Si Billam
Si Billam is founder and Creative director of UNIT, a diverse graphic design practice based in Leeds.
Si’s work ranges from public art installations and global branding to local government, regeneration projects and music industry art direction. We have built a reputation for producing creative solutions that go beyond the traditional boundaries that graphic design is contained within.
Although still in our infancy, our work has already reached across the globe as far as the US and been featured in exhibitions in Europe — most recently at a fringe event to the famous SONAR festival in Barcelona.
Prior to establishing UNIT, Si was a former Senior designer with the world renowned ‘The Designers Republic’ based in Sheffield. His work ranged from rebranding MTV Italy (QOOB), creating global campaigns for Coca-Cola to projects with independent artists, record labels and architects. After his time at tDR he spent 3 years working as Senior Designer & Art Director at Leeds based Vast servicing clients within the arts, fashion, property and regeneration markets. Si’s work on the independent fashion magazine ‘Shufti®’ led to the publication winning both Gold & Silver prizes at the Graphis and SPD awards in New York 2009.
Lorna Johnstone
Lorna Johnstone is a Leeds-based visual artist and born again musician.
Working mainly in black ink pen on recycled materials, her work is influenced by textiles, microscopic scientific details, dermatitis and endless worrying. Other interests include melting plastic and making masks.
‘Myelin’ and ‘Schwann Cell’
‘The design of educational posters and textbooks in schools can often be dry and perfunctory. By utilising more attractive and varied design styles the information contained becomes more easily memorable and effective.
I have used a clean and clear layout in my designs, but kept varied textures and a handmade quality about the illustrations. The look of the posters aims to capture the viewer’s attention for longer, allowing them to more fully absorb the information displayed.’
Lorna studied at Leeds College of Art and Swansea Institute of Higher Education.
lornasaurus.tumblr.com
@LornaJohnstone
Alexander Peters
Alexander completed a BA (Hons) in Graphic and Communications Design at the University of Leeds in 2011, and
has since gone on to study for an MA in Art Gallery and Museum Studies in the school of Fine Art, History of Art
and Cultural Studies at the same institution.
With a keen interest in the discourse of museum/gallery narrative and interpretation alongside his own creative practice, Alex hopes to own and run his own gallery in the future. His work shapes widely across a broad range of mediums encompassing graphic design; through which he uses screen printing, painting and photographing, fusing together to exploit digital outputs to render a final composition.
For more information about Alex and his work visit alexanderpeters.co.uk
Tom Pitts
Tom is a Sheffield-born, Leeds based graphic designer produces simplistic and playful
design across a range of mediums. He loves typography, illustration and print, especially
the smell of good print on uncoated stock! His belief is that by taking these techniques
across to website and app design, to merge print and digital, is a great way of pushing the
boundaries of what’s possible.
As well as being head of creative for a Yorkshire based agency, Tom works as a freelancer
on a variety of projects. He also runs a graphic design blogging website called ‘Hand
Drawn Pixels’ which showcases anything he finds interesting and helps promote local
talent.
Adrian Riley with Rachel Welford
Adrian Riley is founder-partner of design studio Electric Angel. Originating in Bradford in 2000, Electric Angel relocated to Scarborough in 2003 where their seafront studio is also home to a tiny art gallery exhibiting work and installations by local artists and hosting poetry readings. Their work is a mix of design for print, public art commissions and fun stuff that doesn’t comfortably fit into any category, often featuring community engagement. Collaboration with creatives from different disciplines is a key part of their approach and the work in this exhibition was a collaboration with Rachel Welford, an artist specialising in architectural glass for both domestic and public art settings. Together Adrian and Rachel have created permanent public artworks in York Hospital, on the National Cycle Network and most recently were commissioned to develop concepts for the Wearmouth-Jarrow World Heritage Site.
Adrian: electricangel.co.uk
Rachel: rachelwelford.co.uk
Sophie Wilson
My name is Sophie Wilson, and I’m currently studying my second year of my BA (Hons) Graphic Design degree at Leeds College of Art. When it comes to design there’s nothing I like more than illustration, colour, and illustrative typographic design, and the few occasions where I’m not drawing or blogging away, you’ll find me watching films or dancing along to Simon & Garfunkel songs… whether anyone’s watching or not. I’m currently looking for a summer placement, preparing for months full of craft fairs and getting nervously excited for my final year of University.
behance.net/sophiewilsondesigns
Split Design (Curator)
Split is a small agency based in Leeds specialising in creative led graphic design for print and web. Our core work covers identity, print and website design whilst at the same time creating our own range of self-initiated projects sold in the Split Shop.
We love to solve problems: To make the complex simple and clear, to search out that perfect concept, to find a way to communicate a message in an engaging way without overshadowing or dissolving the content, to balance out many elements into one clear identity, to work within restrictive budgets without restricting the creativity – in short, we love to create design that is appropriate, effective and visually appealing in equal measure.
We also love getting to know our clients and sharing in their passions. Big or small, we treat every design brief with the same enthusiasm and attention to detail and we hope that our portfolio speaks for itself.
Finally, we value those we work with and over the past 5 years we have built relationships with a range of regular collaborators in all areas; from printers, photographers and animators, to web agencies, marketing experts and project managers. This means you get the best of both worlds: The creativity and personal service of a small agency but the resources and knowledge base of a much larger team.
To see more work and news from Split visit split.co.uk and check out the blog at blog.split.co.uk
Sara Teresa (Curator)
Expatriate, realist, constant striver, obsessive wanderer.
Photographing since 2007, still finding her way. Doesn’t enjoy talking about herself in the third person.
In addition to managing Café 164 and curating art for its exhibitions, Sara can be found dancing (poorly) at local gigs, knitting, obsessively reading fiction and kicking around fields and weird back alleys with vintage film cameras.
With thanks to Oli Bentley at Split for making it less obvious that she knows little to nothing about graphic design.
A proper website is in progress but for now she blogs (sporadically) at sarateresa.com
