Darren Leader Studio

Today was fun – visiting Park Communications, our chosen printer for In Search of Taste Issue One. And Park are ideal, being Magazine Printer of the Year 2014.

Plus, it was good for our client Keith Reeves to see the facilities and discuss the process from print to packing. I thought I had already made up my mind about paper stocks, until I picked up a copy of ‘Jocks and Nerds’ magazine – its black and white and full colour photography was stunning. Nice cover too.

We had another treat in store. Park are print sponsors of It’s Nice That, known to all in the creative industries for their discoveries in visual arts – their monthly ‘Nicer Tuesday’ event was tonight and its chosen theme was editorial. Perfect!

I enjoyed hearing from two RCA graduates and their ‘Dirty Furniture’ publication and Tim Noakes of Dazed and Confused. Best of all, Steven Watson of Stack, the magazine subscription service. I would love for In Search of Taste to be one of their titles. Let’s see.

Thanks to Steve Ilott, Park Communications for being such a great host.

Studio recently took part in an Infohackit, a 12 hour workshop to brainstorm infographics with scientists from the UEA.

The ambitious event was organised by Peter Moore Fuller of Made Agency and Martin Johnson of the Marine Knowledge Exchange Network. I had been tasked to be one of the team captains and bring along a few talented and willing students from Graphic Communication of Norwich University of the Arts.

It was an interesting challenge to discuss ideas with scientists and how best to communicate their work – art school thinking meets big bang theory. And we had to build our own brief, by firstly hearing about their fascinating and world-changing work. And that was when I met the Lonely Robots.

My bunch of marine scientists work with an amazing device which navigates the depths of the ocean, recording temperatures and reporting its results to help better weather forecasting. We decided that the potential placement of our infographic would support an article for the Guardian or BBC web sites, and explain its purpose to a wider audience. Alternatively, a more complex version could be used at an industry conference.

Once we agreed upon our narrative, a storyboard was drawn up and then animated for presentation later that evening. A tall order, but a great challenge – beers were richly deserved!

Many thanks to Pete from NUA Graphic Communication, Year Two – for patience under pressure and a superb animation.