Connecting to Nature Through Typography

Full-Day Workshop

Time: 10:00–5:00 pm | 10:00–17:00 Brisbane local time
Length: 6 hours (plus midday break for lunch)
Cost: $100

Location: QUT Kelvin Grove
Check-in 15 minutes before start time

QUT School of Design invites ATypI conference delegates for a hands-on workshop on our beautiful Kelvin Grove campus. You will join the More-than-Human Futures research group, staff, and students at the School of Design, for a ‘walkshop’ of the adjoining parklands of Barrambin engaging in embodied, narrative, and creative methods (Turner et al., 2022). Using our state-of-the-art facilities, you’ll explore new ways of relating to Barrambin and composing for type, informing the subsequent creation of typographic artefacts.

The day will start at the School of Design in the Creative Precinct of the QUT Kelvin Grove Campus, where you will receive instructions and guidance for the first activity—a creative walkshop through Barrambin, the windy place. The walkshop aims to engage participants in the process of ‘walking-with’, a development of contemporary notions of ‘designing-with’ (Sheikh et al., 2023) that seeks to problematise human exceptionalism in design and foreground the more-than-human as participants. 

Upon returning to the Creative Precincts, we will collect our thoughts as we cool off in the shade, revisit our reflections over refreshments and take the opportunity to share what we have experienced with each other.

The walkshop then becomes the basis of further design work, where delegates will participate in various creative activities exploring to elaborate upon their creative documentation through the creation of typographic design artefacts. We hope delegates will find new ways of relating to the more-than-human inhabitants of Barrambin through narrative-based relational methodologies. There will be an opportunity to share these creations and discuss the possibilities of designing with the more-than-human.

References

Sheikh, H., Foth, M., & Mitchell, P. (2023). More-than-human city-region foresight: Multispecies entanglements in regional governance and planning. Regional Studies, 57(4), 642–655. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2022.2045266

Turner, J., Seevinck, J., Foth, M., Armstrong, K., Vickery, N., Kelly, N., Tyurina, A., McKinnon, H., Low, A., & Davies, L. (2022, October 28). Kinning With The Unseen More-Than-Human: Re-Sensing Barrambin’s Disappeared Waterways And Creeks For Community Connection To Place. Proceedings of the ACUADS 2022 Conference: Public Pedagogy - Forms of Togetherness. Australian Council of University Art and Design Schools Conference, Australia. https://acuads.com.au/conference/article/kinning-with-the-unseen-more-than-human-towards-methodologies-for-the-barrambin-project/

Attendees should bring:

• Brisbane can be quite hot in April, so please bring a wide-brimmed hat, loose long-sleeved clothing, sunglasses, and comfortable shoes for walking.
• Bring a water bottle—there are enough places on campus to refill, not so many on Barrambin.
• Bring plenty of high-SPF sunscreen.
• The park is accessible, with ramps and pathways wide enough for mobility devices.
• Bring a sketch pad, a mobile device, or a camera to document your experience.
• Consider bringing your laptop for more detailed design work in your preferred applications. We will reserve space to store bags, so you won’t need to carry everything on the walk.

Directions

• A free QUT inter-campus shuttle bus leaves approximately every 30 minutes for QUT Kelvin Grove from Alice Street Stop 95A app George St, Brisbane City. From the terminus at the top of the hill, walk down Musk Avenue and over the crossing with Carraway St. Meet in the shade near the stones.
• Public Translink Bus Services run from the City and South Brisbane frequently. Take the 66 or 333 to the QUT Kelvin Grove Busway Station and exit onto the Ring Road. Follow the Ring Road to Blamey Street until it meets Musk Avenue, turn left and head towards the crossing with Carraway St. Meet in the shade near the stones.
• Rideshare or Taxi, please provide the destination of 23 Musk Avenue, Kelvin Grove Village.
• GPS: -27.45427,153.01402