Graphic Design:Now in Production

This major international exhibition explores how graphic design has broadened its reach dramatically over the past decade, expanding from a specialized profession to a widely deployed tool. With the rise of user-generated content and new creative software, along with innovations in publishing and distribution systems, people outside the field are mobilizing the techniques and processes of design to create and publish visual media. At the same time, designers are becoming producers: authors, publishers, instigators, and entrepreneurs employing their creative skills as makers of content and shapers of experiences.

Featuring work produced since 2000 in the most vital sectors of communication design, Graphic Design: Now in Production explores design-driven magazines, newspapers, books, and posters as well as branding programs for corporations, subcultures, and nations. It also showcases a series of developments over the past decade, such as the entrepreneurial nature of designer-produced goods; the renaissance in digital typeface design; the storytelling potential of titling sequences for film and television; and the transformation of raw data into compelling information narratives.

Graphic Design: Now in Production is the largest museum exhibition on the subject since the Walker’s seminal 1989 exhibition Graphic Design in America: A Visual Language History, and the Cooper-Hewitt’s 1996 comprehensive survey, Mixing Messages: Graphic Design in Contemporary Culture. Appropriately, this exhibition is co-organized by the two institutions. A comprehensive, illustrated catalogue produced by the Walker accompanies the exhibition.

Below is a 1hr 26 min presentation from the curators and other exhibitors in the show. Each one gets 6 mins of show time. Well worth a look.

Curators:
Ian Albinson, artofthetitle.com

• Andrew Blauvelt, Walker Art Center
• Jeremy Leslie, magCulture.com
• Ellen Lupton, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution
• Armin Vit and Bryony Gomez-Palacio, Brand New

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

I've just finished the design and layout of my book. I've now got to artwork it to get it ready to output to print - more complicated than it sounds as there are lots of bits to it across different papers and sizes. I definitely need a good nights sleep before tackling that. I'm aiming to get it output on Tuesday and then I've Wednesday night to collate, do the die cutting and folding and then get it into the binder on Thursday morning so as to be ready to photograph on Monday. I'm struggling to remember when I have been so wrecked...  the lack of sleep has reached new levels in the birthing of this book. I'm feeling envy for those who have found REV so enjoyable.. for me it has been an exhausting battle against time - and I'm right down to the wire with it. Don't know why I'm posting this... just so relieved that the designing is done and that soon I will have time to have another waking thought.

Back to the Grind

So after a wonderful 10 months of maternity leave the end is nigh. I'm back on Monday 5th September with the new bunch of 3rd Years on the BA (Hons) Visual Communication. It always takes both them and me a few weeks to get the measure of each other. I find that period frustrating often and a lot of hard work, but with a great sense of anticipation too because it is also a time that I love - cultivating a relationship with students, anticipating the rapport with each individual. And cultivating too a passion in them for the life path they've chosen. I just decided to post  the fruits of the last few days labour, in the shape of my first 2 briefs of the year. I thought posting them would be a reminder for me of the upcoming year, both in the masters and in everyday life, where there'll be a shift in focus back to my teaching self... life after REV!

                              

design@ait end of year show

Just back from our end of year show. Really enjoyed it - a wonderful show from a great group of students. This was our first show on the main AIT campus in 22 years, and our new space looked great. Its' always so exciting to see the fruits of the students labour (and ours!) on those 8ft x 4ft boards at the end of their time with us. And there was plenty of exciting on screen work this year with 17 students in the digital media class. This year was special for me because although I've been on maternity leave for most of it, this was the first time I had taught every one of the qualifying students, and they're a great bunch of people. Good luck to them heading out into the big wide world!

(by the way there was live streaming of the opening which was fun to see and worked really well... I was getting texts from friends and ex students as far away as Denmark watching us there. Check out the blog

Couldn't resist

Couldn't resist posting this... It was recorded by my husband while I was out and my 4 year old son needed to tell me about "a bit of a pain" he was having... at bed time (always a bad time for pain/hunger pangs/anything that'll buy him an extra few minutes in the kitchen!).

The description is a bit synaesthetic... although my son is not!

My first album

Just tried this for a bit of mindless fun... It's all the rage on face book it appears.
But it makes good use of the participatory web! Give it a go and release your inner graphic designer. I admit though it made my talents feel a bit redundant!! It could be fun to put together a little mini exhibition of all our efforts - one from everyone in the audience?!
Here's what to do.......

1. Go to wikipedia and hit random. The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band. 2. Go to quotationspage.com and hit random. The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album. 3. Go to flickr and click on 'explore the last seven days'. The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover. 4. Use photoshop or similar to put it all together. 5. Post it with this text in the caption and tag the friends you want to join in.

every minute of 'the daily me' !

Kal and Baby Finn

when i've a chance...

When I've time, I occasionally do some acrylic on canvas illustrations.

Kal, my 3 year old son is my only fan!

some student work

Here are a few examples of my students work. This is a series of posters describing the experience of being in a queue.

Work Sample 5

Crafts Council of Ireland - Strategic Plan

The brief for this project was to produce a typographic ‘tome’ but also required the inclusion of strong imagery which was to be impactful but not distracting from the overall body text. This design challenge was addressed through the use of dramatic fold out pages which consisted of full bleed imagery and this element also functioned as section/chapter dividers. I also aimed to communicate the tactility of the crafts represented by the council and achieved this (hopefully!) primarily through the inclusion of the embossed basket on the front cover and by printing onto uncoated stock. Typographic devices were used as chapter indicators and typographic emphasis was further exploited in the strong use of ‘pull out’ text throughout. Without doubt though one of my most stressful projects ever... the printing cost were huge and the buck stopped with me if there had been any problems... phew!

Work Sample 4

Claremorris Open Exhibition - (COE)

Collateral for open submission art exhibition for which I have done the design work for the last 12 years. Examples shown here are various designs for the exhibition catalogue, other items included in the project are invitations, posters, press adverts and the call for entry.

Work Sample 3

Technology Subjects Support Service - T4

Design of an identity, promotional collateral and website for the above educational support service (some of you may be familiar with!). It involved the design of a primary logo, which also needed to include adaptation across the four sub category subjects. This was resolved as colourway differentiations and individual image generation for each. The identity was then brought across stationery, a promo folder, launch invite, and the support service website. (the web design was not done by me... techno novice here - left that to my other half!)

Work Sample 2

Shine - Retail Jewelery Identity

This project required the naming, and brand development for a new jewelery retail outlet and included all printed elements (business card, letterhead, gift vouchers) along with the external signage for the shop itself. The job was restricted to 2 colour output and 3 on the voucher where I included a metallic silver to add a luxurious touch and enhance the communication of the piece overall. The signage featured underlit steel letterforms to carry this element through externally.

Work sample

Just attempting to upload a work sample... if this works I'll post more over the next week or so!

setting up blogs

Just setting things up here...

steady as i go!