Recently I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to travel to Bucharest, Romania, for work. The trip was so that I could attend an art and design education fair and to talk at a couple of high schools about our courses. This was my first such recruitment trip abroad, and I’m told you oftenContinue reading “Graphic commons: Bucharest, a bohemian rhapsody”
Author Archives: Nigel Ball
Ending the war on wildlife
I recently wrote a review about the design and illustration of Chris Packham’s A People’s Manifesto for Wildlife and I’m honoured that Eye magazine have published it on their blog. You can read the review here. Harry Woodgate‘s illustrations for the manifesto are stunning. Thanks to Harry, and to Chris, for allowing Eye to useContinue reading “Ending the war on wildlife”
Back at ya: exhibitions are always political (reprise)
While exhibiting protest graphics in a show titled Hope To Nope, London’s Design Museum decided to host an arms industry fundraising event in their Kensington premises. Many of the exhibitors were so angry about what they saw as an unethical affront to their presence in the show, they physically removed their work from the museumContinue reading “Back at ya: exhibitions are always political (reprise)”
Graphic commons: analogue community
Lostwithiel, Cornwall, (affectionately known as Losty by the locals), was the nearest town on our recent summer holiday. As I have mentioned in a previous post I have an interest in noticeboards, and Lostwithiel has not one, but two that I could find. What struck me more than this though was that 2 noticeboards didContinue reading “Graphic commons: analogue community”
Reclaim the sheets
While some may praise Lush for its recent #SpyCops poster campaign, having your own shop window to deliver a political campaign message in is a luxury most do not have. Now, the non-shop owning agitpropper can turn to Brandalism, who have launched a Subvertising Manual that shows anyone how to reclaim visual spaces from advertisers byContinue reading “Reclaim the sheets”
Graphic commons: Oxford streets
For many, traipsing historic academic cobbles and staring at spires, let alone dreaming of them, would define any visit to Oxford. For me, on a family weekend there recently, it was an opportunity to study its graphic commons. Looking for its vernacular, I mostly steered clear of high-street parades, and came away finding the city’sContinue reading “Graphic commons: Oxford streets”
Collaboration
I was recently asked to feed into a Creative Review report on creative collaboration. Published this week, it also features educators Tash Willcocks, Joe McCullagh, Pam Bowman and Dr Cathy Gale discussing teaching collaboration. Matthew Beardsell, Tom Harding and Stuart Radford of Music, Made by Many, and Superunion respectively, were asked about the importance ofContinue reading “Collaboration”
Exhibitions are always political
The bracketing of the Hope To Nope: Graphics and Politics 2008–2018 exhibition at London’s Design Museum is interesting for many reasons. Starting with Shepard Fairey’s Hope campaign for Obama’s 2008 election, and (almost) finishing with Trump’s Make America Great Again baseball cap, these two items showcase how effective vacuous phraseology can be in winning overContinue reading “Exhibitions are always political”
The Guardian is dead, long live The Guardian
Today sees the last copy of The Guardian in its Berliner format. What is about to follow will be known by those that come to this blog post after Monday 15 January 2018, when the new look Guardian is launched. But for now, only the new masthead has been revealed in a video teaser. TheContinue reading “The Guardian is dead, long live The Guardian”
A (very) graphic memoir
I’ve just finished reading Paul Sahre’s autobiography: Two-Dimensional Man: A Graphic Memoir, and it is one of the most untypical graphic design related books I have ever read. ‘Untypical’ because for much of the book Sahre writes about his personal and private life; and graphic design ‘related’ because, at times, his profession seems incidental to theContinue reading “A (very) graphic memoir”
Nigel Ball 