I remember Paul Gorman saying of Barney Bubbles, just shortly after his book about the graphic designer, Reasons To Be Cheerful, had been published, that he was the ‘gift that keeps on giving’. Gorman, apparently, kept getting sent things people thought Bubbles may have designed that didn’t make it into the first edition of theContinue reading “Meeting Bob Linney”
Category Archives: Exhibitions
Finding Jacky Linney… and Tony
Two years ago I wrote about Bob Linney, opening with: “I didn’t think I knew Bob Linney. It turns out though that I did—he was the mysterious designer behind a print that had been hanging in our house for some time. Bought by my wife from an antiques centre several years ago… I’ve been staringContinue reading “Finding Jacky Linney… and Tony”
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”
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”
Mainly Museums: PHM
I was honoured to be asked to write something for the Mainly Museums website recently, and decided very quickly that it would be good to champion Manchester’s Peoples History Museum, (PHM), on the site. My choice was influenced by the fact PHM tells its story through the graphic accoutrements of political activity; from trade unionContinue reading “Mainly Museums: PHM”
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”
Can graphic design kill you?
There is an irony to the fact that four days after the Can Graphic Design Save Your Life? exhibition opened at the Wellcome Collection, the biennial Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair kicked off at the ExCeL centre in London’s Docklands. The former, in the words of Creative Review, showcases graphic design usedContinue reading “Can graphic design kill you?”
The museum of things
Today I visited the Design Museum in its new Kensington home. Primarily going to see the Design of the Year 2016 show with students, being a big fan of the museum, I was also keen to see how the relocation from Shad Thames had been managed. There is much in the move to the formerContinue reading “The museum of things”
Survival guide
I’ve just written a review of the excellent Gee Vaucher exhibition, Introspective, at Colchester’s Firstsite gallery for Eye Magazine’s blog. Read it here.
Nigel Ball 