DJCAD Degree Show 2017: Graphic Design

Do you hate Mary Berry? Hate: The Game is the concept of Graphic Designer Samuel Packham. The brief, by Hasbro Games, was to “invent and design a party game for young adults that takes them away from the screen”. Samuel’s card game does just that by using edgy humour to bring 16-26 year olds together. The aim is to describe people or things you hate and let your opponents guess who or what your subject of hatred is. Samuel’s crisp, clear, red and white design, and simple “H8” logo, make this design stand out. Hate: The Game wins a D&AD Pencil award.

The D&AD John Lewis brief was to “design a product or service to connect John Lewis and busy city-dwellers and put a British favourite at the heart of modern living”. Rachel Alexander’s innovative Personal Edit concept is a unique shopping experience for people who are too busy for shopping. Combining technology with human interaction, a touch-operated mirror makes shopping quick and easy. Want to browse items or get a 360 degree view of your chosen outfit? It couldn’t be simpler. Rachel presents her ideas in a clean and clear way, with thoughtful use of John Lewis’s iconic branding.

Laura Geyer’s Personal Project Exploring Alternatives led to the concept of Yellow Matilda – a camper van-cum-mobile design studio, offering graphic design services to people in remote places. Laura carries Matilda’s distinctive pine tree branding to her website, T-shirts, business cards and notebooks. Laura’s design style is influenced by Scandinavian and Japanese design; her passion for travel and the outdoors shining through. In Yellow Matilda, Laura aims to bring that all-important human interaction to her design business.

Monica Dunne’s fascinating Mugshot project was her response to the D&AD Monotype brief to “embody and express the importance of cultural diversity through a typography-led solution or campaign”. Monica identified the prison population as a misunderstood or misrepresented community. For research, Monica spoke with prisoners over a cup of tea and found they opened up to her. They wanted to be seen as human, and accepted like everyone else. Monica’s mug designs make a refreshing change, replacing clichéd messages like “World’s best Mum” with verbatim quotes from prisoners. ‘It was a drugs deal that went wrong, so I killed him’ is shocking, but powerful.

Tao Shi’s response to the D&AD Monotype Brief is his concept of re-designing the Made in China label. Through a series of bold designs, Tao aims to encourage us to re-think our perception of this labelling – to see it as a positive thing – a reflection of China’s rapid development. In his designs, Tao uses Chinese characters in black, red, grey and beige, picking them out to form faces. His striking designs make us stop and think. Made in China – a new revolution unveiling modern China redefines the Made in China label and encourages us to look at China in a new way.

Winner of a D&AD pencil award, Sian MacFarlane, shows us her unique concept of Fabric of the Nation – a way of labelling garments that reflects the richness of British culture and diversity. Her tagline “Whatever you’re woven from, you’re part of the fabric” celebrates the mix of cultures we have in Britain. Sian shows us how design can be woven into our everyday lives and applied in a thoughtful and practical way.

The DJCAD Graphic Design degree show lets us see how the young designers of today are shaping our future. It reminds us that design isn’t about making things look nice; it’s about changing the way we think, and working out ways of making the world a better place.

Joanne Morley-Hill