What a week at Design Manchester! It was great to work across such an illustrious programme of events, which this year also included fashion, music, film and animation to celebrate the crucial role of design in all walks of life.
Design Manchester has become a staple of the city’s diverse and thriving cultural calendar, whilst also functioning as a highlight for creatives across the UK. With such a vast range of talks and workshops held at key venues across the city it’s hard to decide on my favourites, but one of my highlights definitely included Music How, which welcomed New Order’s Stephen Morris in conversation following the release of New Order’s new album.
I found out about the design aspect of the album musically, and it was really interesting to hear where the ideas for album artwork come from. Stephen was joined by Music How and Luke Bainbridge from Festival No. 6, who also led a really insightful talk about the planning of the festival and its amazing programme, along with the issues the curators face each year.
Another favourite for me was Design Now, featuring Parisian illustrator Malika Favre, graphic design studio Hudson Powell and co-founder of Lemon Jelly and Airside Fred Deakin. They all discussed their work and the processes behind and all gave really engaging conversations about their work and the industry.
As a showcase of Print Now supported by GF Smith, another key event was Manchester Print Festival, which took place at the wonderful People’s History Museum showcasing over 50 stalls selling independent artwork, along with free hands-on workshops in letterpress, screen printing, origami, badge making, paper flower creations, doodle wall and collage work.
We had lots of positive words from everyone involved, with press including Creative Review, Design Week, Big Issue and Manchester Evening News.
Here’s to next year!
Becca x
Photos: Sebastian Matthes / MANOX
