Trip: Liverpool
Purpose: Gallery Visits
Today the Foundation Degree Courses – Graphic Design & Advertising, Contemporary Photographic Practices and Contemporary Art Practice took a day trip to Liverpool as part of the Induction activities, to visit major exhibition centres in Liverpool including FACT, The Open Eye, The Bluecoat Gallery and TATE Liverpool to see a range of inspirational and socially important exhibitions.
“It was a great experience and my first time to an exhibition in this country … I loved the use Keith Haring’s colours, lines and negative shapes.” – Soraya Eghbali
The Open Eye had an exhibition addressing the topic of ‘the portrait’ with responses from 16 years olds’. Students were privy to a talk from a member of the curatorial team who discussed the current exhibition & gave a tour of the Gallery. FACT’s exhibition ‘In Real Life’ focused on the ‘gig sector’ with stories from a Graphic Designer in India to a beautician Vlogger in the UK. Bluecoat had an exhibition from Shezad Dawood and a wonderful exhibition of promotional posters from their previous exhibitions spanning decades. This was especially interesting to the first year Graphics students, who will be designing exhibition posters as part of their first unit. And the TATE held one of the most powerful and diverse exhibitions ever of Keith Haring’s work starting with his early work on the streets of New York through to his socially profound work on the AIDS epidemic.
“Visiting the Keith Haring exhibition was like visiting a time capsule – it resonates today because of the LGBT community – I liked that he wasn’t limited at all by any materials, he was like a stream of consciousness, he reminded me of Barney Ibbotson’s work. It makes me want to buy some ink and tarpaulin – it’s made me think about how I can work in my sketchbook.” – Clare Marshall
“I liked seeing pieces of work carried out in different ways to the way I would approach something – such as the work by Shezad Dawood with her bright and unique pieces using neon lights; creating various objects and animals.” – Peter Bergin
In addition to their engagement with these cultural institutions it was an opportunity for all courses to meet each other informally. Freshers got to meet their peers across divers course programmes.
UCEN Manchester students across three courses enjoyed an inspirational trip to London.
Conference speakers included boutique creative agency Renwick Studios; the world’s largest independently-owned design studio Pentagram; digital based agency C3UK; and advertising-based agency Mr President.
Tutor Alex Komlosy said: “This annual visit is important because the four speakers are carefully chosen from high profile names within the industry and with an aim to demonstrate a wide range of approaches. Students leave having identified with a specific speaker, which in turn helps them choose a direction to their work and career path.
Student Michael Hawkins, who is in his final year of the Creative Media and Visual Communication course said: “The visit was really interesting and 100 per cent worthwhile.
Second year Fda Graphic Design and Advertising students worked with the national agency to build a website and create a digital advertising campaign for a client. They learned to use Sketch, the latest design industry toolkit, and pitched their work to the company director. In addition, they were taught by alumni Lisa Dale, who now works at the agency, and freelance designer Ian Renfrew.
