The 2008 Graphic Arts Degree private view was held at Static gallery on Friday 16th May. There was a range of Graphic design, Illustration and animation. I personally found the illustration the most interesting and exciting.
Overall I found the degree show a bit disappointing. I felt that the exhibitors did not have enough space to showcase their work, it was all mixed up, for example one persons work could have been at opposite ends of the room. It was hard to see a persons body of work as a whole and make their name and style memorable. Even though it is a course with a mixture of pathways, I felt that these should have been grouped as well. It makes it easier for the viewer to compare projects and work between graphic designers and illustrators.
Since coming back from the degree show, I have read through the catalogue and felt that there was no rhythm to it. It was hard to find students work that I wanted to look up. It should have been in alphabetical order. This was also the case with the website.
Although I felt the layout and production of the degree show was a failure, there are some talented students and interesting pieces of work. Some of the graphic designers had very commercial work and I could see them working in the industry immediately, such as Philip Lackmaker, Tom Grant and Georgina Brombey.
Some of the illustrators had a very appealing style and visually pleasing pieces of work. The person who stood out the most to me was Elizabeth Dunning. I liked her use of hand typography, her simple yet detailed line drawings and I also liked her ideas behind her work. The image above is based on an interview with film director Michel Gondry. This would be perfect for a side image in a magazine to the article/interview.
