibition of being able to look, feel and read the books, he talked about the how beautiful the books were and how beautifully they had been made. and a rare treat to hold them.

Robin Kinross

The final speaker wrapped up the night by briefly talking about the achievements of all 3 speakers and the importance of their role as publishers to understand the depth of the St.Gallen book collection. He spoke mainly about Switzerland as a country and the character it has explaining that no single city is Switzerland, that each city has its own unique character and history and acts individually.

I am really pleased i attended the talk as it gave me a greater understanding about not only Swiss design but some important factors that relate to modern day design practices aswell. I was able to buy a copy of 'Ultrabold' which is the quarterly journal of the library which covers talks, exhibitions and literature held there.

Exhibition: Book design in St. Gallen

During first year, each student was given a typeface to work with over a series of projects. The idea was to research the history of the typeface and really understand how to use it. I was given Helvetica Neue. Up untill this point I didn't really know a great deal about Swiss typography or the International Typographic Style which emerged in the late 40's in Switzerland. Since learning about Helvetica I have grown really interested in Swiss graphics and the use of grid systems looking at many artist such as Josef Muller-Brockmann, Max Bill, Jan Tschichold, Armin Hoffman etc. So when the opportunity to visit an exhibition that celebrated over 60 years of book design from St. Gallen (the most northern of Switzerland's cities) I was really excited to be able to visit. The exhibition was held at the St. Bride Library which is a fantastic old building with spiral staircases that not only acts as a library but holds exhibitions, talks, a theatre and Alan Kitching's typography workshop. The books on display were a really nice collection of traditional editorial and structural editorial designs which looked at graphics, illustration, and many different genre's of art.

What I was really impressed with in the exhibition is I am so used to seeing things in glass boxes and having to admire something from a distance. About 90% of the books shown in the glass panels were available to look through at the back of the room. This brought many of the books to life for me as the textures and paper styles of many of the book covers were the real essence of the design. It was great to be able to see the differences between the books and feel them with my own hands.

There were a few typographical posters on display such as the one below. I love the way the faded type overlaps and the general dynamic of whole poster i think its really striking. Also in the room was a series of huge old printing machines. What suprised me about them was the sheer size and mechanics that went into them. Overall the exhibition was really informative and a brilliant display of some beautiful editorial and book designs.

Exit Through The Gift Shop - a Banksy film

"The story of how an eccentric French shop keeper and amateur film maker attempted to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner with spectacular results. Billed as 'the world's first street art disaster movie' the film contains exclusive footage of Banksy, Shephard Fairey, Invader and many of the world's most infamous graffiti artists at work. Written by Sundance Film Festival"

I didn't really know what to expect from this film/documentary before i went to see it. The caption above was all i had read about it and was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be completely different yet completely accurate. 'Exit Through The Gift Shop' not only gives you an exciting look into an unknown world but introduces you to this truely unique individual Thierry Guetta. Who, rightly or wrongly achieves his own stature as an artist. Banksy has been extremely clever in making this film and has shown his audience just why he has been so successful.

Mike Dempsey

While I was doing some research on Alan Kitching I came across a series of prints by Mike Dempsy which I thought were very clever and used a very minimal technique which I aim to achieve with my book covers. The designs below were taken from a project called 'Tart Cards' where a series of typographical solutions were created in place of the cards normally left in London phone boxes by prostitutes promoting their services.

Alan Kitching

As i was looking through my research with my tutor he suggested I look at Alan Kitching as he explores some raw methods using type and colour. From looking at examples of his work he spans over a vast area of letter press to screen printing to graphic design and illustration. Its fantastic to see this style of design still heavily favored by an artist as the computer has unfortunately taken over old methods of creating print. I love the overlay of colours and general style that kitchen holds throughout his pieces.

I also found a huge article in eye magazine on Alan Kitching and an exhibition he is holding at St Bride Library which has unfortunately just finished. However i found out about a book exhibition which i plan to attend.

Peter and Paul

What caught my eye with Peter and Paul was their work for Osmosis where they dedicated the whole campaign around the letter O. As my name is Olivia i rarely find the letter O preferred in typographical idea's. I love the different outcomes this threw up and their use of colour and interesting situations!

From having a look through the website I have found other projects that are not only interesting but are over a range of mediums, including some great interactive pieces.

Taxi Studio

An agency that was mentioned in the presentation from Thoughtful was Taxi Studio, having lived in Bristol and studied design there for a few years i was already aware of the mainly branding agency which also does web design, packaging and corporate I.D's. I love the interactive elements of their website which allow a playful element to show their work and particularly like the page and statement below.

Demo Reel

I came across this demo reel of motion graphics and thought it was really playful and interesting and a great example of their creativity..

Village Green

Village Green is a design studio and workshop set up by Seb Marling (Blue Source) and Jonathon Cooke (Love). It works across Print, interactive media and moving image. Some of the work i have been familiar with has mainly been their album covers but as i have looked into them further i have really enjoyed their illustrative style.

I also came across a series of posters done for FABRIC a club in London, i love the abstractness of the pictures and the surreal image it gives. I think they are both eye catching and thought provoking.

While looking on their website i came across some stills and an

animation done for Becks Fusions. I think the animation is great

and the cut and paste style of the stills is brilliant. It has made

me interested in how i could incorporate still Graphics work with

moving image.

www.villagegreenstudio.com

Boxed Water Is Better

As part of our new project i have been looking at how water affects society, during my research i came across 'boxed water is better' which is part water company part art project. Born out of the simple idea to sell water in a different way thats better cost effective to not only people but society.

www.boxedwaterisbetter.com