The exhibition is organised in the following sections:

Graphic design and publishing

In the last four decades, book and magazine publishing has provided the vehicle for some of the most innovative British graphic design. Earlier examples include pioneering book covers by Romek Marber, Keith Cunningham, Raymond Hawkey and Derek Birdsall, and Katy Hepburn’s remarkable designs for the Monty Python books. More recent approaches to cover design are represented by Angus Hyland’s projects for Canongate, Intro’s for Penguin and William Webb’s for Bloomsbury. Featured magazines include Town (Tom Wolsey), Nova (Harri Peccinotti and David Hillman), Oz (Martin Sharp), Time Out (Pearce Marchbank), City Limits (David King), i-D (Terry Jones), The Face (Neville Brody) and Sleazenation (Scott King). The Guardian’s use of design in its newspaper, special supplements and website is explored. Significant design magazines such as Typographica, Ark, Design, Blueprint, Octavo and Eye are also shown.

Graphic design and music

The richness and diversity of the British music scene has consistently enabled designers to work independently of the constraints imposed by more mainstream clients. Spanning the range of movements and styles, from 1960s psychedelia to 1980s new wave and 1990s dance music, Communicate includes album covers, poster campaigns and pop videos by such influential figures as Robert Brownjohn, Michael English and Nigel Waymouth, Hipgnosis, Barney Bubbles, Jamie Reid, Malcolm Garrett, Peter Saville, Vaughan Oliver, 8vo, Mark Farrow, Tomato, Intro, Blue Source, and many others

Web design

Here the focus is on the relationship between graphic design as a now well-established practice and web design as an emerging discipline, with some aspects in common with graphic design, but some equally fundamental differences. Among the featured designers are Hi-Res! renowned for their ground-breaking Donnie Darko and Requiem for a Dream film-related websites, and leading design teams such as Friendchip, The Designers Republic and Airside.

Graphic design, politics and society

For some designers issues of social responsibility and political engagement are paramount. This section includes classic 1960s nuclear disarmament posters by Robin Fior and Ken Garland, hard-hitting anti-racist posters by David King, and Richard Hollis’ posters for the ANC. Garland’s provocative First Things First manifesto of 1964 is shown as well as its recent update. More ambiguous contemporary forms of protest are explored in projects by Jonathan Barnbrook. Socially conscious design initiatives are represented by Lucienne Roberts’ literature for Breakthrough Breast Cancer and Johnson Banks’ posters and leaflets for Angel Drug Services.

Graphic design and identity

A strong visual identity is essential for any company or enterprise that wishes to communicate its presence and message to the public. This section explores a range of approaches to identity design, showing examples that have sometimes achieved an iconic presence in British life. Among the projects featured are Fletcher/Forbes/Gill’s work for Pirelli; Ken Garland’s designs for Galt Toys; John McConnell’s landmark store identity for Biba; Why Not Associates’ directories for Next; Siobhan Keaney’s identity for The Mill and Graphic Thought Facility’s identity for Habitat; North’s acclaimed redesign for the RAC; and Alan Aboud’s long-lasting collaboration with fashion designer Paul Smith. Examples of TV identities include Channel 4 and BBC2 (Lambie-Nairn), Five (Spin), Big Brother (Foundation 33) and the Sci Fi Channel (Fuel).

Graphic design and self-initiated projects

Graphic designers have always produced projects of their own, alongside their client work, and in recent years this tendency has been increasingly apparent. Many visual communicators now consider their work as a form of ‘graphic authorship’. This section concentrates on self-initiated projects such as John Sewell’s 1960 film Everybody’s Nobody, David King’s visual histories, Alan Kitching’s letterpress-printed Broadsides, and Neville Brody’s long-running Fuse typeface project. It includes calendars by Trickett & Webb, publishing projects by Tomato and Scott King, posters by The Designers Republic, products by Graphic Thought Facility, and digital films by Fuel.

Rick Poyner, Curator

Rick Poynor was founding editor of Eye (1990), the international review of graphic communication. He has written for numerous publications including Blueprint, Frieze, Domus, Print, I.D., Adbusters, The Guardian and The Financial Times, and is the author of many books including Nigel Coates: The City in Motion (1989), Design Without Boundaries (1998), Typographica (2001), Obey the Giant: Life in the Image World (2001) and No More Rules (2003), a critical study of graphic design and postmodernism. Poynor lectures widely about design matters in Europe, the United States and Australia. From 1994 to 1999, he was a visiting professor in the School of Communication at the Royal College of Art, London.