I have had the privilege of being part of the Elastic Creative team, in Edinburgh, for the past week as part of my work experience and it has definitely been a great introduction to the graphic design world. I am going in to my 6th year at school next year and have just sat my highers and am having to think about my future and what I want to do in life. I have always had a passion for design, having taken Product Design and Art in school, and there are so many design courses on offer for further education that I really am at a loose end for what to choose. Graphic design is very popular, but not really knowing what it entails I was so excited to have an insight of it at Elastic Creative and am very thankful they took me on.
As I am only going to be part of Elastic for a week for work experience, I was excited to be sent to Edinburgh College of Art Degree Show to come up with this report. I have been the past two years and it is an event I try not to miss, but this year was full of ups and downs for me. There were definite highlights in each department, which I will expand upon, but I really felt some confusion in certain areas. I tried to visit most of the departments, including; interior, graphic and product design, painting, animation, photography, and illustration.
One of my highlights in the Interior Design department was James Goldsworthy’s Design to Survive – End of the World project where he has proposed a design for inside the Rodney Street Tunnel in Edinburgh for two people going through an end-of-the-world event. There is a complex sequence of building like structures within the tunnel that are designed to support the physical and emotional recovery of the users. The use of inspiration from already existing architecture makes for a very aesthetically pleasing environment.
A project to me that clearly was a favourite in the Illustration department were the dog illustrations by Ria Edmenson, who presented a very creative and unique idea to open a dog – friendly café and shop with an antique feel, full of dog illustrations. She also advertised the fact she takes commissions to draw your own dog, so if you have a burning desire to have your own dog drawn on a mug then she’s the girl for you!
The Product Design department is always pretty inspiring, but this year it felt more like I was walking into a pottery showcase with the vast amount of pots and bowls on display by Jaume Mico, where he has tried to make ceramics out of e-waste. I was not extremely impressed with the work displayed but Dimosthenis Serketzis’s Cochlea Bench caught my eye as he has created seating for an urban environment to solve noise pollution by introducing a new acoustic experience.
At Elastic we are always interested in the Graphic Design department and what they produce, but this year I found it quite confusing as it seems to have incorporated illustration and sculpture quite strongly. Andrew Bell’s, The Ritual was a highlight though as he has introduced a new reading experience, by printing a booklet on a cloth with a specific folding format that forces the reader to sit down and properly absorb the content. Bell’s simplistic font and bold complimentary colours really made it stand out and is very effective.
I had mixed reviews with the overall degree show and with the amount of creativity presented but Elastic will most definitely be coming back to witness what the students will produce next year.
For more info about any of the artists visit: