OUGD602 - Design Manchester

Design Manchester at
The Principal

A group of us made the journey to Manchester to attend a design conference as part of Design Manchester. Now in its 5th year, the day long conference featured influential speakers showing an insight into their work ranging from architecture to film and even typography.

The speakers included:
Ellen Van Loon (OMA)
Sean Perkings (North)
Naresh Ramchandani (Pentagram)
Alex McDowell
& Patrick Burgoyne (Creative Review)


**Missing Notes from Talks**

Orgasm Addict Reframed at
The Principal

To make the most of being in Manchester, I decided to leave the talks early and visit various other exhibitions and points of interest. The first of these was a small scale exhibition that invited designers such as Swifty and Craig Oldham to interpret the sleeve for Buzzcock's 1977 single Orgasm Addict: their own 'reframed' version.

Malcom Garrett's original design featured a montage by the artist Linder Sterling, Malcom turned upside down and rendered in single colour to enhance the graphic impact of the sleeve.

Examples of the interpretations are shown below. This brief reminds me of the Secret 7 brief I entered in my first year at university and was one that I was very fond of. I have not yet found a live brief that I want to enter this year yet but seeing these has given me the idea to find one similar. I will look into whether Secret 7 is running this year as it was not live last year.

Re-imagined Works of
Burgess Book Covers

The next exhibition I visited was located at the InternationalAnthony Burgess Foundation. The small room located in the basement was filled with re-imagined works from some of Burgess iconic and less-seen book covers from all around the world. These novels included A Clockwork Orange & Earthly Powers.

This show was of interest to me as currently one of my strong design interests lies within publication design and so I aim to produce at least one editorial this year as part of my extended practice brief. There is a running theme through these exhibitions that include re-interpretation as well as book/sleeve cover design. One thing I enjoyed most about the book covers was the clear cultural diversity between designs. Some covers were interpreted for international intended audiences such as Japanese and European. The design cultures of the audiences are clearly demonstrated through the use of colour and type.

Look-Book Research around
Manchester

After the Burgess exhibition, I then ventured through Manchester towards the centre to check out the shopping. I came across what I would consider as being a very trendy district with barista cafes and skater shops. Whilst looking round the shops, I came across a number of examples of Look-Books. These are becoming more and more popular within the fashion industry and can now be found at a large number of stores. These books are usually found in clothes stores that match the 'trendy' or 'hipster' style and are a means to communicate a message behind clothes and the culture along side them. I documented these books and took photos as they gave me an idea to produce one for my publication design & fashion brief.

Our Legacy 

Lookbook

LookBook found in

Carhartt Store 

OUGD602 - Exhibition - The One Who Looks

The One Who Looks at

Colours May Vary

A collection of Risograph prints produced by a number of designers

Risograph Printing

Risograph is a brand of digital duplicators manufactured by the Riso Kagaku Corporation, that are designed for high-volume photocopying and printing.

- Released in Japan in 1986

- When printing or copying many duplicates of the same content, it is typically far less expensive per page than a conventional photocopier, laser printer or inkjet printer.

 The examples of prints shown here demonstrate the uniqueness of the aesthetic that is achieved when using a risograph printer.

When looked at closely, you can see the colours layered on top of one another where the colours are just out of line. Although not on purpose, this defect is not all bad and actually adds something to the work in my opinion.

There is a 'small ecologically minded printers' based in Leeds who came to talk to us last year. These guys offer risoprinting and print everything from booklets, zines, newsletters and even stickers.

If I wanted to experiment with this print technique,

Fashion Publication Research

Whilst at Colours May Vary, I took the opportunity to explore the varied selection of publications they have on display. They have an amazing collection of editorials that cover a whole range of subjects. Most, if not all, of them having a strong consideration for the design, layout and production of the publication itself.

I will be revisiting this store when I get round to designing my own publication as it is a great source of inspiration.