PPP Presentation

The PPP presentation this year will focus on mainly about the designers and graphic design I have been reading up on throughout the year. This is a significant aspect in my time on the course as I've grown interest in understanding the formal aspects of design, e.g grids, typography, relation between type and image, composing elements on the page, etc.

The presentation will go through a number of designers who've had the largest impact on my learning and understanding the role of graphic design.

Wolfgang Weingart showed how the importance of understanding the fundamentals of design prior to breaking it, "the only way to break typographic rules was to know them." Weingart's swiss punk style uncovered the layering process that was hidden away in Modernism. Exposed grids, halftones and manipulation of type become an identifier for his approach.

Reading up on Weingart led me to reading up on design studio 8vo, who Hamish Muir studied under. 8vo were a studio that focused on the formal aspects of typography, aesthetic, compositions and more importantly called their approach to design visual engineering. At that time, products were given 'designer tags' which rose some designer to rock star fame in the field. 8vo never intended to become rock stars, their work was about allowing the reader to construct the information fro themselves, about the production process and to shy away from creating trendy or fashionable design. Their book 8vo: On the Outside has become quite an influence on my thoughts on design. So much so that the presentation in their 'style' to reflect what I've taken onboard. And fortunately enough to contact Muir for an interview.

Looking at modernism was key in understanding how to properly set type and understanding the use of grids. Josef Müller-Brockmann was a pioneer in swiss design and his poster designs being his most recognised.
Learning about these designers and theses schools of design, helped me understand how and why I'm designing.

In terms of contemporary studios, SPIN were an example that demonstrated their learnings and interest in Modernism. Their solutions were efficient, clear and boiled down the idea to its simplest form. Knowing about them came about meeting Tony Brook at the magCulture launch of Impact 1.0 & 2.0. Going to talks with industry professionals are always beneficial. OFFSET was the first proper design conference I went to and I was great to be at a venue where so many industry professionals come down to speak about their work.

Looking ahead, I plan on continuing my research on design and probably base my dissertation on the area of aesthetics. Level 6 will also be when I'll definitely start to get my name out there as well which is something thats lacking this year. The summer break in between would be a good opportunity to do a placement or internship back in Singapore.

Outlining the presentation

Evidence of Communication with professionals
- Hamish Muir
- Bureau Mirko Borsche

Networking
- OFFSET
- NEST mag launch
- Uniteditions

Overview of your practice
- I'm still finding my way
- I don't have a definite approach yet
- More concerned with type and formal aspects of design this year

Overview of your learning
This year was about learning design and its designers

- Müller-Brockmann
- 8vo
- SPIN
- Marcel Breuer
- Wolfgang Weingart
- Wim Crouwel
- 'Ugly design' in CoP

Level 06 plans
- try and get placement for summer
- if not, arrange studio visits for interviews
- continue reading and learning about design
- take advantage of the freedom in Level 06, provides an opportunity to create or outline my design approach
- establish a professional and appropriate design portfolio

Bureau Mirko Borsche

Despite the excitement in receiving a response from design studio Bureau Mirko Borsche, the answer received was less than thrilling. But the reality is most design studios and designers are often busy to allocate time for other outside obligations, considering how many other people might be trying to interview them. At least there was a response and opened a conversation for if and when I travel to Munich.

Gallerie P98a

The visit to Gallerie P98a was inspiring. The main inspiration being the workspace. All the necessary equipment was laid out neatly with big windows allowing the space to become light & airy, which makes the space becomes conducive to do letterpress. Part of the difficulty of doing a creative subject is finding that creativity. To work in an environment where your mind works clearly makes the creative process more enjoyable.

Having seeing a professional standard letterpress print up close, the technique definitely adds more depth and sharpness compared to digital print. Because of the way letterforms are designed on screen, each curve is made up of a series of points. These points therefore don't make a smooth a curve as compared to the die cut letterforms for analog print.

I asked whether doing letterpress is more of a job or a hobby and she explained the clients are too far in between to make letterpress printing a steady job. Using business cards as an example, it is hard to justify the cost of the process to a normal client. Digital printing offers cheaper, more convenient service with quality not far from the analog process. The clients who do approach the studio appreciate the process and the quality the press gives. However they are not steady enough to make it a full-time job. Dafi Kuhne might be the exception.

Hamish Muir's response

After mistakenly sending the letter to the accounting office of 8vo (which could have been beneficial seeing that they had to contact Muir of my letters arrival), I received an email response to the questions I asked.

1. Are there any practices, processes or principles shared during the time at 8vo that has been taken into MuirNcNeil? Are these evident in the branding for TypeCon 2016? The potential of the z axis to extend the typo/graphic space. 2. Does the unconventional designs of your typefaces limit its application? What dictates the extent of the pictorial representation in your type design? // 3. What overarching aims do you adhere to whilst creating unconventional type designs? // 4. To what extent does the typeface’s design maintain the recognisability of a letterform? MuirMcNeil typefaces are not primarily intended to be serviceable as carriers of language operating to optimise the reader’s assimilation of information. Indeed they are systems (modulated through form and resolution) of building blocks which allow us to test the limits of readability in the context of the immutability of alphabetic form, and the human perceptual processes at work in the act of reading. 4. Part 2 Were there any cases where the overall art direction of a typeface did not translate well to certain letterforms during the design process? A typeface can be defined as a system of differences. As such, and working within the constraints we define for most of our type systems, we allow some letterforms to push convention beyond breaking point; the test whether they still operate within the context of being set, in words / phrases / sentences  / paragraphs. 5. What were you trying to achieve with the design style of 8vo? Was it an attempt to challenge people’s readability of type? Or was it designed to communicate a certain attitude? 8vo did not set out to have a style – more an attitude; using type as the core ingredient of our work. Making each job better than the last one. Seeing the output of the studio as a continuing and incremental journey toward new areas of experimentation. We were equally at home producing work which challenged the viewer as we were working within functional contexts when appropriate. 6. Do you feel there was an affinity with the freedom of the poster and the visual language you were creating at 8vo? Posters are big (if they are proper posters) – they also have to work from far away; thus, unlike editorial design, designing a poster offers an opportunity to explore scale, type, form and colour in specific ways. 7. After being in the industry for so long, has the way people viewed design changed? Thirty-five years ago, when asked ‘what do you do?’, the answer (‘graphic design’) always needed an explanation by way of a list of examples – typical things graphic designers designed. Now everyone’s a graphic designer (or claims to be) and the only qualifications required seem to be access to a laptop and a subscription to CS. It’s a sorry state of affairs. Not helped by the exponential rise in the number of graphic design courses / student numbers at degree level. In the eighties graphic design was hi-jacked by marketing people (which led to branding). At the moment it’s under threat from too many groups with not quite so hidden agendas – for example critical design (and other pseudo-intellectual nonsense) at one end, and professional educators (who think teaching is a process and that to teach requires no subject expertise) at the other. 8. Without considering technology, what do you think are the main differences between the design from the past and the current one? Graphic design can only be considered in the context of technology. 9. What difference did you find designing in the UK and America? Not applicable. Unless you mean working for clients in the US. There’s no discernible difference that I’ve come across, although both 8vo and MuirMcNeil have been fortunate with their clients. 10. Are there still schools and orientations in design? I’m waiting for the demise of the Parish Magazine School of Graphic Design. Hopefully it won’t be long now, hastened by the last Riso machine ever made finally falling into disrepair.

Letter

Taking on board the advice given, I chose to send a personal letter to the studios and designers I have identified for interviewing.

A handmade yellow envelope was chosen to help make the letter standout when posted through the studios door, encouraging them to open it rather than immediately discard.
The letters are written on textured handmade stock from visiting the Salts Mill in Saltaire.
This is to hopefully make the letter interesting enough for them to reply.

The zine was designed as a way to demonstrate where I'm coming from as a designer and to give the studios and designers a token of appreciation. The zines design was influenced by my readings of Müller-Brockmann's Grid Systems in Graphic Design. A specific grid system was developed in relation to the photographic content found inside. It is a more focused variation of the publication produced in Level 04 that is designed with cost effectiveness in mind. Hence the small form factor that allows the zine to be printed on A4, with only 16 pages and being able to fit in a standard size envelope.

At this point, I have sent these letters to 8vo, Bureau Mirko Borsche and Zak Group Office.