Portsmouth School of Art, Design and Media

Bark Design Solutions approached Portsmouth School of Art, Design and Media’s prospectus, supporting the teachers’ belief that ‘you should practice what you teach’. As a marketing tool, the prospectus aims to reflect that same young graphic design culture which it is actively promoting.

Bark partner Tim Hutchinson was an associate senior lecturer at Portsmouth School of Art and had personal experience of the recruitment process. ‘Portsmouth is keen to attract students both in talent and in numbers, but it is difficult to compete with London,’ admits Hutchinson. The design brief was to show Portsmouth as a ‘continuous programme, where students can join at a foundation or access course level and go on to a postgraduate course’.

Bark used a genetically inspired diagram as the visual metaphor for this interlinked curriculum progress. ‘Each course has its own identity, yet we kept the connection via the genetic formula,’ says Hutchinson. ‘The front end [of the prospectus] is the mission statement, with its coloured and upbeat design, while in the second section the paper stock changes and you have more detailed information about the courses.’