Graphics students make the everyday extraordinary

Final year graphics students have visited the Design Museum as part of their participation in a fascinating interdisciplinary project.

This year 'Design Factory' have invited students to respond to an exciting brief set by Brit Insurance Design of the Year winners, designer Samuel Wilkinson and product design company Hulger. Using research from Design Museum exhibitions, online resources and college based creative practices, students will be asked to submit work in answer to the brief to make the everyday extraordinary. During their time at the museum students enjoyed seeing highlights from the museum's collection including the Anglepoise lamp, UK road signs, UK traffic lights, the candlestick telephone and the Moulton bicycle. The group also viewed the telephone box, known as the K6 Kiosk, which celebrates its 75th birthday this year. It was introduced in 1936 to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of the coronation of King George V. The "Jubilee Kiosk", as it became known, was designed by English architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (1880-1960) and was similar, but smaller than its predecessor the K2, also designed by Sir Giles. The older K2 had not featured outside London, but the "Jubilee" model became the first genuinely standard telephone box to be installed all over the country.

Also on exhibition, the traffic lights, redesigned by David Mellor in 1966, were commissioned by the Department of the Environment as part of the total redesign of the national road traffic sign system. Mellor's iconic design is still in use today and are a familiar sight on British roads.

"We also visited visited Tate Modern to see the work of Tacita Dean (one-time Wolverhampton lecturer) the latest artist to create a commission for Tate Modern's Turbine Hall as part of the Unilever Series.

An inspiring day was had by all" said Julia Chidley