Defining and locating their on-going practice — and how they identify themselves as Graphic Artists, Film Makers, Animators, Photographers, Illustrators, Project Managers and Graphic Designers — has been a transitional task undertaken by the BA (Hons) Graphic Arts & Design students this year. Our Visiting Lecture series, included presentations and Q&A sessions from Jacky Fleming, Simon Roberts, Gemma Booth, Jonathan Ellery, Sara Boris and Michael C. Place who discussed their ethos, practice and experiences in the design industry since graduation. These lectures provided an insight into the realities of the creative industries and encouraged continual debate on content, context and authorship.
In an essay discussed this year: Practice from Everyday Life: Defining Graphic Designís Expansive Scope by its Quotidian Activities, James Goggin outlines ‘An important part of reading “graphic design” as an inherently multidisciplinary practice is the recognition of “designing” as including ostensibly banal, supposedly “non-design” activities in its definition: dialogue, research, organisation, management, reading, writing and editing are all facets open to analysis, exploration and even subversion.’ Our final year students have employed these dimensions of practice by questioning, recording, responding and communicating their findings through determined platforms. The course encourages the hybrid activities that allow the questioning and evaluation of subject matter within specific assignments, and also the examination of the perceived categorisation of the multi-faceted subject discipline of Graphic Arts & Design.
The content of this website and accompanying publication, evidences this multi-disciplinary approach. After discussions with the year cohort, it was determined that the documentation of transitional, experimental practice would communicate the students’ critical and practical concerns. This publication documents work from three projects undertaken this year; an experimental, process-led brief, an interim exhibition showcasing the students’ practice to date and a one-day workshop where the year cohort responded to one set subject within a limited time-frame.
This work documents some of the graduates on-going critical concerns communicated visually and theoretically, where opinions of the industry were deconstructed and how the practices inform and relate to artists and designers embarking on investigative journeys in 2015. As an accompaniment to the Degree Show work exhibited, this publication demonstrates a desire to question the conventions and value of the practice of a Graphic Artist and Designer further.
We look forward to seeing the next stages of this journey as our graduates showcase their explorations and continue to question and determine for themselves the role of a Graphic Artist & Designer.
Justin Burns, Level 6 Coordinator, BA (Hons) Graphic Arts & Design.