NEW YORK, NEW YORK.......

Over 70 Graphic Design, Illustration, Photography and Photojournalism students ventured to New York on an amazing trip!

As temperatures plummeted (to around -10 degrees!) the students experienced the trip of a lifetime in the Big Apple. With thermals, hats, gloves and scarves, students embarked on visits to famous landmarks, exhibitions, studios, cafes,  restaurants and the occasional bar (strictly those over 21 of course).

Enormous thanks go to the following studios who gave their time and energy into offering the students an insight into the world of visual communication, state-side:-  Red Peak, 3X3 Magazine, Hugo & Marie, Hello Monday and Madwell - who hosted Staffordshire students for the second time in as many years.

Photography students enjoyed MOMA exhibitions and worked on a project to record 'non-tourist' images while they were away. In addition to these visits a host of iconic places were experienced including:- Empire State Building, Staten Island Ferry, Grand Central Station, Rockefeller Centre, Ground Zero, Macy's, Broadway, Central Park, New York High Line, Chelsea Market and Greenwich Village.

Semester II - busy too......

Its been an extremely eventful and bust few months since we started back in mid - January. Graphic Design and Illustration students began new projects that embodied advertising, photography & art direction, new media design, typography, branding, marketing, editorial and publishing, interactive design, multi platform digital design, image making and creative conscience briefs............to name but a few!  We have again, this year, entered the MPN Roses Competition and have to wait until March to find out just how many students have won!

Meanwhile there has been  a trip to Tokyo and in a few weeks, another trip to New York, together with Photography and Photojournalism students. Level 6 students have been beating their brows over their External Brief which has been set this year by Elmwood in Leeds - and offers several challenging directions to follow. In addition to their self negotiated briefs and competition briefs, several Level 6 students are working through a brief set by Mike Emerson (The Chase) and Gary Devreede (Reform), which will set the tone for the 'INPUT" event (devised by, run by and curated by Level 6) on March 12th in Manchester.

We are so lucky to be hosting Elmwood, The Chase, Reform and Transmission visiting speakers and lecturers again this semester - who offer great advice and guidance to the students.

Russell Brand gets in on the act...

Andrew Evans, second year Graphic Design student is featured twice on the Creative Review website feed with projects completed this semester as part of the Visual Exploration module. 'Industry Mapping & Networks' required students to research areas of interest within their chosen area of Graphic Design & Illustration  - culminating in a creative piece of information design, communicating their findings. The second project (featuring Russell Brand), in conjunction with the 'Creative Conscience' Competition, asked for work that could 'make a difference' or create change/impact on a specific cause or charity, through design.

Andy's projects can be viewed here:

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/feed/december-2014/23/one-day--two-lives-with-russell-brand-voiceover

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/feed/december-2014/23/visual-exploration--opportunity

Type Night.....

Trevor Johnson /Havas Lynx hosted an evening of typography in their offices, showcasing salvaged hand drawn letters that were destined for the skip. many of the letters were for sale and those on display were snapped up pretty quickly! It was a great opportunity to network and catch up with graduates from Staffordshire who now work in Manchester.

The Linotype Font Library

These hand drawn “Letters” are part of the font library salvaged from the Lynotype Factory on Broadheath, Altrincham, Cheshire, just on the outskirts of Manchester.

These drawings of individual letters in every different font imaginable were the starting point of manufacturing matrices for the Linotype Printing Machine. The matrices are brass moulds of the letter forms, the machine puts these brass moulds in a line, and they are filled with molten metal and cast in a single piece.

The name of the machine comes from the fact that it produces an entire line of metal type at once, hence a line-o-type, a significant improvement over the previous industry standard, i.e. manual letter by letter type setting using a composing stick and drawers of letters.