In the subject of Typography taught by Nikita Bashmakov –and also, partially, by Enric Jardí and Albert Corbeto– the students learn about the history of typography and the semantic traits of the letter in order to exploit its visual potential, taking into account the choice of typography, composition and format to be able to create complex typographical systems.

We started by learning and practicing the beginnings of calligraphy, in order to learn firsthand why letters have the shape they do.

Once we had understood all the typographic variables and what to take into account when choosing a letter and not another, we did an experimental typography exercise to put everything into practice. Thus, using only typography, the assignment was to freely illustrate the show that Montserrat Caballé and Freddie Mercury starred in Montjuïc in 1988 singing “Barcelona”. These are some of the resulting projects:

Ander Zanguitu

Carla Barrenetxea

Marta Font

Paula Soler

Sonia Recuenco

The final project of the subject consisted in conceptualizing and designing a magazine from scratch, taking into account all the typographical choices, the hierarchy of information, organization, legibility, composition, sequence and format of the publication. Here are some of the resulting projects:

subalterna – Ander Zanguitu

Multisound – Kenzie Yoshimura

Momento – Nele Kempenaers 

Ciclismo Urbano – Raquel Palomar

In the subject of Graphic Production taught by Lluc Massaguer the students learn about the supports, the processes and printing techniques in graphic arts, as well as the correct preparation of final arts in order to be reproduced. They work with the basic techniques to be able to self-manage the design and printing process. Some of the final works of the subject are presented below.

Natural Screen Print Stencils – Cecelia Wood

The objective of this project was to explore the graphic possibilities of natural stencils in screen printing, to discover what effects can be created using non-paper stencils: leaves, plants and natural fabrics such as cotton and jute, and to investigate the different effects created when these same stencils are used both with and without emulsion, in order to multiply the number of graphic possibilities. This theme was chosen because outside of creating designs in Photoshop or Illustrator to be reproduced in screen printing, there is a wealth of manual image-creation possibilities. Almost anything flat can be exposed or used as a stencil, and these more manual methods allow for more unexpected outcomes, which is one of the principal strengths of screen printing.

Zer dio suak? – Ander Zanguitu

This project was based on the production of inks from burned materials and the experimentation with these inks through screen printing. The reason why the burned materials were chosen was the situation that was lived in Barcelona the days after the judgment of catalan political prisoners (“El Procés”). ¿What does the fire mean? ¿What is the message implied behind it? ¿Is it possible to talk about the metaphoric, social or historical strength of fire through the resulting ink from the ashes? The title of the project, “Zer dio suak?” (“¿What does the fire say?”) aims to throw into the air all these questions, implying the critical aspects of fire through graphic design.

Eco-publishing – Nele Kempenaers

How can the decisions made by graphic designers influence the environmental impact of their design? That was the question behind this final work about eco-publishing. The work explains what graphic designers should know about eco-publishing and how they can find the right printer and paper to work with. It also contains an analysis of the ecological practices of the printers Cevagraf and Vanguard Grafic. Although sustainability can be very complex, it is the responsibility of the designer to overcome the challenges and to always remain critical.