Two weeks ago our Senior Designer, Chris Wilson shared his wisdom and expertise at the highly anticipated Graphic Design Festival Scotland, as a Mentor. Joining a team of industry experts, Wilson donned his elbow patches and monocle (not really) for 2 days and set to task at shaping the young and curious minds of budding designers…
Curators of the event Beth Wilson and James Gilchrist of Warriors Studio, hired the entire 6th floor of The Whisky Bond in Glasgow, which was the perfect backdrop for hosting a creative fuelled 5 day festival. With live DJ sets to get everyone in the mood, snacks and coffee aplenty, and a ping pong table to focus the competitor in everyone, the stage was set. Colourful prints from Risotto Studio adorned the corridors for inspiration, and thanks to Workhorsepress we even got a chance to trial the unique Risograph printing process and colour the walls too.
The theme of the competition was “attention” where participants were given 30 hours to generate as much attention towards any chosen subject, real, fictional, positive or negative. Egos and preconceived ideas of graphic design left at the door, imaginations at the ready, the designers set off to work. We’re not gonna lie, the designs knocked our socks off – engaging, inspiring, humorous, thought provoking and some down right outrageous designs reminded us all why we love design so much.
With the festival being the first event of its kind in Scotland, it was a huge success. From the organisation, to the collaboration between Scottish agencies, industry experts, international designers and sponsors, Beth and James’ relentless perseverance, blood, sweat, tears and no doubt sleepless nights paid off in the end.
What’s more this event is exactly what Scotland needs – a platform for creatives where new upcoming talent emerges, and innovative design gets to meet the world stage. There’s a new movement in the land of design, and with the success of this First Graphic Design Festival, there’s sure to be another next year. We can’t wait to see what these young designers come up with next, watch this space!
