Speakers:

Moy Williams
John Washington
Andy Walmsley
Steven Johnson

Originally planned for May 2008, we’ve decided to resurrect this event due to popular public demand for what promises to be our most heated discussion
to date.

We all know that the path of design progress is littered with casualties. Compositors, typesetters, pre-press—extinct species rendered redundant by the rise of technology. As this relentless advance threatens to add ‘photographer’ to the list, the GroupHub March event will cut to the chase and ask do we need them anymore?

Featuring an illustrious panel of photographers and art directors, we’ll be discussing the rise of stock libraries, the advance of CGI and the magic of that ‘A’ button on your digital SLR. We’ll be looking at how these advances affect the role of the photographer and, more importantly, what impact they are having on the quality and integrity of the output of our designers.

Places are free, but limited, so please register here so we know how many sausage rolls to buy.

Speakers //

Ben Casey / The Chase
Bryn Jones / City Brand, UCLan

As Preston finally begins to live up to its city status, GroupHub’s September gathering will be looking at the vital role the design and creative community needs to play in defining it’s new look and feel.

In addition to being inspirational designers in their own right, Ben Casey and Bryn Jones are dedicated Preston ambassadors and vocal advocates for its potential as a new city.

The Tithe Barn project – and the flurry of regeneration that it will hopefully inspire -  is about to change the visual landscape of Preston forever. More than simply creating more places to work, rest and play, this vital phase of transition will define Preston’s identity and character for generations to come.

As well as showcasing inspirational plans to transform Preston into a vibrant, design-led urban centre, we’ll be discussing the dangers of leaving the new Preston in the hands of town planners and calling on your support to get design on the agenda.

Designers of the county unite!

Places at this event are free, but strictly limited. Please confirm your place by emailing our events team here.

Speakers//

Prof Stuart Walker / ImaginationLancaster
Prof Rachel Cooper / ImaginationLancaster
Mark Beever / thomas.matthews
Chair: Steven Johnson / The Hub
Further speakers TBC

Never short on ambition, GroupHub’s July event will be asking, “Can design save the world?” If design is about solving client problems, then Our Future Ltd is issuing some seriously challenging briefs – mammoth projects with daunting objectives and scary deadlines.

This event will assemble a panel of creative practitioners and academics to discuss how we can use our skills, our work and our businesses to offer up some answers. We’ll be talking about the environment, ethical trading, community cohesion and world peace. And we’ll be looking for answers a little more ambitious than switching off Macs, recycling paper and changing light bulbs.

We’d very much welcome your input on this event. Please submit comments on this post to suggest further speakers/themes/questions. Places at this event are free, but strictly limited so place ensure you register by emailing our events team here.

MATT KAY: www.kdimension.co.uk
JAKE SMITH: www.jp74.com
CRAIG OLDHAM: www.craigoldham.co.uk
STEVEN JOHNSON: www.hub-creative.co.uk
ANDREW LIVESEY
RICH TAYLOR: www.towhatenddesign.com

Pecha what? A global phenomenon with its roots in the Japanese create scene, Pecha Kucha is a fast and furious presentation format designed to condense large portions of inspiration, information and insight into a dainty selection of creative canapes.

This event will feature 6 speakers (TBC), mostly from our own ranks, each delivering a 20-slide presentation based on things that inspire them. The rub is that each speaker will have only 20 seconds to wax lyrical about each image before it moves to the next. Result: a bite-sized creative concentrate of 6 minutes 40 seconds and huge dollop of comic potential. Creative karaoke? Kinda.
The response to our last event was so overwhelming (100+) that we are now having to restrict the numbers we admit into the Forum. As such, please ensure that you register your place for this event (and turn up!) so we can keep track.

The line-up of speakers is being assembled from a list of creatives who replied to a call out we placed on the blog in November last year. If you would like to be considered for future Pecha Kucha nights, please let us know by emailing mary@grouphub.org.

The line-up

MATT KAY
Working with the likes of BBC, Channel 4, Interbrand and National Portrait Gallery, Matt provides visualising, illustration and design services from his K-Dimension studios in Preston and London.
www.kdimension.co.uk

JAKE SMITH
At the vanguard of all things pixelated, Jake is Creative Director at Padiham-based digital agency JP74.
www.jp74.com

CRAIG OLDHAM
Known as much for his self-initiated, extra-curricula projects as for his inspirational work at The Chase, Craig is a “Highly motivated. Hard working. Retired football player. Book addict. Prince fan. Blonde hair. Tall-ish. Graphic designer. Ideas man.”
www.craigoldham.co.uk

STEVEN JOHNSON
Copywriter and Creative Director at The Hub, Steven is the bloke who is far more comfortable introducing GroupHub speakers than being one.
www.hub-creative.co.uk

ANDREW LIVESEY
Highly creative photographer, Andy works nationally both with agencies and directly with clients.

RICH TAYLOR
The man behind “To What End”, Rich’s work cuts across art, graphics and product design and focuses entirely on projects with ‘worthwhile ends’
www.towhatenddesign.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecha_Kucha

• Deborah Dawton, DBA Chief Executive
• Holly Hall, D&AD Awards Director
• Lynda Forrest, Chip Shop Awards
• Richard Scholey, Elmwood Creative Director

There’s no question that awards are hugely important in the creative industries: careers are launched on them, clients hypnotized by them, businesses built on them. This month, the first of GroupHub’s Panel Beater events will scratch the glittery surface of this phenomenon to expose their inner workings, interrogate the scene’s leading lights…and increase your chances of bagging one!

Despite this being a free event, we’ve managed to put together a panel of the biggest cheeses from all quarters of the awards community:

• Holly Hall is the new Awards Director at D&AD, one of the most coveted creative awards schemes in the world.
• Deborah Dawton is Chief Executive at the Design Business Association and a staunch advocate for effectiveness as a measure of design quality via the DBA International Design Effectiveness awards.
• Lynda Forrest represents Chip Shop Awards, the highly respected, no-rules renegade of the awards scene.
• And Richard Scholey is the Creative Director of Elmwood, the winner of more DBA Effectiveness awards than any other agency (go to http://www.elmwood.co.uk/flash/?#/who/awards/list/ and keeping scrolling down!)

If awards mean anything at all to you as a creative practitioner or to your business as a commercial entity (and they should!) don’t miss this opportunity to hear it straight from the horses mouth:

• What are the benefits of entering?
• What are judges looking for?
• Why is it so expensive?
• What makes a good entry?
• How can smaller companies turn heads in the jury room?

We’re looking for a good, healthy debate at this one, so please come armed with lots of questions for the panel. If you’d prefer not to hog the spot light on the night, submit your questions in a brown paper envelope to steven@grouphub.org and he’ll put them to the panel on your behalf. In the meantime, use this blog to vent your spleen on all matter awards-related.

www.dba.org.uk

www.dandad.org

www.chipshopawards.com

www.elmwood.co.uk

Most importantly, as a Prestonian who has played a large part in putting northern creativity on the map, he is a relentless advocate for the integrity of the work produced by regional agencies. As The Chase celebrates its 20th birthday don’t miss this opportunity to talk shop with the man that started it all.

GroupHub have now teamed up with CreativityWorks to provide the first event in East Lancashire.

For this event we have managed to bring in an extremely special guest. Dom Raban, Creative Director of Corporation Pop in Manchester, will be giving an insight into a few of their recent projects. Corporation Pop a graphic design company who through research, experimentation, collaboration and process provide an exciting visual framework for your message. They deliver the unexpected and challenge the predictable. Clients include; Arts Council England; Tate Liverpool; BBC; MEN Arena and Penguin Books.

GroupHub Meets D&AD //
An introduction to the recently launched D&AD Northwest and the first flush of a beautiful new friendship. What’s it all about and what’s in it for you?

And Robert Hempsall of Flowers and Chocolate, information designer reminding us what graphic design is really all about: communication, communication, communication.

Specialist information designer on the difference between creative communication and communicating creatively.

Pete’s produced a pamphlet specifically for this gathering focusing on the difference that good copywriting can make to the effectiveness of design and advertising. It’s titled ‘The Death of Copywriting’ and is available to download here.

Please note the change of venue due to the need for a beer garden for the BBQ!