With its apparent distaste for any names not traditionally ‘British’-looking, the computer spellcheck illustrates a wider issue: that our supposedly neutral technology is skewed by the bias of those who built it, says Hannah Ellis
From social media to fixed odds betting machines, designers are intimately involved in feeding our addiction to the screens that dominate our lives
The creative industry views Brexit as a Bad Thing. But what if its resulting skills shortage prompts us finally to address a much older issue – the lack of access to a creative career for those without a privileged background?
“Like a band that stays together forever,” says Browns’ Jonathan Ellery in a new film about design studio Why Not Associates made for their 30-year retrospective show at Sheffield Institute of Arts. At the opening of the show, Hannah Ellis reflects on what makes the studio tick and the affection with which its founders are held by their peers
Kingston has become the latest institution to reclaim the title ‘School of Art’. Is this trend merely a rebranding exercise or does it herald a more ambitious re-examination of the role of art and design within higher education?
At Ideas on Revolt, the third annual Graphic Design Educators’ Network conference, there were calls for students to become more involved in resistance and rebellion. But perhaps their teachers should be leading by example, suggests Hannah Ellis
Star speakers, networking and bad coffee – is this all we want from a design conference? Or, asks Hannah Ellis, could smaller events such as Copenhagen’s POST point the way toward a more enriching, two-way model?
As degree show season comes to an end for another year, Hannah Ellis asks whether it’s time to rethink a concept that favours the spectacular over the thoughtful and fails to accommodate many aspects of design practice
In the UK General Election, support for progressive politics is far more visible in the creative community than pro-Conservative messages are. Yet surveys reveal that not all creative people are left-leaning. Hannah Ellis goes in search of designers on the right and examines the contradiction inherent in an industry predominantly ‘of the left’ that spends much of its time enabling an economic system that is at odds with many leftist ideals
With publishers turning away from the traditional monograph, a new form of self-written design book – part showcase, part ‘studio portrait’ – has emerged. Hannah Ellis wonders what their lasting value will be
GBH’s self-penned monograph promises a deep dive into the branding and design studio’s psyche. But while the book is good on the ‘how’ it works for its clients, it has less to say on the ‘why’ or even the ‘should we really be doing this?’ of modern design practice