In 2016 I started a review of Gee Vaucher’s Introspective exhibition by saying: “…[as] a teenage punk in the early 1980s it would have seemed inconceivable that Gee Vaucher’s artwork might ever grace the walls of a gallery…”. In 2023, the same thought crosses my mind about what ‘teenage me’ would have made of Vaucher’s life andContinue reading “Resituating Gee Vaucher”
Author Archives: Nigel Ball
Design Twitter
This post is delayed—I was planning to commemorate 10 years of being on Twitter back in July, but other things got in the way. However, with the furore around Elon Musk’s buy-out of the site, it seems pertinent to write about Twitter now, especially as many people I follow are starting to flee the platformContinue reading “Design Twitter”
Apostrophizing
As we were finishing off writing the panel text for our forthcoming Picture Books For All exhibition about the Ipswich printer W. S. Cowell Ltd, Rob Ramsden, Vassiliki Tzomaka and I had an interesting debate around whether to apostrophize their name or not. Colloquially known as Cowells, we questioned whether this should be written asContinue reading “Apostrophizing”
Picture books for all: the journey of an exhibition
Nearly 3 years ago, when staring out of the window of a staff room at the University of Suffolk and watching Suffolk Archives’ new headquarters be built right next door to us, my colleague Rob Ramsden and I ruminated on what the archive of W.S. Cowell Ltd might have in it. That this archive wouldContinue reading “Picture books for all: the journey of an exhibition”
Creative logo process
It is always rewarding when a graduate student gets in contact to let you know what they have been up to, and it is even more rewarding when they ask for input into a project. I knew Elliott Hefford, who graduated from University of Suffolk in 2015, had done well for himself; landing a secureContinue reading “Creative logo process”
Surface exchange
During this year I’ve been growing tired of my use of Instagram, to the stage where recently when posting something, I thought to myself: “god I’m really starting to bore myself here.” I suspect this is mostly due to not getting out so much over the last couple of years, (for obvious reasons), and whenContinue reading “Surface exchange”
Graphic commons: make do and mend
Getting out and about in recent weeks has bought a renewed attention on my part to the graphic commons, and in particular, road markings. I noticed a few ‘make do and mend’ type repairs to road markings over the last year on some of my constitutionals, but their prevalence has only really struck me recently.Continue reading “Graphic commons: make do and mend”
New old content
I am pleased to be able to add links to pdfs of two of my previously out-of-print publications to this website. My first foray into publishing took the form of a self-published photobook and essay titled McJunk in 2011. This documented an eight year obsession of photographing McDonald’s litter when ever I came across it.Continue reading “New old content”
Notes on a no show—12 months on
12 months ago, on 11 June 2020, I wrote the words below on my iPhone on the occasion of not being able to have an End of Year Show exhibition of student Graphic Design and Illustration work due to the Covid-19 lockdown. I left the words sitting on my phone, not quite able to publishContinue reading “Notes on a no show—12 months on”
Repetition repetition repetition
After a tutorial with a student who spoke of having what they thought might be RSI last year, I decided to deliver a lecture on the subject. It isn’t untypical for students to start to develop RSI symptoms in their final year of study, as they cram for their dissertations and towards their last assignments.Continue reading “Repetition repetition repetition”
Nigel Ball 