Lucy May Schofield

A name I had heard but a face I had never met, LMS turned out to be a great speaker and a little something different to the work we usually see in this lecture series.

Initially introduced as a designer Lucy swiftly sought to address that by announcing herself as a designer of books but mainly a curator and bookbinder by trade. I have seen some of Lucy’s pieces before at various book fairs and university events I have been to but it was nice to hear her talk about her work with the passion she obviously has for each piece. I am not a huge fan of this type of intricate, delicate style of work so for me this lecture was mainly about Lucy’s experiences and the process in which she undertakes her work. She talked a lot about narrative and in her quest to discover various objects she always looks for a story behind each one. This is a theme which also carries over into her work with each piece she creates having a certain symbolism and specific meaning, something which gives the work an indefinite charm and maybe why they are so popular. The methods and processes Lucy uses are all hands on and In her own words, she would not like to put her name to anything that was not hand finished herself. With the use of letterpress, mono-printing, screen-printing, and hand stitching and binding her work somewhat harks back to what some may see as a bygone time when we think now of the ideals of mass production and the ease of which our designs can now go from screen to print within a matter of seconds. However, that ease of production does, obviously, have its flaws. Handling some of Lucy’s work after the lecture there was a definite sense of delicacy and a feeling of speciality about the work, more than I would get from simply looking at a nice piece of printed design work. Maybe these methods, methods that seem to so far have escaped my design practice, are worth an investigation?

Food for thought then from the latest of our lecture series. Maybe, somewhere, the urge to dowse myself in solitude and rediscover my inner fine artist is bubbling up.

But then again… probably not.

//www.lucymayschofield.co.uk

Teal Triggs

I was privileged enough recently to be in the audience for Teal Triggs' Fanzines: A DIY Revolution lecture. I have only recently heard of Teal but she proved to be a very interesting speaker. As somewhat of an authority on the art of fanzines she gave us an insightful talk on what it is to be a fanzine creator, the origins of the 'zine' and some of the best examples from over the years.

"What is a fanzine?' was the first question she posed upon us. And with a mixed response she answered it herself (with a little help);
"...little publications filled with rantings of high weirdness and exploding with chaotic design." [Stephen Duncombe 1997]

And this was precisely what she preceded to show us. We took a leap through history from the early 1960s and early zine culture, through the Punk era and the boom of zine 'manufacture' that coincided with the angered politics of the time, right up to rave culture publications in the 90's. What was particularly insightful to hear was the association with Manchester/Northwest and the zine scene. I am aware of the culture I am living in and the history that surrounds me and so was aware of the certain element of zine culture that exited/exists here in Manchester. What was nice about it though was the fondness with which Teal spoke about some of her favorite zines, all from in and around the Northwest.

As she left us she posed another question. An obviously poignant one to her. In the current times of rapid knowledge and the dominance of the internet "Are zines still relative? Is there still a revolution going on?"

Always.

Cardon Copy

Came across this little article in The Guardian about a group of designers in New York who, in partially their own words; "Hijack these unconsidered fliers, redesign them overpowering their message with a new visual language and then replace the redesign back in its authentic environment". A lovely little idea and actually some really strong design work. I'd be interested to know if the fliers actually warranted any more of a response with their new designs? I would certainly look more than twice at some of these posters. Well worth a look at the designers portfolio as well. It's choc-a-bloc with great illustrations, book designs and posters. A new favourite of mine methinks.

Cardon Copy // Cardon Design