A PPP session run by Alec Dudson to encourage us to contact industry professionals working in the same fields that we aspire to work in. We we first encouraged to make a list of potential studios.
After collating a list of studios I chose to contact Craig Oldham, a Manchester-based designer working within editorial a type design. He founded and runs the publishing house Common Practices. His most recent projects include a book entitled In Loving Memory of Work, exploring the effect of the 1980's miners strike on the immediate community; and the postcard collection Me & EU, which gathered the views on Brexit from creatives across the country.
Much of his work has a strong focus on Northern identity and communities, which draws many parallels with my own practice. Also, his knowledge of the publishing industry would be invaluable to my practice. The instinctive method for contacting Craig would be to send an email, but creating something physical to send to his studio would provide a more personal form of communication.
After collating a list of studios I chose to contact Craig Oldham, a Manchester-based designer working within editorial a type design. He founded and runs the publishing house Common Practices. His most recent projects include a book entitled In Loving Memory of Work, exploring the effect of the 1980's miners strike on the immediate community; and the postcard collection Me & EU, which gathered the views on Brexit from creatives across the country.
Much of his work has a strong focus on Northern identity and communities, which draws many parallels with my own practice. Also, his knowledge of the publishing industry would be invaluable to my practice. The instinctive method for contacting Craig would be to send an email, but creating something physical to send to his studio would provide a more personal form of communication.
Initially I had the idea to create a postcard designed around my views on Brexit, to replicate his ME & EU project. The original project documented a creative view of the EU referendum as it was happening, and my postcard could reflect the aftermath and the post-brexit state of university education. However researching this project revealed his role was primarily creating the publication in which the postcards were housed.
Researching further into the In Loving Memory of Work publication, it became clear that the subject matter was something that Craig was very passionate about. This was also something that I had explored briefly during my work with Shy Bairns, and therefore would be something that we could both relate to.
Producing a poster would be the most appropriate physical option as it would allow me to keep the design and message simple, and would also keep production costs low. The book itself features a bespoke typeface created by Craig, and drawing influence from this would create a parallel between this specific project and my reason for contacting him.
Mimicking the slogans that became so synonymous with this miners strike, and the phrases repeated in the book, I created a design for the poster. Using bold colours that replicated the style of the book and a typeface similar to the original allowed an instant connection to be made to the original project. However the poster still retained unique differences that allowed my own style of design to also be present.
The phrase 'solidarity with designers!' was created as a way for me to voice my support of the project and his passion for creating the platform that allows the history of these events to be told. Another option for a slogan was 'lesbians and gays support designers!', in response to the Lesbians and Gay Support the Miners (L.G.S.M) group that was active during this time. However it was felt that the first slogan created a stronger message.
The first edition of the book included a range of stickers on the front cover that were used during the strikes. Creating a sticker for my own poster would allow me to draw further inspiration from Craig's project, and allow me to communicate a secondary message.
The poster was printed A2, matte, on kodatrace stock. It was then posted to Craig with the following letter:
The phrase 'solidarity with designers!' was created as a way for me to voice my support of the project and his passion for creating the platform that allows the history of these events to be told. Another option for a slogan was 'lesbians and gays support designers!', in response to the Lesbians and Gay Support the Miners (L.G.S.M) group that was active during this time. However it was felt that the first slogan created a stronger message.
The first edition of the book included a range of stickers on the front cover that were used during the strikes. Creating a sticker for my own poster would allow me to draw further inspiration from Craig's project, and allow me to communicate a secondary message.
The poster was printed A2, matte, on kodatrace stock. It was then posted to Craig with the following letter:
Hello Craig!
My name is Erin, I’m a graphic designer and I really like your work!
I made this poster as a response to your project In Loving Memory of Work, playing off the iconic phrase ‘solidarity with the miners’, and the important role that design has played in documenting this part of our history. Now I’m using it as a way to tell you how much I’m inspired by what you do! A lot of my own work focuses on Northern communities and your book really resonated with me. The design is gorgeous and the coal dust screenprint is such a beautiful detail! It’s so exciting to see projects like this that represent these people and their stories, and this is the kind of work that inspires me to do more with my design.
I thought I would also use this oppurtunity to ask if you have any internships available, or even if I could just visit your studio and talk to you about your work. I’d love to learn more about your process! My contact details are at the bottom, and I’ll follow this up with an email and my CV.
Thank you for your time!
Erin Blamire