ESPI on site: Morag Myerscough at TYPO Berlin 2012

After arriving in the picturesque Haus der Kulturen (a little flustered from an unintentional bicycle detour in Tiergarten), I headed straight to my first talk, Morag Myerscough. Even though it was early in the day, there was quite a que outside the TYPO Hall for the event, a sure sign that something good was to come! 

While I am familiar with the name Myerscough from my time studying in London, I thought that I would not be overly familiar with her work. Once she began her talk (complete with lively retro music), I quickly realised that her work is amongst the most bold, colorful, and vibrant in London, and that almost everything piece that she showed, I had already seen in person while in London (and loved!).

Here are some highlights of her talk:

Train cafe (The Deptford Project)

Commissioned by Deptford council in 2008, Myerscough designed the interior and exterior of a cafe made entirely from an old 1960 train carriage. Trendy and stylish, but ensuring that it remains affordable to eat in, the installation, initially supposed to last only 18 months, has been on location for a over 4 years and has been enormously successful.

London College of Communication

London College of Communication, one of the top art and design universities in the UK, is located in the slightly 'dodgy' end of London. The building's grey exterior does nothing to reflect the exciting, highly creative work done by the students there. Myerscough approached the project by using bold, stenciled typefaces throughout the interior for the way finding. The exterior featured bold, colorful, hand painted signage, giving the London College of Communication the visual presence in the grey landscape.

One of the interesting things that I took from Myerscoughs's talk, was the importance that she placed on the need for a project to be 'passed on' to the user and allow it to develop and grow as it is used – for example in the case of the Deptford project, it was repainted 7 times by the client. In the instance of London College of Communication; Myerscough hopes to pass the design responsibility onto the students for future shows.