Hasta La Ideas

Yesterday, after checking out the Kingston show in Shoreditch, I popped round the corner to have a squiz at Central Saint Martins Graphic Design degree show. Students on the course were clearly encouraged to explore various areas of design including illustration and photography. I liked what I saw so here are some highlights…

Henry Hadlow‘s The Golden Cockerel book (title page shown above) is an illustrated edition, he explains “of a gruesome Russian folk tale first written down by Pushkin. The illustrations reference the formal conventions of Indian miniature paintings and also the symmetry of Russian nesting doll illustration,” he continues. Here is a selection of spreads:

I really liked these posters by Carolina Andreoli which visualise personal data – such as food stuff’s eaten over a certain period – or relationship between friends and the places she met them.

“These four posters explore issues regarding the active user in music through time and the loss of a physical element in music collecting,” explains Matteo Peolo of these posters which make up his Tangible Object project. Note the graphic representation of vinyl bottom right and also the ones and zeros representing binary digital coding in the poster top left.

I’m not sure my photos do it justice – and I’ve seen this idea before, but Ellen Li’s Paper Lettering project caught my eye. Li had made letters out of strips of coloured paper but photographed them from such an angle as to replicate the thick down strokes made by a calligraphic pen. Here’s a detail:

Top marks to illustrator Dominika Lipniewska for turning her exhibition stand into a beacon of colour. Here’s a closer look at her work:

These three framed posters (above), which seemed to contain a jumble of illustrated typographic forms, drew me to the stand of Shotaro Ishii. I then found a concertina book full of illustrated type – with the contents of the illustration relating to a historic person, place or happening that begins with that letter. Here are some images (apologies for my poor photography):

Joo Hee Kim’s Salmon piece was created initially by producing linocuts – which were then scanned and manipulated using Photoshop. Love the framing – here’s a closer look:

The highlight of the show, for me, was the illustration work of Jianhui Li – whose illustrations of a little boy getting his hair cut really appealed…

Jamie Hearn’s Uniform and Livery project saw him separate logos from packaging – to explore how a brand is made up of both typography as well as colour and form…

Bjørnar Pedersen showcased his collection of shots of London Church signs in one huge print (above). Here are some details:

And finally… this portrait of Jarvis Cocker is by Brendan Olley – who had some cracking large scale photographic prints on show.

What I’ve rounded up here really is just the tip of the iceberg –- there’s a lot of great work on show – and much work that needs to be seen in the flesh, handled or viewed on screen that, for obvious reasons, isn’t best represented on a blog. The show is open through Sunday June 20 at Nicholls & Clarke, 3-10 Shoreditch High Street, London E1 6PG.

Please also have a look at 2010.csmgraphicdesign.com/