Graphic Design in London — Day 5

Good morning mates! This morning we enjoyed breakfast, where Ally and Matt tried the lemon juice with zinc and vitamin C to boost their immune systems. Then we all headed off to the tube station to Aldgate East station to walk to Special Projects. Along the way we saw a lot of street art and cool restaurants. When we got to Special Projects we were greeted by Adrian, Alexa, and Matteo. 

Special Projects window.

Group photo outside Special Projects.

Cool art next to Special Projects.

Matteo, Adrian, and Alexa!

 Some of the design work from their studio!

The lego group planner they created.

Secret bookcase passageway to their break breakroom!

 Adrian giving us a very informative presentations on lots of their projects! He showed us projects like their paper phone — using a piece of folded paper as a replacement for the phone. Essentially you could print out and fold a piece of paper that would contain all the information you needed for that day so you could leave your phone at home. They talked about the importance of digital wellness and how as users we are glued to our phones. Another take that they had on the paper phone was the phone envelope which is a piece of paper that you would fold into an envelope and it would limit the usage of your phone strictly to only being able to take calls or only take photos/videos. We both really enjoyed their presentation and thought that the discussions that they had about user experience was a whole different take at how we look at our art/design work! :) 

Outside Spitalfields Market that had lots of interesting shops and food vendors. 

Inside the market! There wasn't enough time to explore everything. So are planning to head back!

Tori, Alex, and Matt's crepes for lunch.

Ally saw these two cute pups in the market place :)

After Spitalfields Market we went back on the tube to take the District line to Monument Station and transferred to the Central line to go to Holborn Station for the British Museum. 

This funny, little sign and light post was on our way to the British Museum.

Outside the British Museum!

Inside the British Museum!

Map of the British Museum!

The Rosetta Stone containing Egyptian Hieroglyphics!!!

A part of the Parthenon Frieze.

Head of a horse from the chariot of the moon-goddess Selene located on the East Pediment of the Parthenon.

 

Silk Wall-Hanging (khatwa) from Northeast India (2002). This textile piece was made by a group of women belonging to Adithi. Adithi is an organization that trains women in skills like handicrafts to give poor and illiterate women a way to earn money and express themselves. Often their textiles depict domestic violence, poverty, and social injustices. This specific piece depicts the different ways AIDS is transmitted, from needles to blood transfusions  to unprotected sex. It was exciting for me (Ally) to stumble upon this piece as I researched this group in my History of Modern India course.

 

Bridget Riley, Greys (Red and Turquoise), 1967, gouache and graphite on graph paper.

This is one of Riley's annotated drawings to provide instructions for her assistants that help her create her larger paintings. It is also an example of Riley beginning to add color to her grey paintings.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Carceri: Plate 14: The Gothic Arch, 1750, Etching with engraving

Ally, Matt, Alex, Christian, Kale, and Sarah went out to Addie's Thai restaurant and got curry, stir fry, and pad Thai for dinner along with some green tea!

Some interesting patterned tile-work close to the entrance of the museum. 

An interesting design from Spitalfields Market.

Some cultural differences we noticed were how popular rugby is here on Tuesdays. On our way to dinner we passed 3 bars/pubs and all of them were totally packed up to capacity. There was a lot of chanting and policemen that were checking in on the pubs as well. When we got out of dinner, the pubs were completely empty! Another cultural difference we noticed was at museums instead of having a sign saying "coatroom" they say "cloakroom". 

Signing off!

— Ally and Matt :)

Graphic Design London 2020 - Day 4

Today for breakfast Tori had peach juice instead of her usual apple juice, wild I know. Elena had tea with her breakfast to spice things up a little. We finished up and headed out for the day around 9:30.

We walked ourselves to the tube and hopped on the District Line to head towards St. Brides.



On the walk to St. Brides we passed this restaurant and though we do not think the symbol is used well in the name, we felt it was a well designed symbol that could be utilized in a different way.

We arrived to St. Brides about 20 mins early so we had time to go into St. Brides church that has ruins from the original church that burned down during the 18th century. Downstairs there was a medieval chapel and you were able to see the ruins and the history of the church.




After we arrived at St. Brides the group was split into two groups and one group was showed artifacts they had in their collection. One cultural difference we found was, Mick and Bob called Jessica and Anne "tutors" instead of "professors". We were in the first group and Bob talked to us about the history of printing and showed us some books and prints he had. This particular print is a newspaper from Queen Victoria's coronation and its dated Thursday June 28th 1838. The paper was printed with gold and was reprinted for many days after the event. The first ever newspaper was printed by a women even though printing was seen as a mans profession.



Bob showed us original drawings we use as typefaces today. He showed us Gill Sans and Times New Roman. Bob mentioned "I don't like Times New Roman, it's a mean little face". He also mentions Cheltenham was one of the most pirated typefaces. Though they couldn't use the same name they could use the same design of the typeface.  They have the biggest original collection of Eric Gills work, which is over a couple hundred sketches and works. We loved seeing this design work!



Next we went downstairs with Mick and he showed us the different presses and explained how all the letters were made. He showed us all the different types of presses and methods of printing. He passed around a lot of the tools and pieces that goes into printing and explained the process of printing. After he talked us through everything we were excited and got to make our own prints!



After we had all printed, Jessica was holding a printed letter and we had complimented it. She then confessed that she took it out of the trash because she thought it was pretty. Mick's assistant overheard and set her up to print her own so she wouldn't have to take home trash.



In addition to the print she also got to print her very own piglet!



Printing is a lot of hard work! We took the tube to the Victoria Albert Museum and decided to step away for lunch. We found a cute little cafe and had a mix of breakfast, lattes, and sandwiches.



At the Victoria Albert Museum we found a rug that was larger than life! You can see the scale difference from Jess and Tori compared to the rug! We spent about two hours in this museum, ended up lost and still didn't see everything! Here is some photos of things we saw and us mimicking the artwork.















Exhausted from the museum we made our way back to the hostel and had ourselves and nice nap. We woke up hungry again and decided to search for food. We went to a pub around the corner and got ourselves some fish and chips and pasta bolognese. It was an odd atmosphere because the music playing did not match the music video playing on the telly. We already had fish and chips this week and in comparison the fish was lacking but the tarter sauce improved. The pasta was okay, nothing like good Italian food at home. Jess had asked for water and she was brought a bottle of still water. However then the waitress brought a pitcher of lemon water for the table. We were incredibly confused by this. Is this what happens when you ask for water? Jess told the waitress she meant just the pitcher of water and then we did not have to pay for it. We will have to be careful next time, much different than home. We headed home showered and had our nightly meeting, and tomorrow we are off to see the studio Special Projects!

Cheers!

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!!!!