Visit to Spike Island - Bristol

From my visit to The Print Fair at The Hepworth, I decided to research further into Spike Island because they offer studio space and print facilities. This could be a potential location if I decide to work freelance.

Spike Island is an international centre for the development of contemporary art and design. Based in Bristol, UK, it is home to a gallery, café and working space for artists, designers and creative businesses. The studio is host to over 70 artists and designers, all working in the same building which would be a great environment to work in.

Extra Strong

Extra Strong recently moved their studio to Spike Island so I took the opportunity to visit them and take a look around.

I caught up with Jenny, a freelance graphic designer currently working for Extra Strong who was a junior designer when I had my placement. We discussed the projects that they have been working on:

Something Good 

Jenny created the visual identity for Something Good Bristol which is a unique two day design festival that focuses on creativity. The website is interactive and contemporary which shows the great standard of work. Jenny explained how she created the website through illustrator and then forwarded the wireframes to a developer to generate the website and interactive features.

The list of designers are all really inspiring and I recognise some names such as Alec Dudson who is hosting the event. We had a talk from Alec in first year and he currently runs Intern Magazine. Small world. This can be an opportunity to talk to Alec and find out more about the event and how he organised it. Anthony Burrill is an established designer in the field of traditional letterpress. He is renowned for his typographic posters and witty use of language.

Opportunity to letterpress with Anthony Burrill:

Discovered through Twitter that the event needs volunteers. This would be a great opportunity to get involved with a creative event.

Sent my details:

I am aware that the event is during term time therefore I will need to consider the workload which is likely to be heavy at the start of third year. I will still enquire with my tutor as this would be a great opportunity.