Graphic Design in London 2011

View all of the Graphic Design in London student work galleries.

Students at Work: Baseline Magazine and Workshops

Baseline welcomed Professor Richard B. Doubleday and his design students from Boston University to Bradbourne House in East Malling, Kent where the studio is based. Baseline was proud to host the 8th annual visit by Prof. Richard B. Doubleday (author of articles in Baseline 49, 53, 54, and 60). Hans Dieter Reichert, editor and publisher, talked about Baseline‘s history and philosophy before handing over to designer staff of HDR visual communication. The designer Johnathon Hunt explained in some details his unique approach to the design of the individual articles. The students appreciated the ‘whole Baseline experience’–the exchange of ideas, views and opinions and after a final tour through the studio the guest left for London. The BU student visit was documented on the Baseline Facebook page. The next visit by Prof. Richard B. Doubleday and his students from Boston University is already penciled for the next year (2012).

Typetour: Walking tour of London Letters

The tour led by John Voller, a certified City of London guide, started at the St. Bride Institute and St. Bride’s Church, the burial place of Wynkyn de Worde. The tour had taken in many fascinating stops including Salisbury Court, the site of Samuel Richardson’s printing works; Carter Lane, where London’s only example of ‘Sgrafitto’ can be seen; and Postman’s Park, a lesser-known corner of the capital, where there is an inscribed memorial to the strange, but heroic actions of a young compositor. The tour also encompassed some remarkable architecture both ancient and modern and also had taken in Austin Friars Square with some beautiful contemporary street lettering by Richard Kindersley.

Assignment 1: Structures in the City

How does first impressions influence our daily living, our way of thinking, our perceptions, our way of looking as graphic designers? What kinds of impressions do we experience in our immediate surroundings within London? What impressions are obvious, hidden, or invisible?

To find answers to these questions, students participated in a two-day workshop conducted by the German graphic designer and educator Armin Knoll.

The objective of the workshop was to take a closer look at our first impressions within the urban context of London. Knoll gave each student strips of paper, a small booklet, to explore this idea and think about first and second impressions and our perception of the city through this design brief. Following an introductory slide lecture, he then asked the students to conceptualize, juxtapose and utilize gathered material and create new designs in the context of specific impressions within London.

Assignment 2: London Concept Book

The objective of the assignment was to take a closer look at the personality of London. Doubleday challenged the students to think about how living in or visiting a city influences how we think and what we see. He asked the students to create short, multi-page books integrating images of London that would visually communication the visual culture of the city. Doubleday asked the students to think about how the visual concept fits the mood and temperament of the subject matter; the students’ experiences and impressions of London from their point of view. Doubleday calls this approach a London cultural concept book study.

To carry out the project the students collected images from London by various methods such as hand drawings, painting, and digital photography. The students scanned and photocopied the London material. The students were asked to consider integrating typography and explore alternative methods of visualizing narration: continuous text, typographic expression, diagrammatic representation, time line or map construction, and text/image combinations. Each student also focused on the cinematic aspects of multi-page design, unity, pacing, contrast, and rhythm. The final designs comprised a series of London cultural concept books.