Young designworks Talent Chosen for London Show

Young designworks Talent Chosen for London Exhibition

 
Hotshot young Wellington designer Josh Barr’s work has been selected for show at the upcoming Anti Design Festival in London.

Barr’s work Blog Roll is a sculptural piece that challenges the notion of graphic design as two-dimensional and questions the value of digital communication.

Barr says, “In essence, the work provokes debate about the value of what publishing is.

“I’m asking; do review, thoughtfulness and editing go out the window in an era when anyone can quickly publish anything online? And what is the value of publishing anymore?” 

Barr, who works at designworks in Wellington, created Blog Roll by developing a software programme that takes the content of any blog and prints it through a fax machine into a 45-metre long roll of one-ply paper. He then hand perforated and rolled it into a toilet-roll like object.

Blog Roll was Barr’s final presentation for his fourth year Bachelor of Design at Massey University and a stark contrast to his fellow students’ work, much of which was presented in book format.  

He says his work is likely to have been accepted into the Anti Design Festival because it was a strong critique of graphic design and the antithesis of good design principles.
 
“Each Blog Roll is printed using web fonts such as Arial and Verdana: that’s a real challenge to graphic designers who are used to spending a lot of time considering the typography of each work,” says Barr.

“The presentation of these fonts didn’t go down well with my design lecturers, but ironically that’s probably what got me into the Festival.”

The Anti Design Festival, which runs parallel to the London Design Festival, provides an outlet for new risks and creative exploration in art, image, design, product, film, fashion, performance, 3D, digital and sound through a series of events, publications and venues.

The festival is run by design world legend Neville Brody, who will take up the post as new Head of the Communication Art & Design department at the Royal College of Art from January 2011.

The Anti Design Festival runs from September 18 – 26, 2010.

ENDS