Assembly

Behind the scenes of the Glasgow School of Art degree show visual identity that's made a big splash online

In the build up to the graduation seasons, we receive a host of invitations to the creative grad shows around the country and it’s always interesting to see the concepts used to tie together the work of entire classes (and years) at a time. Not many of the shows are bold (or perhaps crazy) enough to encompass Graphic Design, Illustration and Photography at once. This though is Glasgow School of Art and its Communication Design course, where an experimental interdisciplinary approach to communication is the name of the game.

GSA Assembly, Work In Progress show

Faced with the challenge of delivering a striking identity for this week’s show were the five-strong team of Michael Bremner, Amy Hinchliffe, Sarah Bethan Jones, Stephanie Roden and Sam Rowe. Final year students from the course’s Graphic Design specialism, they wanted to reflect the diversity of the three specialisms, as well as ComDes’ reputation of producing a wide range of experimental and innovative work.

The course encourages that emphasis is placed on concept and working methods more so than polished final outcomes. The visual identity will run throughout the remainder of the year as a reaction to the fact that often degree shows only display polished final works for an exhibition and often you don’t get to see the development – which the team consider as valuable as the final work itself.

Behind the scenes of the poster photo shoot

We managed to get hold of some behind the scenes photos of the photoshoot for the posters, as unsurprisingly, the team are documenting each step in the project. The title of the show, ‘Assembly’ refers to the piecing together of the three specialisms. This is brilliantly extended to the identity, irregularly shaped off-cuts, pieced together and assembled in a variety of combinations.

What makes for an irregular yet striking and aesthetically tight identity also pays homage to the sense of community and collaboration shared amongst the class. The various different shapes and forms represent the wide variety of backgrounds, interests and specialisms of the students, but also their ability to combine into a rich gumbo of creative thought.

Painting the off-cuts

‘Work In Progress’ is a notion that we’re fond of here at intern and it’s great to see this graduating class approach things with the long-game in mind. Degree shows are important, no doubt, but it’s good to remember that they are first and foremost a showcase, a progress update of sorts. People aren’t expecting to find someone who is a master of his or her craft, they’re looking for people with promise.

The importance that the ComDes course places on process is no doubt key in fostering this attitude in the students and, as we discuss in our forthcoming third issue, it’s an attitude that we should consider placing more importance on across the board.

Screen printing the exhibition details onto the posters

Not content with ensuring that the ‘Work In Progress‘ exhibition enjoys a bumper turnout this Wednesday for its opening at The Lighthouse Gallery (5pm-7pm), the team have set up a Tumblr, that continues to eek out behind the scenes updates from inside the studio.