Camberwell’s Undergraduate Summer Show 2016 is only a few days away, opening this Saturday 18 June with the Friends and Family event, the exhibition will be open to the public from 21 -25 June. We have asked students to talk about their experience at this exciting time; here we interviewed third year BA Graphic Design student Maise Robinson who explores the differences between English traditions and the American equivalent. It’s showtime, what are you planning?
The identity team for the show came up with a really interesting concept this year and called the show Outcomes May Vary which celebrates the differences in this year’s graphic design graduates. Fellow Graphic Designer, Harriet Bishop, built the show website which features a GIF of everyone from our class holding their work which is bloody lovely and took her a long time, so go and check it out at www.outcomesmayvary.co.uk
What will you be exhibiting at the degree show?
I have two final outcomes which will be in the degree show; the first of which is the book presenting and explaining all my research. The research ranges from interviews with members of the Longhorsley Local History Society, photographs inside the homes of current Longhorsley villagers and conversation logs of Americans that I spoke to about Longhorsley. The second is a sitcom based in Longhorsley where every element of the film equates to a piece of research I collected. The script is entirely made from responses I got from questions I asked about Longhorsley and every prop, costume and set has come from a specific piece of research. The idea being that you can watch the sitcom and see in the book that the nonsensical dialogue and unusual props correspond to the research I gathered.
Work by Maisie Robinson
Work by Maisie Robinson
Do you have any artist influence?
Initially I was looking at theme parks, the Disney corporation and man-made ‘new towns’ like Celebration in Florida which was designed by the Disney to attempt to bring back the perfect American small town. I went to the Stanley Kubrick Archive a lot in my final year (everyone should go while they are still at UAL because it is amazing there) and the amount of detail and subliminal messaging behind every prop and costume has definitely influenced ideas behind my sitcom. I was also looking at films like Adam Green’s Aladdin, Michel Gondry’s The Science of Sleep and 80’s sitcoms like Full House while I was designing sets and props.
Please tell us about your design practice:
In my practice I have always been interested in American culture and the differences between English traditions and the American equivalent. In my final project I was interested in defining British villages, more specifically, the small village of Longhorsley in Northumberland. I was curious about the idea of Brutishness and what Brutishness is to people both inside and outside of the UK. Because my work often draws upon ideas of American culture, I went to California to speak to people about how they would imagine a place called Longhorsley and to see how Englishness is represented in the USA by photographing British pubs, British inspired architecture and film sets which all culminated in a book of research.
Has studying at Camberwell informed or influenced your design practice?
Yes, when I first came to Camberwell I thought I wanted to design sleek, fashion-y magazine spreads but my work couldn’t have gone in a more different direction. I think that Camberwell, in comparison to other Graphic Design courses, encourages students to take a more Fine Art approach to design. Although a solid concept is what shapes the work, the tutors also encourage you to have fun with projects by injecting your own interests into what you produce
Any future plans?
I want to go into graphic prop design for film or TV, I have done some work with design studios working in film such as Minalima and I would love to get some more work with them. I’ll also keep pestering other designers working in film to look at my portfolio. I want to keep doing this weird TV style though, I kind of want to do a full TV schedule with adverts and news segments and everything
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