Picks of the month: the best design events to catch in July

Book: The Healing Arts

What: Designing visually pleasing and calming hospital interiors has often been found to make a positive impact on patients, families and staff alike – we only need to look at the work of Morag Myerscough for Sheffield Children’s Hospital, or BAT Studio’s relaxation room for cancer patients at Guy’s Hospital to recognise the difference such spaces can make to people’s experiences of medical care.

The transformation of spaces has moved beyond typical waiting rooms, treatment rooms and bedrooms, too – a few years ago, Unick Architects created a multi-coloured theatre and cinema space for Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, showing how design can extend beyond the basics in healthcare.

Now, the same hospital is releasing a book, which looks back at the last 25 years of its art in health programme, run by its charity, CW+. The book explores how visual arts, alongside music and performative art, have changed the environment at the hospital and created warmer, more welcoming spaces for patients, visitors and staff. The book will include essays on the impact of art and design on the hospital, through to colourful photography depicting the most notable projects from the last quarter-century.

When: Available to buy online now.

Where: UK-wide.

Info: The Healing Arts is published by Unicorn, and costs £15.

Festival and awards: D&AD New Blood 2019

What: D&AD’s New Blood programme look to celebrate up-and-coming creative talent, including students, graduates and those within three years of graduating. To do this, it hosts an annual ceremony, awarding those who have produced brilliant and thought-provoking work with D&AD’s coveted pencils. In recent years, New Blood has also branched out into a free, three-day festival of talks, workshops and exhibitions.

As well as showcasing award winners, it also displays the best work from design-related university courses from across the UK, across a broad range of disciplines, from graphic design and animation to advertising. It also features an agenda of speakers, which this year includes prolific freelance illustrator Ben Tallon, George Coffey, head of motion at animation studio Jelly and Karina Wilsher, global chief operating officer at ad agency Anomaly.

When: D&AD Awards takes place 11 July. D&AD Festival takes place 10-13 July.

Where: The awards take place at Oval Space, 29-32 The Oval, London E2 9DT. The festival takes place at The Old Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane, Spitalfields, London E1 6QR.

Info: Entry to the festival is free. Tickets still need to be ordered and printed in advance. Head to the D&AD New Blood Festival website for more info. Head here for more info on the D&AD New Blood Awards.

Talk: Kerning the Gap

What: In the latest in its series of advocacy events, Kerning the Gap, the not-for-profit organisation that promotes gender equality in design, is hosting a two-hour panel talk and networking session at product design studio Uniform, in Liverpool. The session panel includes Merle Hall, CEO at industrial design consultancy Kinneir Duffort, Neil Sheakey, design director at Uniform, Craig Oldham, creative director and founder at his own graphic design studio, Office of Craig, alongside Lynne Robertson from Santander and professional coach, Denise Chilton.

Expect the latest news around how the industry is doing in terms of the gender pay gap, challenges women are facing in getting into senior leadership roles and what can be done to tackle the imbalance. The design industry is notoriously male dominated, particularly at senior level – Design Week research has found that two-thirds of designers earning over £40,000 are male.

When: 9 July 2019, 5.45pm-8pm. Welcome drinks from 5.45pm, talks from 6.30pm and networking from 7.15pm.

Where: Uniform, 9-19 Bold Street, Liverpool L1 4DN.

Info: Tickets cost £5. Head here for more info.

Exhibition: Marie Neurath: Picturing Science

What: A new show at the House of Illustration will explore the work of late, German immigrant graphic designer, Marie Neurath, who produced over 80 illustrated children’s books between 1944 and 1971. Half of these were dedicated to science education, and incorporated a combination of scientific research, illustration and communication design to teach young people about a diverse range of topics, from animal and plant biology to physics.

Her work was infographic and diagram-based and explored how they can be effective forms of communication when enhanced through beautiful illustration. To realise her work, Neurath led a team of researchers, artists and writers at data organisation, the Isotype Institute, to produce her books, combining many fields to present science in an engaging way. In heading up this team, she also challenged preconceptions around women and work at the time. The new exhibition will explore the three decades of Neurath’s work in the UK – she was Germany by origin and lived in the Netherlands until 1940 – including rough sketches, pay layouts and final book covers.

When: 19 July – 3 November 2019.

Where: House of Illustration, 2 Granary Square, King’s Cross, London N1C 4BH.

Info: Tickets cost £8, or £5 for concessions. Head to the House of Illustration for more info.

Exhibition: Typographic Dante

What: Typographer and designer Barrie Tullett is putting on an intriguing and peculiar show at the National Centre for Craft and Design in Lincoln, which will see him depict the story of Middle Ages Italian poet, Dante Alighieri’s, masterpiece, the Divine Comedy through 100 typographic illustrations. Each piece of work has been meticulously made by hand-lettering techniques, such as wood and metal type, typewriter and Letraset, with the artist intentionally choosing “obsolete” technology to explore the 700-year-old text. The poem, which was written between 1308 and 1320, describes a journey through hell, purgatory and paradise, and is an exploration of a spiritual journey towards God. Typographer Tullett is also programme leader for graphic design at the University of Lincoln, and has written a book on typewriter art.

When: 6 July – 13 October 2019.

Where: Roof Gallery, The National Centre for Craft and Design, Navigation Wharf, Carre Street, Sleaford, Lincolnshire NG34 7TW.

Info: Entry is free. Head to the National Centre for Craft and Design for more info.

Other things to catch:

• World Illustration Awards, at Somerset House: see the full shortlist of the world’s best illustrators, as chosen for this year’s World Illustration Awards, organised by the Association of Illustrators (AOI). An exhibition takes place from 11-28 July 2019. Entry is free.
• Olafur Eliasson — In Real Life, at the Tate Modern: a retrospective of the unique, installation and sculpture artist’s work takes place from 11 July 2019 – 5 January 2020. Entry costs £18, or £17 for concessions.
• Made in 1989, at the Design Museum: a free display celebrates 30 years since the founding of the museum, and will showcase archival objects and materials that have been part of its collection until 12 January 2020. Entry is free.