Hothouse Talk: Kath Tudball

As a student at Central Saint Martins, Kath Tudball found a book so inspiring that it continued to shape her future career. “A Smile in the Mind” written by Beryl McAlhone and published by Phaidon Press in 1996 is about witty thinking in Graphic Design and featured a piece by Michael Johnson she found particularly interesting. Influenced so much by this she managed to get an internship at Johnson Banks where she stayed for over a decade working with branding and visual identities.

Now working at The Partners, Kath has an impressive portfolio of clients, projects and awards and always comes back to the idea of wittiness in design and letting her passion for ideas that deliver social impact influence the way she works. Some of her projects include TUSK, Cystic Fibrosis awareness and the new identity for the Science Museum, each one having that extra layer of playfulness that I think makes them so successful. Ah the power of a good book.

Images taken from johnstonbanks.co.uk and the-partners.com

Hothouse talk: Russell Weekes

Finding funny and interesting things  in our everyday life and in our surroundings is what Russell Weekes do best. With a degree in illustration, Weekes wouldn’t call himself an illustrator but rather someone who works with observations. His work is very inspiring and evidence of that you actually can do a lot by simply working with what you have around you and finding connections between things.

Work by Russell Weekes, images from his website

Hot House talk- Abram Games

London born Abram Games’ 60 year long career has made him one of most important graphic designers of the 20th century. Appointed the only ever war poster artist, his saying “maximum meaning by minimum means” made his work unique for that time, creating simple posters with powerful messages.

The other day I went to a talk about the designer’s career in posters given by his daughter Naomi and got to know more about his life.

Gilles and Cecile

Colorful and vibrant Gilles and Cecile studio gave a talk last week about starting your own business and also showed highlights of their own work. It’s fun, quirky and imaginative with lots of colors which I really like. (See for yourself at: http://www.gillesandcecilie.com/) Some of the things Cecile mentioned was:

Sarah Boris

Earlier this week graphic designer Sarah Boris gave a talk on her designer career, freelancing and creating your own studio space. Setting up a studio is not just about placing a desk and a chair in a room, it’s about creating a place that will feed your creativity. There are of course different ways you can accomplish this but what Sarah mentioned was the idea of creating different rooms within the room. I’ve made a list of the key things she mentioned: