Having spent the early throws of Sunday morning nursing the effects of a few drinks too many the previous evening, the BDF exhibition at the old Fire station was entering it’s third day showcasing some fantastic and diverse work; which incidentally turned out to be the best hangover cure I’ve come across for a good while.
And fantastic and diverse doesn’t really sum it up either, I’m in need of several more adjectives to really convey just how strong some of the work coming out of Bristol seems to be, but then I had faith it would be anyway.
So where to begin?
Having missed the launch party at the old Fire station on Friday night (I made it to the Lanes though) I was keen to see what was in place at the exhibition. After walking around for a while and taking, fairly shaky pictures on my phone it became apparent that I’d like to use this post to showcase a few of my own highlights from the exhibit. I’m particularly passionate about typography as well as traditional graphic design so exhibitions that I liked the most embraced a lot these things particularly well.
Grafikea – please use a coaster
There has already been a great post about the Grafikea tables so I won’t bore you by re-hashing what has been said already too much. That said I really liked some of these entries. Considered, humorous and experimental approaches were the order of the day with some nice examples of typography, technology and good old fashioned ‘out of left-field’ avant-garde efforts. Below are the ones that stood out for me, just be sure to use a coaster if you plan on buying one, wouldn’t want to ruin it with coffee stains now would you?
Jess Bradley – adorable illustrations
I’m a big fan of the work the Gavin Strange does so these illustrations which were just inside the door caught my eye straight away as they had a similar look about them. Jess says she is influenced by Japanese character design and I can really see why as these drawings embrace everything that’s great about this style. Movement, cuteness, fun and vibrant colours are big features of what has been produced here and I can see these drawings transferring across into game and multi-media design. – sorry I couldn’t find a link for Jess
Tom Redfern – super kick-ass posters
I loved what Tom is doing here, it’s smack-bang up to date and just draws you in from across the room. I thought Tom’s work, although graphic heavy, used some nice typography and his simple logo was my favourite from the exhibit. His work was also steeped in personality, which really came across and was refreshingly un-appologetic with its presence. This is something that I feel is done well a lot of the time online, but print designers so often miss the mark. And his business card was solid magenta, which I love 🙂 – monkeygraphik.com
Fiasco Design – More tasty posters
Spin 180 degrees from Tom’s stand and you’ll see the work from Fiascodesign. Again, I was instantly drawn in to this stand and from what I could see fiasco are super-good illustrators but also work with photo manipulation, and do a bloody good job of it too. I highly suggest they put a few of the comments left in their book onto their website as people were being super positive about what was on display and I understand totally as to why. – fiascodesign.co.uk
The Summary Bit
If you get the chance to get down to any of the Bristol Design Festival events this year then do. The exhibits are good and there is something there for everyone. Defo take a camera too, my iPhone doesn’t do much justice to how good the work is that’s on display. And yea, if you’ve had a drink or two the previous evening and you want to blow the cobwebs out with some excellent and exciting art and design, then you can’t go far wrong.
– written by Pete . Made with love and powered by caffeine
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