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Reflecting on graphic design since the Millennium

To find out more details about the transfer to The Open University see A New Chapter for OCA.

Reflecting on graphic design since the Millennium thumb

Reflecting on graphic design since the Millennium

This is a post from the weareoca.com archive. Information contained within it may now be out of date.
The exhibition Graphic Design: Now in Production features work produced by 250 different graphic designers, made since the millennium. It charts a number of contemporary strands from the cultures of design-led publishing, the renaissance of type design, the growth of film and TV title sequence as a form of storytelling, shifts in branding, to the exploration of new ways of turning raw information into compelling narratives. Part survey, part academic text, the catalogue, edited by Andrew Blauvelt and Ellen Lupton picks up on ideas of the designer as producer, who is increasingly in control of both the creative tools and the means to distribute their work; the relationship between reading and writing and the continuing debate of authorship within graphic design; and the growth of the design entrepreneur who is moving graphic design from a service industry to more of a self-financing model.

Experimental Jetset, Statement and Counter-Statement 2011

Generally there tends to be fewer graphic design exhibitions than ones featuring contemporary or fine art, and well researched and curated surveys such as this are even rarer. So its a bit frustrating that the show is currently only being toured in America. However, the exhibition book is available from your local library, which is where I found my copy. And a number of participating galleries and art centres have posted useful resources online such as:
A lecture by featured British designer Anthony Burrill posted by the Walker Art gallery. Burrill’s work plays with simple, bold, and witty images and typography. It’s well worth a view: http://www.walkerart.org/calendar/2011/design-lecture-anthony-burrill
The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum has posted a 10 minute video of the curator’s tour of the exhibition: http://www.cooperhewitt.org/exhibitions/now-in-production as well as a slide show of some of the content.
While the Hammer Museum in Los Angles has posted a video compilation of some of the film and TV title sequences featured: http://hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/detail/exhibition_id/218
The catalogue was designed in Glasgow by ISO http://isodesign.co.uk/graphic-design-now-in-production-la
Anybody fancy a study visit to the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, North Carolina sometime between October 2013 and January 2014?


Posted by author: Christian Lloyd

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