MDes Communication Design – The Skinny

Euan Moreland‘s projects are a journey in art history through Bradford, and of radicalism and print from 1880 to the present. Amongst other responses, he has produced a handcrafted dossier that documents the links between the printing house Lund Humphries; the British Atomic Bomb; the bankrolling of the modernists in the UK; and a curry house. It’s an investigation about how the process of making affects an object’s value – a letter-pressed journal is digitally printed but bound in a letter-pressed cover to be sympathetic to the craft-steeped tradition.

Blending heritage with personal documents, Kristina Una Sandic has produced a collection of cards that depict Serbian symbolism and Slavic paganism with family photos. As a beautiful tribute to Serbian culture and people, they tell the story of a country misrepresented in Western media. In an age where stereotypes and misconceptions often overshadow people and culture, Una has crafted a beautiful set of cards to show a personal story of people and family. These cards each hold archived family photographs from the early 20th century, sharing a personal history of Una’s family. Una’s project aims to shed light on Serbian history and people.

Priyanka Vaghela’s work spotlights collectors and their collections. This project began with a local collector in Glasgow who specialised in decommissioned buses. This print collection draws inspiration from the first bus in this individual’s collection. The exhibition is a selection of prints on an A0 scale and arranged to resemble the side of this beloved vintage bus. Priyanka looks at distinct characteristics; mixing and reducing colour ranges to produce a vibrant and eye-catching print catalogue.

Image: Euan Moreland.

Showing that dialogue is not required to tell compelling stories, Bhavani Balasubramanyam‘s Avial is a soundscape comic about a building complex in India and the many lives within its walls. Each story is told solely through diegetic and contextual sounds. The sounds of birdsong, buses and clattering keyboards become stories about cats, babies and a man working at his computer. Avial shows that stories can transcend the traditional medium of language and can tell meaningful, rich stories without uttering a word.

Indian signage is traditionally handmade and painted. Deepesh Sangtani produced this project not only as a method of celebration but as a method of archiving a dying art form. Traditional design elements combine to produce limited edition prints. Handmade pinwheels accompany Deepesh’s exhibition, with each pinwheel holding within them documented designs from around India. It is a homage to the creativity and skill that goes into their creation – a tribute and celebration to the wonderfully colourful world of signs.