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Mythologies exhibition graphics by Spin

Posted by Mark Sinclair, 24 April 2009, 16:58    Permalink    Comments (6)


Interior graphics for the exhibition, Mythologies (designed by Spin) at Haunch of Venison's new Burlington Gardens space in London

The Haunch of Venison gallery unveiled its new home last month with a new exhibition, Mythologies, that paid homage to the building's previous incarnation as the Museum of Mankind. The exhibition essentially turned the gallery into a giant cabinet of curiosities and, before it closes this weekend, we wanted to post some images of the graphic design work created for the show by London-based studio, Spin...


One of the posters created for the exhibition

The Mythologies exhibition aims to explore the uncanny and the extraordinary as featured in such historic anthropological collections as the Pitt Rivers, the Hunterian and the Sir John Soane's museums. The new show features work by over 40 international artists, including Sophie Calle, Tony Cragg, Bill Viola, Keith Tyson and Damien Hirst.

It's an apt inaugural show for Haunch's new space as between 1970 and 1998, 6 Burlington Gardens housed the British Museum's ethnographic collections, staging exhibitions on subjects ranging from the Mexican Day of the Dead to Japanese Kites.


Catalogue covers


Various spreads from the catalogue...

Spin's Patrick Eley explains the studio's approach to their work for the exhibition:

"Reflecting the ethnographic history of the building, we created a strong totemic typographic identity for the show using Milton Glaser's Baby Teeth – a typeface which contrasts sharply with the grand Victorian gallery space. To create the poster we overlaid this on pages photocopied from Miscellanies – Hans Sloane's mammoth inventory of curious objects he had collected (which became the founding core of the British Museum's collection).

"We wanted to make a catalogue that didn't feel too formal or traditional and so kept it almost pocket-sized. It uses lightweight, warm Munken paper to unify a diverse set of archive and artist imagery, and with soft covers and rounded corners feels very much like a notebook. The title and list of artists are held on a gloss sticker which wraps round the book. The special edition in gold held a limited edition poster by Nathan Coley, while the green version contained a couple of extra sections of installation photography. Unlike most catalogues, there's a huge amount of text - over 50,000 words - so we kept the typography clean and readable - combining Haas Unica and Baskerville Book with green detailing."


Invite for the show's opening

"We tried out something new with the VIP invite and laser-etched the identity into heavy 2mm board," explains Eley. "Aside from the funny smell (and the fact we had to wipe the dust off each one by hand), it worked out quite well."


A poster featuring the front of the new gallery space at 6 Burlington Gardens

Mythologies closes this weekend. See haunchofvenison.com for more details.

6 Comments

Although it is hard to evaluate the work which is not seen first hand, I say it is great work I see here. I miss mostly the showing how graphics were done on the exhibition itself... Anyhow: Congratulations to Spin creators, and I am very sorry I couldn't leaf through the catalog, to feel the skin and touch the flesh :)
Great typography work. Smooth.
Maja
2009-04-26 12:48:53


An undeniable downside to being based in Cornwall, is missing out on exhibitions like this! Spin did a great job with their design
thepicklebot
2009-04-26 21:03:38


blah blah, more 'nice' work from spin. For some reason, all their work seems the same, and is usually more about keeping a house style than considering what is best for each project or having a really strong idea.
We know spin can make things look nice but I always hope to see them really think one day
josh
2009-04-27 09:08:42


Josh, I was wondering the same thing myself, although not in such a harsh way. i.e. 'lovely to look at — but where's the idea?' It would be nice to here Spin's take on their work in terms of ideas rather than the graphic design aspect of it. Although I guess we should all be able to see the link between 'Mythologies' and the nice graphic design they've created to promote it. Lovely layouts for the accompanying brochure as well.
geedee
2009-04-27 12:24:31


Hope the catalogue will be available somewhere - since I was dumb enough to miss the exhibition :-(
rpohancenik
2009-04-29 12:37:40


I'm always interested in how the art is created, be it paintings or sculptures, the underlying techniques and inspirations of the artist is what its all about I think and to learn and understand that.
Colin
2009-10-07 11:26:59


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