Jon Henley reports on The Guardian website about ‘the poster we can’t stop buying’. I first remember seeing it displayed in the wonderful Barter Books, and the slogan has since spawned an industry around K-C-A-C-O products. Some people are even making a living out of the phrase.

A chance to exhibit at Spike Design, along with a restricted palette of black, white and red, was too good an opportunity to miss. And so I present my version of Keep Calm and Carry on, updated for the Credit Crunch:

The original 1939 poster was part of a series of three. The posters were designed to inspire and comfort a population nervous about the future. Here are two more versions for modern times, click on the thumbnail to see the full poster:

The group exhibition ‘If I was…‘ is on until Mar 20 at Spike Island.

Thanks go to Steven Dawson and Hannah McVicar for putting on the show.

As a part-time MA student in Information Design, and some experience of google maps, I’ll be interested to see how these are used over the coming months.

Although the newspaper article runs through the political arguments for and against crime mapping (which appears to have started in US cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles) there are only three links to examples provided:

1) A national view from the Home Office

2) West Yorkshire Police

3) Metropolitan Police (Greater London)

Without going into a detailed comparison, the London Met’s map seems the most impressive but what’s striking is that there are such different colour, navigation and mapping systems across only three examples.

So the article raises the worrying possibility that there are a further 40 types of map in use nationally and that there could be little consistency between them.

www.backtotheplanet.co.uk

www.sweethistory.org explores the impact of the sugar and slave trades on the built environment of Bristol. I designed the printed trail map (available to download from the site and at the Architecture Centre, Bristol) and designed/built the project website, which follows the route through a google map interface.

Client: Architecture Centre, Bristol in partnership with young people from the Knowle West Media Centre.

The topic of the event was Design for the Future, with a focus on the impact of young people on design, and how design can be ethically and socially responsible. If anything, my talk was about designing for the past, with examples of using local historical archives in film and on websites.

To keep things snappy, the format of the evening employed a Petcha Kutcha approach (pronounced pa-charch-ka in case you’re wondering). Each presenter is allowed 20 images, shown for 20 seconds each. That’s a pithy 6 minutes 40 seconds per person with a strict one minute gap between talks.

With presenters forced to be concise, and the audience not looking at their watches, the pace and length seems perfect for a brief overview of any subject. The other speakers were Lyndsay Grant and Clara Lemon from Futurelab; Scott Farlow; Claire Selman; Conway and Young; Kate Rudman; Rob Law of Trunki; Romy, Sandra and Tanya from Knowle West Media Centre and Walter Jack. Big thanks goes to Holly from RIO for organising the event.

exchange2improve.eu is an online collection of case studies to support shared learning and encourage the development of excellent Social Enterprises across Europe.

There are contributions from five countries across Europe and I worked closely with UK partner Social Enterprise Works to present the resource in a clear and accessible way. Each case study needed to be searchable by different criteria (by country, topic or alphabetically) and also fit into the EFQM Excellence Model. Designed for professionals working in the Social Enterprise sector, the homepage diagram enables visitors to quickly see all case studies under each of the nine EFQM categories.

‘Exchange2Improve was created in close co-operation between the transnational EQUAL partnerships DESE and XoP in 2006-2007. It aims to provide a bank of empirical, credible knowledge of social economy. The website presents examples of good practice from social economy enterprises from the partner countries, as well as general performance improvement tools proven in practice and contextualised in SEE reality.’

The Institute of Physics Publishing asked me to design and build a site for their AS and A2 level Physics courses. The previous site was difficult to maintain and complex to navigate, making it tricky for students and teachers to find what they wanted. A newly designed site had to reflect a re-branding of the course and be consistent with the print material and course publications. The knowledge base contains many downloadable resources and help for Teachers and Technicians.

Working closely with the design studio and the IT departments at Institute of Physics Publishing, the resulting site is more visually exciting and easier to use, as well as being fully updatable by staff members.

advancingphysics.iop.org

Around the time I moved into Spike Design, I was asked to take on the graphic design for the largest open-access print studio in the South West. The first job was to introduce a comprehensive visual identity that could be used across print and web, followed by a large amount of print from leaflets to artist catalogues.

The website continues to grow and reflect the mission of the Studio – is to provide exceptional resources, inspiration, training and space for artists. It is regularly updated by staff and there is a section for Members to display a selection of their artwork online: www.spikeprintstudio.org/members-artwork/

I have built an Members’ area where they can post opportunities and exhibition details and discuss printmaking online. The website has since attracted the attention of printmaking studios from around the world and raised the profile of Spike Print Studio both here and abroad.

www.spikeprintstudio.org

For those interested in studying at the UK’s world-class dance, drama and circus arts schools, the Conservatoire website – www.cdd.ac.uk – is the place to visit.

The Conservatoire for Dance and Drama (CDD) was established to secure the future of conservatoire-level vocational training in dance, drama and circus arts in Britain. I was commissioned to design and develop a website to help existing and prospective students from around the world find the very best courses to study in the UK.

The site also delivers information about the activities of the Conservatoire and is a valuable resource for staff members from the Affiliate Schools. This has recently been developed further with the introduction of a Staff Area as a space to discuss and disseminate information between Schools.

The website is fully updatable and I’ve delivered training in using the site to Conservatoire staff members. I also design many of the printed publications and annual reviews that the Conservatiore produces.

The affiliate schools of the Conservatoire are Bristol Old Vic Theatre School; Central School of Ballet; The Circus Space; London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art; London Contemporary Dance School; Northern School of Contemporary Dance; Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance; Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

www.cdd.ac.uk

Bristol and Bath has a vibrant and diverse social economy sector, covering everything from childcare to wood recycling. Social Enterprise Works provide free guidance and practical business development assistance to prospective, newly formed and established social enterprises during critical periods of their start up and development. They have supported over 400 social economy organisations in Bristol and beyond since 1993.

The website will announce regular events, distribute resources, display the latest news and provide answers to key questions. An online Social Business Directory lists organisations and allows visitors to leave their comments. The Director’s blog is one of the first in this sector.

‘Paul Matson designed our website. It was our first website, and we had little knowledge of the process and having just re-branded our organisation we needed a strong web presence, and as a membership organisation something that was accessible, interactive, fresh and lively. Paul delivered all this and more, we are really pleased with the website, how it looks and works, and have had really strong feedback from users. Paul also explained all our options clearly and made the process a pleasure. We have learned a lot, and our website has raised our profile and is something we are proud of as an organisation. Thanks Paul.’
Rob Webster-Communication and Marketing Manager

www.socialenterpriseworks.org