Week 1: Who, What, Where & Why?
Case study reflection
For the introduction of this course, we looked at six different professionals from five practices. These individuals are all graphic designers. However, they show specialism in their own different areas of interest.
Intro | Design Agency
The first two designers we are introduced to are Julian House and Adrian Talbot from Intro, a graphic design agency based in East London. Although I would recognise Intro as an agency, Julian and Adrian both agree the studio works more as a design co-operative. In that each creative partner is known for their own specialism or craft.
“We operate in a peculiar way at Intro. In a sense where we’re more like a design cooperative, in that the creative partners each have their own style and their own clients, and we don’t tend to collaborate with one another”. (Talbot, A. 2023)
Julian House, from South Wales, is not only a Graphic Designer but also a musician and owner of the record label Ghost Box. The work he is best known for includes the design for the artwork of Primal Scream’s ‘Extermination’ album. He has an immense passion for music and this passion is seen through his design work. As well as digital artwork designed for music, Julian’s work also involves video. He approaches this as another way of communicating the music through a visual language.
Adrian Talbot is a more traditional graphic designer specialising in typography. He is best known for ‘Talbot Type’ his typography business. Until I commenced this course and researched Adrian Talbot, he was unknown to me. I then realised Adrian's work is very prevalent, his typography Kamerik 105 has been used by the BBC for its channel BBC Earth. The reason why Adrian and Julian love graphic design is due to problem solving; graphic design is a visual language that solves these problems and they agree that there is variation on a day to day basis.
Sarah Boris
The designer Sarah Boris is based in London, Sarah specialises in public art commissions and considers design aesthetic. I have similar views to Sarah; I too see design as functional but having an aesthetic quality. My favourite design quote is by the late Steve Jobs.
“That's not what we think design is. It's not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” (Walker, R. and Jobs, S. 2003)
Regular Practice
Regular Practice, a design agency based in London, is a young type-centric business. Tom Finn and Kristoffer Seoulling, are passionate problem solvers. They set up formed Regular Practice when they graduated from The Royal College of Art.
“Every project is different so you have to keep on adapting and learn new things to keep it interesting.” (Seoulling, K. 2023)
As a young and independent agency, Tom and Kristoffer are hungry to learn and to see where the journey takes them.
Sam Winston
Similar to Sarah Boris, Sam Winston sources his own commissions. Having dyslexia has led him towards a fascination in typography, language and writing. Instead of dyslexia being a weakness Sam has turned this into a strength and he is now an independent designer based in London. Sam works at Space Studios which is supported using public funding by Arts Council England.
He considers design to be a question and also the exploration of questions.
“Design exists towards something being difficult or something that needs a solution”. (Winston, S. 2023)
Simon Manchipp
Best known for the branding and identity of the 2012 London Olympic Games, Simon Manchipp, is one of the creative partners from Someone. Previously known as Knowone, Someone are a branding agency that specialise in big ideas, story telling and re-launching brands on a global scale.
Someone operates from four different parts of the globe. Their headquarters are Shoreditch in London, but they also have studios in Sydney, Berlin and New York.
Simon has a curiosity for learning and designing for different industries and sectors of business.
References:
Walker, R. and Jobs, S. (2003) The guts of a new machine, The New York Times. The New York Times. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/30/magazine/the-guts-of-a-new-machine.html (Accessed: April 26, 2023).
Seoulling, K. (2023) Practitioner Case Studies, Week 1: Practitioner Case Studies. Falmouth University. Available at: https://flex.falmouth.ac.uk/courses/1165/pages/week-1-practitioner-case-studies?module_item_id=63372 (Accessed: January 23, 2023).
Winston, S. (2023) Practitioner Case Studies, Week 1: Practitioner Case Studies. Falmouth University. Available at: https://flex.falmouth.ac.uk/courses/1165/pages/week-1-practitioner-case-studies?module_item_id=63372 (Accessed: January 23, 2023).
Manchipp, S. (2023) Practitioner Case Studies, Week 1: Practitioner Case Studies. Falmouth University. Available at: https://flex.falmouth.ac.uk/courses/1165/pages/week-1-practitioner-case-studies?module_item_id=63372 (Accessed: January 23, 2023).
Boris, S. (2023) Practitioner Case Studies, Week 1: Practitioner Case Studies. Falmouth University. Available at: https://flex.falmouth.ac.uk/courses/1165/pages/week-1-practitioner-case-studies?module_item_id=63372 (Accessed: January 23, 2023).
Talbot, A. (2023) Practitioner Case Studies, Week 1: Practitioner Case Studies. Falmouth University. Available at: https://flex.falmouth.ac.uk/courses/1165/pages/week-1-practitioner-case-studies?module_item_id=63372 (Accessed: January 23, 2023).
Workshop challenge
As an introduction to the MA Graphic Design course, we were tasked with creating a quadriptych. The purpose of this task was to answer four questions; Who, What, Where and Why.
Who am I?
My name is Adam. I am from Cardiff and I am currently based in Leeds, England.
I love the outdoors, and in my spare time you’ll find me walking a lot with my camera doing astrophotography, or playing the guitar at home.
What do I do?
I am a graphic designer working for a not-for-profit events company in Leeds. I also do freelance work for other clients in different businesses.
Being an all-round creative, combining my passion for photography with graphic design excites me. I believe it adds another layer to my work.
Where am I?
Leeds, Yorkshire.
Why do I design?
I love design as it’s a journey where I am constantly learning. It is always a challenge and there is never a dull day.
Design is a question and it is also an answer.
Since I started my career as a designer, I have learned so much about different industries. From hospitality, building construction, and the alcohol industry to wedding planning.
It’s a career full of surprises, with a lot of achievements and achievements. However, I find the challenges and successes which I find enable me to be more creative and improve my design skills.
