Subtle Subtitles, Calum Pringle, Duncan of Jordanstone, Dundee
There was a wealth of graphic and illustration talent at the show, as well as interactive media design.
Calum Pringle from Duncan of Jordanstone, Dundee had on show his project Subtle Subtitles, a prototype of a wearable display (here in a knitted scarf) to help adults with Ataxic Dysphonia (or Dysarthria) communicate.
Calum explains, “Subtle Subtitles clarifies conversation with people with dysarthric speech by presenting subtitles in our peripheral vision in an intuitively crafted wearable. Those familiar with the impediment understand the slurred speech, however, as with other variances in expression, strangers struggle to ‘tune in’ to the conversation.”
“Current solutions for this communication difficulty use synthesised speech to replace the person’s own; Subtle Subtitles ensures that the wearer’s own speech and eye contact continue to be of greatest importance, preserving the intimacy of the exchange whilst quietly providing a subtle hint of the context of the conversation.”
Vertigo, Sam Gray, Plymouth College of Art
Vertigo by Sam Gray, a graduate of Plymouth College of Art, is a graphic explanation of the true meaning of vertigo – not a fear of heights (correctly known as acrophobia), but a feeling that the world is spinning and slipping around you. In bold black and yellow, the poster series mimic the giddy sensations felt during an attack of vertigo.
No Questions Asked, Sam Piper, Havering College
Sam Piper from Havering College was at the show with his project No Questions Asked which deals with conspiracy theories, hidden government agendas and subverting official government campaigns. The set of 22 posters are all given a wax seal top right, designed by Sam, and are embossed for edition numbering.
Luke Elliot, Nottingham Trent University
Luke Elliot from Nottingham Trent University created a hand-made woodblock poster. Luke says, “The aim of the project was to use a found object and make something beautiful out of someone else’s waste. I found an old cupboard in a skip and created a hand carved woodblock poster. It was printed in two tone colour on Daler Rowney 160gsm paper and given away as self-promotion at my degree show.”
The Scroll of Britain, Arran Mackintosh, University of Portsmouth
Arran Mackintosh from the University of Portsmouth spent 10 weeks drawing (not including research and preliminary work) his concertina book the Scroll of Britain, which was recently highly commended in the Macmillan Prize for children’s books 2010. The 32 page concertina book, over 12 metres long, tells a condensed history of the British Isles and the many people who conquered and inhabited them and how the nation grew to encompass a worldwide empire. The book is housed in a wooden chest with the inside lid painted with a map of the world depicting the historic British Empire in red.
Michael Donaldson, University of Sunderland
The University of Sunderland’s Michael Donaldson has created a book that is a mix of 2D, 3D pop-up and paper cut techniques and also shown in black Gothic frames. The story concerns the defunct human race being brought back together by the plant life that has overtaken the globe, resulting in the rise of a race of moss men…..
Image credits: New Designers photography by Rebecca Sutherland-Young
Calum Pringle
Sam Gray: sam@studiospaceone.com
Sam Piper
Luke Elliot
Arran Mackintosh
Michael Donaldson
