The fantastic Design Manchester festival will be taking place this year between the 11th and 22nd of October. There are a wide range of events (both ticketed and FREE) taking place, with the highlight being the Design City Conference.
It has been a great, inspiring event in recent years - plus there are potential networking opportunities and a chance to meet other designers.
During the summer months, Andy and I have been sorting through the plan chests and have unearthed a few pieces of work we wanted to share with you. The first is a personal project completed by Mike Rigby, dated 2002. Its concept is as relevant to day as it was fifteen years ago, and it's easy to see the difference it could make.
The idea was one of those that was happened upon during a conversation between Mike and Andy; I am informed most likely to have occurred between the walls of a public house.
Mike wrote the copy which you can read on the poster, it's worth noting the power of well-written and crafted copy in helping to clarify and communicate a concept. As an aside it's also interesting how an idea of social change became a reality for Mike when he and his team rebranded Alzheimer's Australia.
“Did I think I’d see The Disciples Of Design live again? Not in this lifetime.”
Welcome back to The Disciples Of Design. You may be old enough to remember the previous incarnation of this website which was sadly attacked and brought down by digital curmudgeons. However, we are happy to say that The Disciples Of Design are now back online with a new hub for all things design.
We have tried to salvage as much as we can via the Wayback Machine - especially the profiles of ex-Preston students who are now part of the global design community. But there is still much more there for you to have look through so please head over there as well.
We have uploaded lots of students videos to our new youtube channel, as well as reinstating our instagram account. If anyone would like to contribute please get in touch.
We are delighted to announce the upcoming launch of Andy's book - Typographic Specimens. There will be much more to come about this over the coming months. Keep your eyes peeled.
The Rev. Jackson Whitehead served as the ship's chaplain aboard the H.M.S Pica, sister ship to the H.M.S Beagle, which accompanied the Beagle on its second survey expedition in 1831. As well as being a highly visually perceptive man of the cloth, Whitehead was also a very keen amateur collector of fauna as well as a typography enthusiast.
Upon realising that the majority of both ships crews were either committed atheists or budding evolutionists, he embarked on entertaining himself between landfall by creating a whole series of creatures made up out of typographical characters. Some of these were based on the animals that they discovered and some were mere flights of fancy.
Only recently, after the restoration of Whitehead's ancestral Jacobean manor house, has the manuscript of his work set out before you come to light.
Rev. Jackson Whitehead – circa 1850
Jampacked with print, drawing and writing. Google Images this is not.
In July, Preston students managed to win a fantastic six pencils at the D&AD New Blood awards. Look through the links below, get inspired and get to know the standard required. Plus, a special mention to Harriet who was involved in three pencils and showing us all what's possible!
Amy Wooding – Us to You in 1 Hour
Ashton Hoban – John Lewis Saves the Day
Charlie Bulmer – Fighting Conceptions
Harriet Richardson – Boredom - The Bored Game
Harriet Richardson – Samples
Harriet Richardson & George Townley – Creative Block
“Entering design competitions in the second year gives us a great opportunity to have our work recognised by industry before we go out on placement.”
The project ‘Type for Change’ visually communicates the achievements of the online activist community highlighting the true power for change we all have at our fingertips. ‘Type for Change’ is a composite typeface that has been designed to represent this world-wide community. It has been created by sourcing and compiling different keys, taken from both PC and Apple keyboards from all regions and nations across the globe where online activism has become an important tool for change.
Winner!
Jonathan Mount a second year Graphic Design student has won a YCN Design Award Commendation in the Fedrigoni Paper category. The competition brief was to design a highly coveted Christmas gift for Fedrigoni using their Constellation range of paper. His entry ‘Standles’ features a range of candle stands engineered from the paper range, based on the three festive gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
“It’s great to engage on briefs where the physical is of importance as it shows the wide gamut of disciplines within design as a whole. The encouragement and feedback from tutors and industry professionals has helped enormously as I head into my placement year.”
A live brief run by Coley Porter Bell, a top London branding agency visited the graphics course to deliver the ‘RAF Active’ project. The brief was to create an identity and visual language for the new RAF Active campaign and bring it to life through inspiring and exciting applications, eg. social media platforms, posters and apps.
The prize was a placement at CPB and prize money.
Year 2 BA(Hons) Graphic Design students, Lucy Child, Huzaifa Sidat, Brandon Thomas were nominated and went to the London based agency to present their projects.
It was a great opportunity for the students to work on a real life brief and have the experience of visiting a design agency and present their work to industry.
Lucy Child's entry - EARN YOUR STRIPES
BJL Communications Agency, Manchester visited in the briefing bus to give a one-day briefing and critique/feedback at UCLan for Graphic Design and Advertising students.
The brief was to encourage people to buy a Metrolink Monthly Season Pass.
The winners were Shohaib Iqbal and Louis Murphy-Hancock from Year 2 Graphics and Ashley Schofield and Bethany Wilkinson from Year 4 Graphics.
All the students won placements at BJL.
The Disciples Of Design are a global collective of design academics, practitioners, artists and students. We have one common thread – University of Lancashire in Preston, UK; and one common aim – the creation of an ever evolving visual hub for the sharing of ideas and thoughts.
