Placards at the ready!

You may have noticed a surge in creative sign-making recently. We see placards on the news, on blogs and social media, on our own street corners – and they're also popping up at Impression Studio, part of The Cass School of Art, Architecture and Design.

Student-made signage leading to Impression Studio

Led by graphic designer Alistair Hall and writer and editor Angharad Lewis (co-editor of Grafik.net and lecturer at The Cass), Impression Studio is a forum for students to investigate publishing (and sign-making) as part of their design practice. It also acts as an independent imprint, giving students from the Visual Communication department the opportunity to publish their own work to an audience both within and outside of The Cass.

The students recently designed an identity for the studio and published an edition of ‘posterzines’ investigating a particular aspect of publishing culture – from ground-breaking small presses to the role of augmented reality to genre-busting trends such as the new wave of feminist zines.

Work on display at Impression Studio, part of The Cass School of Art, Architecture and Design.

To celebrate their work, the students held an exhibition in the studio. They created a series of placard designs based on slogans that sum of their collective ethos as a group of designer-publishers. "Make things better," reads one sign. "Be open minded," urges another. In the wake of movements happening around the globe, these slogans feel especially timely.

The placards were printed as an edition of 25 digital broadsheet newspapers (designed as pull-apart posters – tutorial here) and mounted to create a stage-set within the show, as well as signage.

What's next for Impression Studio? The group has been experimenting with screen printing, and we're excited to see how this translates to their publishing practice. Keep your eyes on @thecassart for more.

Learn more about our digital broadsheet newspapers. Our biggest format makes a big impression. Great for pull-outs, posters, and portfolios – available for print runs starting at 1 copy.