Rick is a designer, art director and typographer, working under the moniker Face37. In 2011 he gave the Musician‘s Union, one of he oldest unions in the world, a modern graphic voice that supports their issues. The rebranding included Signage, stationery, guidelines and web design and it was accoladed with the D&AD award 2011 for books. Rick‘s works were shown in The Guardian, Monocle, Creative Review, Grafik, Computer Arts, Wired or Digital Arts. At TYPO London Rick will demonstrate how graphic issues are social issues.
The Copy Book from Face37 on Vimeo.
1. Which work are you particularly proud of? Which work best represents your style or approach?
Tough question to answer when you’re your own biggest critic…I’m not particularly proud of any one project in particular as I am always striving to do better than the last project. My design tends to focus quite heavily on typography.
2. The theme of this year’s TYPO London is »Social«. Do you consider design to be a social discipline? Which design project do you consider to be particularly socially relevant?
Design should always be social in one way or the other. The word ‘social’ has so many meanings and you can break it down into so many things: Community. Environment. Communication. Politics. Conversation etc.
Rick Banks
Why Not Associates & Gordon Young’s latest project, ‘Comedy Carpet’ had all of the above. The ‘Comedy Carpet’ features the catchphrases, jokes and names of more than 1,000 comedians at the foot of Blackpool Tower. It features 160,000 individually-cut letters spelling out the phrases. Environmentally, it regenerated the sea front including vital sea defence works. It’s also become a huge tourist attraction for Blackpool (see Trip Advisor). Socially it created jobs. Gordon Young set up a manufacturing company in Hull, just to manufacture the granite slabs of typographic ‘carpet’. Hull has the highest unemployment in the country.The community saw one of the largest prices of public art ever commissioned. A celebration of Blackpool’s tradition of comedy that will have a legacy for over 100 years. A piece of design that will make people smile and talk about comedy. Ken Dodd even argued with Blackpool council when they decided to demolish parts of it.
It also looked bloody good — you can’t go wrong with 320 giant slabs of type. And…it didn’t make it into the D&AD annual. Make of that what you will.
The Comedy Carpet Project with Gordon Young Photo © 2011 why not associates limited
The Comedy Carpet Project with Gordon Young Photo © 2011 why not associates limited
The Comedy Carpet Project with Gordon Young Photo © 2011 why not associates limited
3. A conference like TYPO London is in itself an obvious example for a social event: what are you especially looking forward to?
When I go to design conferences like TYPO, I’m always more intrigued to hear about the journey and process of a design project. Nowadays there is always a knee-jerk reaction to design, especially on blogs. Designers too often focus on the aethestic. Conferences like TYPO offer speakers a platform to talk about the process, strategy and story behind projects.
It will be good if a King comes along again!
4. Required reading/watching: What are currently your favorite interesting/beautiful publications, exhibitions, books, movies and/or websites?
- Book: Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs biography— a brilliant read about one of the best CEO’s AND creative directors that has ever lived.
- Movie: The Raid — Pure unadulterated violence.
- Music: James Zabiela Resident Advisor Podcast Episode 319 ‘Born Electric’
James Zabiela Resident Advisor Podcast Episode 319 ‘Born Electric’ by jameszabiela
- Exhibition: V&A — British Design 1948—2012
