The annual TypoBerlin conference is a major fixture on the European design calendar, bringing together over 1,500 attendees in the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin. Erstwhile staff member Ken Garland opened this year’s conference with a talk on the theme of “touch”, taking the audience on a journey through senses and ideas, culminating with a very personal and touching – pun intended – story. Department  graduates Paul Barnes and Marian Misiak talked on making typefaces from Cornish vernacular lettering, and Polish type design heritage from the Communist era respectively. Gerry Leonidas spoke on the emergence of typeface design as α professional discipline with global reach. Slanted magazine have  been reporting on their blog on Ken, Paul, Marian, and Gerry.

Wayne Hart, a Department alumnus and visiting instructor for letter cutting, has just been awarded Gold Award & Overall Winner and Maker of the Year Award in the annual Craft & Design competition. The specialist media judge, Medeia Cohan-Petrolino, summed up Wayne’s work:

Wayne Hart’s work offers a unique juxtaposition – upholding traditional letter-carving methods while simultaneously being contemporary and innovative. His passion for his craft and meticulous manner come across in every aspect of the work that he produces. Wayne’s craftsmanship and creativity are already at an impressive stage and his plans to continue pushing forward with his practice and technical development will surely make him one to watch.

Wayne has already been awarded a number of prestigious scholarships from the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust, the Worshipful Company of Masons, the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies, the Finn Family Fund, the Bishop of Norwich and a number of smaller charities. His work is increasingly recognised, and can also be seen in the base of the clock tower in the University’s London Road campus.

You can read the artist’s documentation, where he thanks Fiona, research student Titus Nemeth, and MA graduate Toshi Omagari for the help with the non-Latin typeface layouts.

This week we were pleased to welcome members of the Institute of Conservation, for whom we ran a hands-on print identification course. To find out more about our short courses, including next week’s poster workshop in conjunction with the V&A and the Arts Council England Subject Specialist Network (Wednesday 24 April), contact Diane Bilbey (d.j.bilbey@reading.ac.uk)

We run regular two-day short courses explaining printing ­processes, specially tailored to the needs of librarians, archivists, ­curators, and social historians. Led by Martin Andrews, each day focuses on one of the three main processes – letterpress, lithography, and intaglio – and participants are able to examine original printing materials and prints from the Department’s extensive collections, and try out tools, materials, and techniques in hands-on sessions. By the end of the course you will be able to indentify a wide range of printing procesess, take prints yourself, and use the replica Gutenberg press featured in Stephen Fry’s ­television documentary.

¶ For more information on the Posters SSN, contact Catherine Flood (c.flood@vam.ac.uk) at the V&A

We are delighted that the John Morgan Studio has won the graphics category in the Designs of the Year award.
 

Reading Typography graduate, John Morgan, has been nominated for the 2013 Designs of the year competition run by the Design Museum for his work on the visual identity for the 13th Architecture Biennale in Venice.

Read about his work on the Eye blog: Common ground: a designer’s letter from Venice.

John is currently teaching students on our MA Book Design course.

Fabula is gaining popularity for use in resources for children, both on paper and on screen.

The typeface was designed under Sue Walker’s direction by a team of staff and students at Reading, including Vincent Connare, José Scaglione and Gerry Leonidas, as part of an EU-funded project producing bilingual story books for children. Since then it has been available for free, along with advice if required, from the Typographic design for children web site.

Some examples of how Fabula has been used:

Jashanjit Kaur, a designer based in Hyderabad, India used Fabula for Amigo, described as ‘a socialising platform for school children that provides a medium for sharing their ideas and pursuing interests in a safe and secure environment’.

Cecelia Erlich used the letterforms in a Spanish television programme, La cucaracha.

Dietmar Brühmüller used the font for the whole range of four young children’s games, including the one illustrated above.

The deadline for applications is Wednesday 1 May 2013.  Please click here for further details.

Contact Mary Dyson if you would like to discuss your proposed research.

Prof Sue Walker, who contributed written evidence to the Commission, has also been invited to become a member of the Associate Parliamentary Design and Innovation Group (APDIG) to highlight existing work in the design research field that has not yet been exploited by policy makers and those in government, to point to design research as an untapped resource for policy makers. The group will report to a parliamentary seminar in June.

APDIG brings together colleagues from universities recognised for excellent and relevant design research. Information design research has much to offer government and public services through its user-centred and often collaborative methods, as well as through research outcomes that inform the presentation of complex material, in print and online.

An example of research-led information design is the Centre for Information Design Research’s work for the Behavioural Insights Team, a group of economists and psychologists working within the Cabinet Office, to help with a trial they are running to support unemployed people looking for work. Earlier this week the forms were shown in the Independent in a piece describing the impact made during testing.