Graphic Design in London - Day 3

 On our third day, we woke up to beautiful sunshine and heard the lovely parrots chirping in the nearby gardens. We had a delightful breakfast provided by our hostel. We walked to the Design Museum in North Kensington, only a few blocks from our hostel. Upon arriving Sarah almost cried because she realized we ARE in LONDON!! We took a group in front of the lovely Akzidenz-Grotesk Style logo.

Inside the museum we were greeted by a wall of eclectic designed ephemera. The objects varied from a Polaroid Camera, a Game Boy Color, a pair of Levi's and even the Bible. This wall was one of my favorite displays in the museum. -Christian

I was very excited about the conversation on sustainability in the museum. Specifically, this textile piece that discussed different ways of creating textile products, a waste many of us don't consider. The products were wool created from pineapple, yarn from seaweed, and another fabric from banana stems and coconut water. - Ally

This is a poster from the Trillion Dollar campaign from 2009, designed by TBWA/Hunt/Lascaris for the Zimbabwean newspaper. It was used to raise awareness for the hyperinflation in Zimbabwe, under President Robert Mugabe. The text said that one of the most "eloquent" symbols of the financial collapse in Zimbabwe is the printing of the three-trillion dollar bill. This crazy high banknote couldn't even purchase a loaf of bread, let alone paper to print advertising on. For the posters, they stitched together and printed on the actual banknotes. 

Another exciting part was the displays of objects from old to new, such as typewriters, televisions, radios, and cameras. The photo above shows camera from the Kodak Brownie designed in 1901, the first camera to make it possible for anyone to photograph, to the EOS 740 DSLR Canon. -Ally

Sarah and Natalia looking at a product design for sustainable airplane water bottle.

Natalia and Jess looking at an interactive app that taught the principles of design for all ages.

Some BEAUTIFUL and CUTE dogs outside of the museum. 

After the museum we headed onto the tube, getting off at Embankment Station. A cultural difference we noticed in the tube station was that the signs say "Way Out", instead of Exit. 

We grabbed lunch at "EAT." and sat in Victoria Park to eat. We were very lucky for sunny weather today!

Professor Anne Hobday lounging in the grass. After lunch we began walking along the river towards the Tate Modern. 

Group photo in front of St. Pauls in the distance before getting to the Tate Modern.

The outside of the Tate Modern.

We saw a series of Irving Penn photographs called "Underfoot" where he photographed the detritus he stepped on around New York City. These photographs monumentalized very unrecognizable objects that he stepped on.  -Christian

We also saw this installation by Atul Dodiya called "Meditation (with eyes open)." It was very interesting experience to see many artists that weren't previously given credit. - Christian

"Seamless" by Sarah Sze is an installation that was constructed to draw attention to the museum's architecture using various materials.

In the same room with Sarah Sze was Mondrian's "Composition C(No.III) with Red, Yellow, and Blue". The two paired together was interesting as the are from different times, but Mondrian's colors brought out the primary colors in Sze's work. The Tate Modern combines pieces in the gallery spaces based on the style rather than a time period.

After the Tate Modern we had to take the tube to Camden Market, which we got a little confused reading the map. We figured it out though and noticed on the train that the speaker announces to "please mind the gap between the train and the platform".

Then we went to the uniquely exuberant street of Camden Market. It was much different from the other parts of London we have been to so far. 

Fish n' chips at the Blackbird Pub! (The fish n' chips in Iceland were better, don't tell London.) 

Interesting design in the men's bathroom! It's very funny how the names they give things are so different, and almost whimsical. 

Anne Hobday with cupcakes for a special someone's birthday! ;)  Happy Birthday Alex Miller!!!! 

Graphic Design in London – Day 2

After a long day of travel and a night of sleep, we started off our day breakfast at the hostel. We all met up and took "the tube" to Trafalgar Square.

Tube entrance at Earl's Court

Inside Earl's Court

Group photo in front of the iconic lion sculptures at Trafalgar Square (thanks to Anne for the photo!)

During the day we split into three groups and walked around on a scavenger hunt, finding the iconic sites around London, such as Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey.

Guards on horses near Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace Courtyard

The Gates at Buckingham Palace

We went to St. James Piccadilly Church, and came upon a small marketplace outside. They had a lot of small shops with very friendly merchants. Alex & Elena bought tea cups, and Ally got a stamp.

Ally, Matt, Alex, and Elena at St. James Piccadilly Market

Letterpress type for sale at Piccadilly

We walked through St. James Park and were amazed by the wide variety of birds, and the friendliness of the squirrels.

John petting a squirrel at the park

Pelicans at the park

We also stopped by Piccadilly Circus and saw the Anteros Statue as part of our scavenger hunt.

Tori, Natalia, Sarah, and John in front of the Anteros Statue

After completing the scavenger hunt, we all headed to the National Gallery. It was fun to see paintings we have learned about in art history classes in person, such as The Bathers by Seurat.

We were surprised at how large the painting was in person!

Detail of the Bathers (shoutout to Professor Bowditch and Professor Flanigan for teaching us about divisionism in our art history classes!)

After the National Gallery we got afternoon tea as a group at St. Martins in the Field before heading back to our hostel to rest.

 Matt enjoying his tea and pastries

Ally, Sarah, Kaylee, and Christian at St. Martins

After some downtime we went out to dinner at Earl's Court Tavern. We got some traditional English pub food, such as pot pies and sausage and mashed potatoes. Christian gave his presentation on the Tate Modern Museum, which we will be visiting tomorrow, when we got back.

Chicken and mushroom pie at Earl's Court Tavern

Christian giving his presentation to the group

Here is some funky design that we saw today!

Mosaic type on the floor of the National Gallery

This logotype combines both upper and lowercase letterforms.

One cultural difference that we noticed on our first day were that the direction cars parallel park does not have to correlate with the flow of traffic, as an example cars that are parallel parked can be facing each other (hard to explain, sorry!). We also noticed the differences between US dollars and British pounds. Pounds are much more colorful, and have a plastic quality to them.

And with that our Day 2 comes to an end. Signing off!

— Matt Law & Sarah Sampson

Graphic Design in London 2020 - Day 1

Our trip began at 2:15am on Friday, February 28th. A tired but very prompt group of
travelers gathered at St Rose to begin our trip to London. 

We were very pleased to be met by a very friendly bus drive Steve who expertly drove us down to Newark through gals of wind that plagued the thruway. Thank you Steve!

The United Group Services desk did a wonderful job of ticketing the group even though it meant a little waiting around. After a long and hectic transition through security we were ready for a snack and perhaps a coffee pick me up.

We were lucky to see a beautiful sunrise over Manhattan as we waited.

Sometimes the early morning has benefits!

Newark Terminal C recently we through a remodeling and as designers/artists
we had to try out the new amenities

This is what the new Newark layout looks like - a lot of ipads and table tops. What do you think?

Our London journey was uneventful. The plane was rather empty except for the economy area - which was full - of course. We got to catch up on movies and kept ourselves well hydrated. The ride began and ended with some fun turbulence due to the wind at both ends, but at last we made it across the pond. Our trip through customs and baggage claim was uneventful.

We did not that the airport was very quiet - which was nice.

As we left the airport, we were met by Tony and Saul - a couple of wonderful Brits from
Silver Fleet Transport Services who enthusiastically escorted us to Earls Court YHA.
They regaled the group with advice, thoughts on Brexit and tales from their childhood and

provided us with some much needed bottled water. Thank you Tony and Saul!

We arrived at our destination around 10:30pm

This is our hostel. It is in a beautiful neighborhood on the west side of Hyde Park.

Needless to say everyone was exhausted. We sorted out our rooms. A few students went down to the local M&S Grocery Store for a snack before calling it a night.

Here is the view from our breakfast lounge at Earls Court YHA.

Sweet dreams to everyone. Tomorrow is the start of our adventure.

Submitted by Jessica Loy: Trip Leader