typography

by

Dramatic by design

Professor Rick Poynor reflects on a new exhibition of National Theatre posters and what they tell us about changing approaches to graphic design from mid-century to the modern day.

The exhibition of National Theatre posters I have curated for the theatre’s Wolfson Gallery spans more than five decades. Since the theatre’s founding in 1963, the posters’ design has been the responsibility of just five people, allowing for an exceptional degree of continuity. This makes the theatre’s output a particularly revealing case study. The posters are not only a record of how an institution central to British cultural life visualised the role of design, but they also provide an insight into changing approaches to graphic design over the decades.

National Theatre poster, Dance of Death, Old Vic Ken Briggs

The Dance of Death, Old Vic, 1967. Design: Ken Briggs. Photograph: Zoë Dominic (copyright National Theatre)

Continue reading →

Department of Typography & Graphic Communication collections and archives open afternoon

Entertainment: theatre, music, lotteries, fairs

To celebrate 25 years of ephemera studies Typography is hosting themed open afternoons to introduce university colleagues to this amazing source material as inspiration for cross–disciplinary research and other activities.

We begin with short talks, including by Rick Poynor on National Theatre posters, David Plant on material from the John and Griselda Lewis Collection, and Rob Banham on lotteries, drawing attention to some of the ways ephemera are being used to support research and scholarship. The main purpose of the sessions, though, is to encourage dialogue and inspiration for research bids.

There will be opportunity to look at material from the collections in Typography and to view the a-z of ephemera exhibition curated by the Centre for Ephemera Studies. An online version of the exhibition is at www.a-z-ephemera.org

Typography & Graphic Communication collections and archives open afternoon

Dialogue and interaction in business and commerce: forms, invoices, correspondence, trade cards

Throughout 2017/18 we are hosting open afternoons to introduce university colleagues to this amazing source material as inspiration for cross–disciplinary research and other activities.

Each session will include some lightning talks that draw attention to some of the ways ephemera are being used to support research and scholarship. The main purpose of the sessions, though, is to encourage dialogue and inspiration for research bids.

In the Typography Department, ToB2 at Earley Gate.

We begin with some lightning talks that draw attention to some of the ways ephemera are being used to support research and scholarship. The main purpose of the sessions, though, is to encourage dialogue and inspiration for research bids.

Confirmed speakers

Joe Doak, Associate Professor of Planning & Development and P/T Doctoral Student, Department of Real Estate & Planning, Henley Business School: Get Stuffed! The Importance of Stuff in Life, The Universe and Everything

Joe will outline how he is using ephemera (aka material culture…or ‘stuff’) to analyse 500 years of urban development in central Reading. He will illustrate his short talk by reporting on the role of Sutton Seeds’ Annual Farmers’ Year Book in shaping the development of the Royal Seed Establishment in Market Place.

Nicola Wilson, Lecturer in Book and Publishing Studies, English Literature will talk about using ephemera’/business records in the publishers’ archives.

Hiral Patel, Research Assistant, School of Built Environment will talk about her work on Ephemeral architecture | Architectural ephemera

Conceptualising a building as unfinished and always in making highlights the ephemeral nature of architecture. An approach to study the uses of a building, which foregrounds the practices happening within that building, is then faced with a methodological challenge of locating the fleeting building. It is here that the ephemera becomes a very valuable dataset. Experiences from two research projects will be discussed, which explore the ephemera from the University’s Special Collections. The first project is my doctoral study on the adaptations of our 50-years old library building at Whiteknights Campus. The second project is around the DEGW archive which explores the role of physical built environment in organisational practices.

Michael Twyman, Director of the Centre for Ephemera Studies, will discuss examples for invoices and trade cards from the ephemera collections.