STUFF – Moth Design & Death + The Studio Society

Objects have history, and each one shapes us in particular ways. Objects that we have as children, the stuffed penguin, silk from the blanket are all destined to be abandoned. Yet they leave traces that will mark the rest of our lives. They specifically influence how we can develop a capacity for happiness, an aesthetic experience and creative play. They demonstrate to us as children that objects in the ‘eternal’ world can be loved. D.W. Winnicott (an English pediatrician and psychoanalyst who was especially influential in the field of object relations theory) believed that during stages of our lives we continue to search for objects we can experience as both within and outside the self.

The use of transition objects continues through our lives as we imbue objects with meaning and memories that are associated with other ideas, places and people. Photographs, mementos and other memorabilia are used to remember good times and friends. Virtually all possessions have a value in creating the self. What is ‘mine’ is that with which I have a defining relationship, that not only defines the object but also defines me. Possessions can vary in the degree to which they have this effect, and ‘treasured possessions’ have a far more significant effect on the ego if they are lost.
Winnicott, D. (1953). Transitional objects and transitional phenomena

STUFF
Call for SoCD staff submissions
Do you have a collection of STUFF, which you would like to share? It could be a collection which has been added to over time, bequeathed to you, multiples as a result of habitual buying. It is that the collection represents multiples of an object which are thematically linked.

The proposal is that, if you would like to contribute to this project we would invite you to submit to moth@falmouth.ac.uk an image of the particular collection of ‘Stuff’– (part or whole) along with a word document (500 words max) which gives an insight into your collection. This could be a narrative or a list cataloguing the objects, including a reveal about why you have this STUFF and what it means to you.

The collection will be displayed in the atrium in the lockable glass cabinets which might restrict the sort of objects displayed (we are anticipating that potentially 3 collections could be displayed at once). However, if you have a collection of larger objects, these could be photographed and the images mounted and displayed on the boards. Along with this submission please include a photograph of how the collection is usually stored/displayed/archived.

Basically a conversation is needed with us to resolve how we might accommodate your collection of STUFF.

Each collection will be on display for a week:
WK 7 Friday 28 Oct. | Wk 8 Friday 04 Nov. | Wk 9 Friday 11 Nov.

Following Christmas this will be extended to students.

Please submit your collection proposals via email to
moth@falmouth.ac.uk by Friday 14th Oct.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Nikki Salkeld and Ashley Rudolph

 

Success at TypeCon 2016, Seattle

Congratulations to Joseph Hill, Louis Braddock Clarke, Callum Dean, and Ben McMillan Stage 2 Graphic Design, who have been selected for their typographic work being exhibited at TypeCon 2016, Seattle.

Results:

http://prototype.typegallery.com/prototype-results/

Overview of the project:

 

 

http://prototype.typegallery.com

protoType – Promoting Speculative Typeface Design

 

 

 

D&AD Award Success

At the 2016 D&AD Global Student awards ceremony, Falmouth students won 16 D&AD pencils, the most from any single University in the world.

 

All of our winners were from the School of Communication Design. Graphic Design students, Jamie Quantrill and Matthew Churchill were each winners of the coveted yellow pencil for their submissions. A total of six graphite pencils were won by Falmouth students: Tom Austin and Jessica Nineham (Graphic Design), Ryan Ho, Jonathan Tubb, Alycea Marx-Blackwell, Jon Coates and Josh Welton (MA Creative Advertising).  A special mention must go to Ryan Ho, who not only won two graphite pencils and one wood pencil, but also received the white pencil, for his submission for the Ford mobility brief. Wood pencils were also awarded to Jonathan Tubb, Sanjana Dora, Gabby Prawl, Jon Coates and Dimitrios Dimitriou (MA Creative Advertising) and Louis Knight, Matthew Caldwell, Emma Jeffery and Becki Sewell (Graphic Design).

The ceremony was the final event in the week, following the D&AD New Blood show case exhibition of students work in Shoreditch, London. The exhibition presents student work from the leading courses in Graphic Design, Advertising, Illustration and Photography and attracts thousands of visitors, including professionals from the top agencies and design consultancies, all there to find the best of the best of this years ‘new blood’. At the exhibition Graphic Design student, Matthew Caldwell and MA Creative Advertising students Lucy Wai & William Boehm received a Best of New Blood award (‘Ones to watch’). Lucy and William also were announced as the overall winners of the ‘Pitch yourself’ brief. Additionally Creative Advertising students Ryan Ho, Josh Welton, William Boehm and Lucy Wai were accepted into the D&AD New Blood Academy.

The D&AD champions excellence in Design, Advertising and communication. Our continued success across all of their award schemes and measures of success, place Falmouth University amongst the best of the best.

‘Our success should not be a surprise to anyone who has met our students. Their drive and commitment is matched only by their creativity and passion for learning. Equally our approach to teaching provides a learning environment that is infused with industry connections and delivered by tutors who bring their extensive professional experience, creativity and commitment to every facet of the student’s learning experience.’

Jon Unwin, Director, The School of Communication Design.

Graphic Oscars

On Thursday 9^th June we hosted the Graphic Oscars for Stage 1 Graphic Design at the School of Communication Design, Falmouth.

The ‘Red Carpet’ event brought together collaborative film groups who were tasked with delivering a 60 second short film. The brief came from the very first task students were asked to consider at the start of their academic year: to fill in a ‘DEAR ME’ letter with a ten thing list of to-do items on it for the year ahead. We shortlisted the whole years list and these became the working titles for the films:

1. Say “Yes” more
2. Learn to dance
3. ALWAYS have milk
4. Eat like an adult
5. Fill my boots
6. Try to like wine
7. Buy a new Apple something
8. Make friends with someone who owns a yacht
9. Host a dinner party
10. Be more musical

Red carpet guests enjoyed, cold beers and popcorn. All the films were great but there are always winners (and runners up)

Oscar winners:

Best World Cinema: ALWAYS have milk: Vidisha Shenoy, Haruka Kondo, Hannah Li, Jenny Jeon, Aileen Kvamme Rokkum.

Best Maritime Film: ‘BOB’ Make friends with someone who owns a yacht: Martha Holmes, Emma Singleton, Lucy Bristow, Lucy Scholes, Adele Bright, Gorgina Blackwell, Molly Bryan.

Best Public Information: Try to like wine: Rutherford Craze, Luke Charsley, James Cook, Lucus Rhys.

Best Film: Robot AL-76 goes astray: Ben McMillan, Louis B Clarke, Joseph Hill, Cllum Dean.

Life Time Achievement: Ben Casey ( A big thank you for being our external examiner)

Collaborative design research project tackles stigma of mental health

During National Mental Health Awareness Week, a global collaborative research project has completed its first phase of work; investigating how design communication and story telling can challenge the stigma of mental health issues.

The project instigated by graphic design staff at Falmouth and psychiatrists from Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, saw an initial branding project develop into a global service design challenge. This challenge centred on bringing shared insights from doctors, designers, carers and patients together; using storytelling through film and UX design to deconstruct and challenge the language and insights that so stigmatises those facing and living with mental health issues.

Part of the project’s investigation unearthed the scale of the invisible epidemic facing the world, with mental healthcare spend and problems growing exponentially over the coming years.

By 2020 the NHS will face the reality of the problem being one of its biggest healthcare priorities. Globally it remains one of the greatest challenges in not only industrialised nations but developing economies too. As an example, China has upwards of 95 million cases affecting its citizens, 50% of which are created before the age of 14. In the UK, alongside physical medical conditions of the brain, day-to-day, 1 in 10 suffer from anxiety and depression. Longer term, 4 in 10 will experience depression in their lifetime and alongside the social and family challenges this brings, 70 million workdays are lost each year, having massive effect on the economy and life of our nation. The true reality of this epidemic has to be opened up for discussion and the Falmouth project; ‘Communicating Mental Health’ aims to confront the dilemma.

The scope of the project soon developed with a further two student design teams at Chinese Universities in Anhui and Jiangnan being briefed in China by designer and research lead Bryan Clark from Falmouth in March. Professor Dr Qingjun Chen and Professor Dr Barbara Wong were to manage the Chinese teams in their two respective Universities and the two psychiatry leads in Cornwall were Dr Adrian Flynn and Dr Rohit Shankar. Additionally, medical students from Exeter University joined some of the project team’s research investigations and co-discovery sessions. Technology support was aided by educational technologist Adel Gordon from Falmouth, setting up online web portals to share learning and insights. A key contributor to the project was Robert Woolfe, Director of Cornish service design company Made Open. Robert’s experience of working with Government, Design Council and communities around the UK, bought valuable project experience to the work of the Year 2 students at Falmouth, where he is also employed as an associate lecturer.

The last stage of work will see the integrated design solutions, campaigns and digital outputs shared with the project teams in Falmouth and China. Further testing will be run with doctors in Ghana, Ethiopia and Singapore for feedback to affirm potential impact and learning.

Head of Graphic Design Bryan Clark notes; “This has been an important project for us, addressing a truly global question through collaborative research, teaching and innovation. It also comes at an important time for the School and our learning, as we launch a new masters course in Communication Design. This explores the emerging landscape of design for human need in the context of a rapidly changing world and how the global creative industries and individuals can respond.  Cornwall too is on the map nationally with major new health funding from the Design Council coming to the South West. The project team aim to examine the opportunity of this news in the context of work undertaken to date and build on the great collaboration so far between design and science communities both in Cornwall and beyond”.

Visiting Professor Rory Sutherland Lecture – Thu 21st Apr, 5:30pm Lecture Theatre 1 Woodlane Campus

We are delighted to welcome back Rory Sutherland, Vice-Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather UK, and past President (2010) of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA). He holds an Honorary Doctorate (D. Litt) at Brunel University, is a Visiting Professor at Warwick Business School, and is author of The Wikki Man (2011), as well as countless journal articles and blog posts.

Born in Usk, Monmouthshire in 1965, Rory read Classics at Christ’s College, Cambridge, before joining Ogilvy as a Graduate Trainee in 1988. After 18 months spent as an account handler, Rory became a copywriter in June 1990.

He has since worked on Amex, BT, Compaq, Microsoft, IBM, BUPA, easyJet, Unilever, winning a few awards along the way. He was appointed Creative Director of OgilvyOne in 1997 and ECD in 1998. In 2005 he was appointed Vice Chairman of the Ogilvy & Mather Group in the UK.

“Rory’s media-neutral approach anticipated the digital revolution: his mantra has always been to start by asking, what is the business problem that needs to be solved?”

Rory’s lecture is being held Thursday 21st April at 5:30pm, Lecture Theatre 1, Woodlane Campus.

If you would like to attend book your free tickets here, but hurry as numbers are limited.

Graphic Design Studio Society

On Monday 29th February 2016 staff and students from all three years took part in the Leap Year project.

The project made use of this additional day by either: making | sewing | whittling | printing | crafting | creating | publishing | baking | knitting | etc. a set of four objects/things which were all the same.

The objects were then exhibited for the day in the Fox 4 Atrium and at 4.00pm there was a ‘lucky dip where object sets were swapped.

In addition we held a book fair in the afternoon for pre-loved | unloved books | made books | to swap, sell or donate (we raised £38.00 for charity).

Moth Talks: In the face of death

Moth Talks were hosted by the School of Communication Design at Falmouth University on Friday 8^th Jan. Moth is a research group established by Ashley Rudolph and Nikki Salkeld, Senior Lecturers in Graphic Design at Falmouth University. The work explores, through the discipline of Graphic Design, visual language associated with death and end-of-life experiences – creating visual ‘toolkits’ (analogue and digital) as devices for change in: attitudes, conventions and context surrounding death issues.

The talks also incorporated an exhibition and launch of the publication for the current Moth Project In the face of death. This was a collaborative project between Falmouth University and Augsburg University of Applied Sciences working with Prof Stefan Bufler MA(RCA) and Prof Michael Wörgötter along with communication students from both institutions. The students were asked to design a graphic system of symbols, creating meaningful and applied visual language to print, artefacts, digital and social media platforms. It focused on ideas and beliefs at the end of life, (the moment at which we die) and the consequences of that.

The show continues until the end of Jan 2016

The Moth talks brought together, writers, philosophers, diplomats, sociologists, innovators designers, artists, teachers and historians: Ashley Rudolph , Nikki Salkeld, Dr Stephen Cave, Prof. Tony Walter, Joe Macleod, Lucy Willow and Mercedes Kemp.

Dr Stephen Cave who is a writer and philosopher, has written essays, features and reviews on many philosophical, ethical and scientific subjects.

His internationally acclaimed first book, *Immortality: The Quest to Live Forever and How It Drives Civilization, was published in English and other languages in spring 2012.

Prof. Tony Walter. Facing Death, Facing Loss. Vernacular symbols of loss in a post-Protestant society.

Protestantism has profoundly shaped western European cultures of mourning. Banned from caring for their dead, Protestants could (officially) only remember the dead. In reaction, grief’s emotions came to be creatively expressed in vernacular symbols: nature, the romantic, the gothic, candles, music and angels.

Tony Walter is the world’s only Professor of Death Studies. He was a freelance writer for many years, before becoming Lecturer, then Reader, in Sociology at the University of Reading 1994-2007.

Over the past twenty five years he has researched, written and lectured on death in modern society, e.g. funerals, afterlife beliefs, personal bereavement and public mourning, human remains in museums, new discourses of spirituality, death in the news media and in online social media.

He joined the University of Bath in 2006. From 2011-15, he was Director of the University’s Centre for Death & Society. Now an Honorary Professor, he continues to work with CDAS, gives presentations around the world and is writing three books that bring together his past 25 years’ work.

Joe Macleod. Closure Experiences

We are now encouraged to drunkenly stumble from purchase to purchase, with any sense of longevity and responsibility removed. Long term side effects of this are exampled in the Product, Service and Digital landscapes that we frequent. The consequences of our behaviour results in a changing climate, industries fined billions for mis-selling and individuals casually eroding their personal online reputations.

Joe Macleod has been working in the mobile design space since 1998 and has been involved in a pretty diverse range of projects. At Nokia he helped develop some of the most streamlined packaging in the world, he created a hack team to disrupt the corporate drone of powerpoint, produced mobile services for pregnant women in Africa and pioneered lighting behaviour for millions of phones. For the last four years he has been key to establishing ustwo as the UKs best digital product studio, with 180 people globally in London, New York and Sweden, while also successfully building education initiatives, curriculums and courses on the back of the Include Design campaign which launched in 2013. He now works independently on projects and is currently focusing on his work around Closure Experiences.

Lucy Willow & Mercedes Kemp. Senior Lecturers in BA(Hons) Fine Art. The Falmouth School of Art. Café Morte.

Lost for Words is a culmination of the work of Café Morte to engage in and encourage discussion around the subject of death with a wider community of artists, curators and healthcare professionals. It has been curated with the intention of creating a thoughtful and contemplative space for both artists and audience to reflect on their own personal interpretations on death and how it is represented in art and literature. The works are varied, expressed through a variety of different media and address through physical means the often, unthinkable concept of absence and loss.

[Photography By Beki Nash]

 

Monotype: Falmouth Monogram

As part of the Alan Kitching exhibition, Monotype invited our students to take part in a competition to design their own monogram.

Using one letter from the typefaces used in the Alan Kitching Collection, together with one other, they were asked to render their monogram in such a way that it communicated something about them as a designer. The winning entries were chosen by Alan Kitching, who each received a collection of Monotype goodies with the outright winner taking home one of the limited edition prints from the Alan Kitching Collection.  Overall, Alan felt like there was a high standard amongst the entries and was thrilled to see such variety.

The winners were announced via @Monotype on Wednesday 6th January. Here they are on receiving their monotype prizes.

Winner: Dominic Layton (centre)

Runners up: Victoria Kleymenova (left) Harry Ingrams (right)

 

Process & Liturgy; California-style

Over the past few years, many of the graphic design course team have been re-evaluating their sense of what ‘research’ means, how it fits with their teaching & design practice, and have been encouraged to take steps toward defining a clearer personal research agenda. With a changing educational landscape, and a wide variety of opinions regarding the place and definition of research, this process has (on a personal level) been somewhat overwhelming, and I have found myself asking really big questions about, well, pretty much everything.

Mid-way into this process, and almost a year ago to the day, I found myself at the receiving end of a couple of small (yet successful) internal funding bids that enabled me to visit Los Angeles, San Francisco and Redding last July to explore what have become two key areas of focus for the work that feeds who I am.

I had already started a project interviewing graphic designers, specifically exploring their personal design process (the ‘how’ and ‘why’ behind the what we do – speaking with Angus Hyland at Pentagram, Phil Carter at Carter Wong and Fred Flade at Soon_ in the Spring). This has been, and continues to work towards a ‘mapping’ project that will eventually express those processes visually. The resulting ‘Process Dictionary’ will compliment a number of other process-based projects already under way and will (hopefully) culminate in a book with colleague Dion Star unpacking ‘process’ more holistically.

California is home to an eclectic mix of individuals & companies who represent schools-of-thought that were either; significant in my own design education, are current world leaders in their respective fields, or paint a much broader picture of the reach of design today. If you start just south of San Jose, and drive one hour north on the 101 to San Francisco (or use the 280, which is way more beautiful), you will probably pass the head offices of most of the leading communication & innovation companies in the world. Never one to name drop (and I might get sued if I do), I was able to spend time in conversation with the head of one of the largest communication media networks in the world, a design director from one of the most influential personal computer companies in the world, a design lead for a company re-inventing the way we think about travel accommodation, the head of product for a team re-imagining recruitment, several creative directors who have flown the UK nest and are thriving in the US, head of a new digital start-up that is challenging the conventional design agency model, two independent industrial designers who each build custom motorcycles (but both for very different reasons), and several academics who represent polarised schools of thought on design education in the 21^st Century. What was overwhelming was their unified passion for what they do, their shared belief in the power of design to improve the world around us, and their willingness to share their ideas. At present, the interviews have been transcribed (thanks Heidi), and the journey to now convert some of the conversations into meaningful ‘process maps’ begins…

Alongside the core interviews, I was also able to attend (what is in conventional academic terms) a very unconventional ‘conference’ – with the aim of establishing a clearer vocabulary for broader themes I have been exploring for a while.

The bigger ‘research’ story has led me to question how to integrate my formal interest in design (23+ years), my informal & disjointed experience as a musician (28+ years), and how everything I do is underpinned by my belief that we are spiritual beings and were designed to be in relationship with God (over most of my life in one way or another). This has moved towards a practical exploration of how the broader arts can frame, enhance and compliment communities that seek to connect with God (what musician Michael Gungor calls ‘Liturgical Space’). An immediate example of this is the way in which stained-glass windows have, in days-gone-by, described biblical stories so as to make them accessible to (what would have been) a largely illiterate community. I’m curious as to what the modern-day equivalent of that may be – particularly as we have moved culturally from illiteracy, to literacy, to an increasingly visually-driven method of communication, yet the established modern church has still to fully embrace the arts beyond the trivial. The ‘conference’ I attended in California was organised by Bethel Music – part of Bethel Church in Redding, CA and was attended by a wide variety of creatively-biased individuals interested in how the arts (particularly music in this case, but with some reference to the visual arts) can further our experience, understanding and expression of God. The time away covered a wide variety of themes; from personal character & identity, to making good use of your resources, exploring the creative muse & self-doubt as an artist, to practical sessions on guitar effects (always a highlight), song-writing and the importance of community.

On both counts (process & liturgy), the trip was a definite career highlight, and the impact of the time away, conversations had, and life experienced will (I hope) have a significant bearing on the work that I produce over the next few years. As ever, the broader battle is to now find the time to actually move the projects forward in a meaningful way, but the framework is there, as is the will to do so, so watch this space

AN Dec. 2015-12-09

(Footnote; Particular thanks to Nolwenn Baot, Jon Unwin and Stuart Westhead at Falmouth University for their advice, support and guidance in making the trip happen. To Heidi Ball (again, at Falmouth) for making sure I didn’t end up in Mexico! To Neil Robinson at Chapter SF for opening up his black book of connections, and to The Giddens Family in Redding for opening their home and hearts (especially Rosie for giving up her room).