New Identity for TVAD and WVC

We are thrilled with our new identity for TVAD and TVAD's open access double-blind peer reviewed journal Writing Visual Culture (WVC, previously Working Papers on Design) the first issue of which will launch this spring. The new TVAD logo can be seen as the masthead for the TVAD blog, and both logos are shown below, also.

The identity has been designed with flair by Rebecca Webber, who has issued the following statement:

I currently study Graphic Design as a joint honours subject with Marketing at the University of Hertfordshire. The collaboration between strategic thinking and solving complex problems through visual metaphors is what gets me out of bed. Collaborating, making projects exciting and being able to put a smile on someone's face as well as my own is what I aspire to achieve. Working alongside tutors and the TVAD research group to design a contemporary identity has been a great experience and a successful and enjoyable learning curve. http://www.flickr.com/photos/rebeccawebber/

Thank you to Rebecca Webber and Graphic Design Tutor Matthias Hillner for an identity we adore!

Congratulations to Dr Barbara Brownie

TVAD Researcher Barbara Brownie was awarded her PhD (subject to revisions) at her viva yesterday for a thesis entitled 'The Behaviours of Fluid Characterforms in Temporal Typography' supervised by Dr Grace Lees-Maffei and Alan Peacock.

Barbara's book Type Image is a related output - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Type-Image-Barbara-Brownie/dp/1584234423/

For more information about Barbara's work, see her website http://www.barbarabrownie.co.uk/

Congratulations Barbara!

Dr David Brody, TVAD's Visiting Researcher, Returns!

We're thrilled that Dr David Brody enjoyed his first visit to the School of Creative Arts as TVAD's Visiting Researcher for 2011/12 and that he is looking forward to his return in March, as are we. http://adht.parsons.edu/designstudies/2011/11/15/tvad-visit/#more-83

The programme for David's second visit is as follows:

Monday 26th March 2012

10.30 am, AA191, Art & Design Building: Research Symposium staff work in progress presentations

AD, SSAHRI plus other UH research active staff and interested parties and invitees with focus on TVAD's nominated theme of ‘Relationships between text, narrative and image’. We will explore how the work of each of us relates to the TVAD theme, and consider connections between our researches. (Depending on numbers, this session may extend into the afternoon, in A161, Lindop.)

Tuesday 27th March 2012

11 am – 1 pm, 2B05, FMM Building, 2^nd floor: ‘Getting Your Work Out There’ Research training event led by DB for all PG, MA and research degree students and supervisors

This session explores how students and young scholars can find venues for publication. In this discussion with graduate students, David Brody will describe some of his own experiences with the world of academic publishing. He will give advice about the pitfalls and successes he has faced along the way. Some of the questions addressed will include: What do you do with a journal rejection letter? What happens when two peer-reviewers are sending mixed messages about a submission? How do you stay in-touch with book editors? Can my Ph.D. dissertation become a book? What are some of the important issues to keep in mind when thinking about peer-reviewed publication? What about publications which are not peer-reviewed?

2 - 4 pm, A161 Lindop: Student Presentations about their work (5-10 minutes, illustrated).

Wednesday 28th March 2012

10.30 am, AA191, Art & Design Building: Responsive continuation meeting

To explore content TBC based on issues thrown up by the proceedings on Monday and Tuesday.

5.30 – 7 pm, A166 Lindop: ‘"We Listened to Our Guests": Rethinking the Redesign of Chicago's Hyatt Regency’, Open Lecture

This talk examines the relationship between hotel renovations and labor. While guests often laud renovated hotel rooms, with the hopes that interiors will be updated with the latest in technological features and design savvy, the results of these efforts can become a challenge for the housekeepers charged with maintaining these spaces. Indeed, new designs all too often translate into more work, as additional glass, more fabric, and an overabundance of light colors increase the physical challenges that attend room cleaning. Using the example of one hotel renovation in Chicago, David Brody will discuss how design choices can burden labor.

Dr David Brody is an Associate Professor of Design Studies at Parsons The New School for Design, New York. He directs the Masters Program in the History of Decorative Arts and Design. He is the author of Visualizing American Empire (University of Chicago Press, 2010) and co-editor of Design Studies: A Reader (Berg 2009). A specialist in material culture, visual culture, and design studies, Dr Brody has published writing in Prospects: An Annual of American Cultural Studies, Journal of Asian American Studies, American Quarterly, Journal of Design History, American Periodicals, and his article on hotel design and housekeeping appeared in Design and Culture in 2011. His new book project is titled Do Not Disturb: Design, Hotels, and Labor and is under advance contract with the University of Chicago Press. David has given papers at numerous academic conferences. http://www.newschool.edu/parsons/faculty.aspx?id=48674

TVAD Coordinator: Dr Grace Lees-Maffei, g.lees-maffei@herts.ac.uk