Hasta La Ideas

This year’s University of Leeds Graphic and Communication Design Show was themed around eclecticism. The work was showcased in an innovative way, which looked good, but was it practical? We sent our guest reporter Gary Austin to find out.

Entitled Reveal – the concept of final year students Sam Hodges and Steven Williams – the show included an unusual promotional scheme, whereby a variety of objects were photographed hidden under gold sheets, and then later revealed as part of a live web cam feed from the degree show site.

This concept of eclecticism pervaded the display of student work too, with the work scattered throughout the room in a seemingly random order – not your usual ‘one board per student’ affair here – with Steven also telling us, “We used numbers on the captions to mark the work (rather than the student’s name) along with corresponding keys scattered across the space to tie in with the Reveal theme”.

Aside from the show itself, Steven also had this ‘Infinite Scroll’ bicycle/typography installation on display, which had plenty of visitors (including ourselves) willing to give it a go especially after a complimentary beer or two.
thatsmyflapjack.com

Sam Hodges took the vernacular of IKEA’s flat pack furniture instruction manuals to create a typeface.
samhodges.co.uk

Francesca Hotchin showcased this great hand-drawn illustration for Little White Lies, which is up for a D&AD student award.
francescahotchin.co.uk

Chris Wise displayed a whole series of interesting illustrations and typography in his own unique style.
chriswise.co.uk

Alice Belgrove created this interesting jelly mould typeface poster for Ministry of Sound, ‘revolving around 90’s nostalgia’. The bespoke jelly moulds were created from Neville Brody’s FF Pop, from the early 90s, and the lyrics from each poster were from dance tracks released in the same era. Someone did their research.
alicebelgrove.co.uk

And last but not least, it’s always nice to see students attempting to use packaging as a medium for expression. Charlie Grant delivered with this Bug Bytes packaging.
charliegrantdesigner.com

Whilst the eclectic concept was certainly a refreshing set-up for a student exhibition, we wondered whether the theme was pushed a little too far. The opening night was so busy that it was nigh-on impossible to see the corresponding keys to work out whose work was whose, and we missed the student portfolios entirely – we just couldn’t find them.

Call us old-fashioned, but there’s something to be said for clearly displaying students’ portfolios beside their work.