Study Task 3 - Manchester

As I couldn't go on the Manchester trip with my class, I visited The Whitworth in my own time but didn't find anything that really inspired me or related to my practice. I should continue to check upcoming events and visiting exhibitions and seeing the work in real life is more beneficial than digitally viewing work in many ways.

The Whitworth
Unreformed: Wallpaper and Design Diversity

This exhibition was about the Design Reform movement that emerged during the nineteenth century, when English manufacturers could mass produce affordable wallpapers, therefore there was multitudes of choice. Design Reform wanted to take control of the quality of English design and and for wallpapers to reflect this. The exhibition displayed a range of Victorian wallpapers.

I found it interesting, although it's not directly related to Graphic Design, I enjoyed seeing such large scale and varied prints as they would be good reference points for any illustrative patterns.

Elizabeth Price: A long memory

Immediately, this exhibition is really different to the Wallpapers. The entryway is covered in symmetrical but flipped graphics of the title in a pixelated font, which instantly conveys the themes present in the videos; digital world, graphics and technology.
The exhibition displays some prints, but most interestingly, the videos that depicts Price's representation of the "systematic abandonment of coal mines, through technological and demographic revolutions of the office, to the corporatisation of education."
I found these quite interesting, and more relatable to my practice as she uses type and animation to communicate the history.