got a couple of speaking engagements coming up. the first is to students in the school of arts and new media at the university of hull scarborough campus on the 4th february. i was a visiting lecturer there a couple of years ago prior to reorganisation and appointment of full-time staff, so although we’ve done quite a bit of design work for the university this last couple of years it’s a welcome opportunity to engage with students again.

the second is actually a two-parter, the first bit being a talk on 5th february at yorkshire coast college as part of an aimhigher project. it’s actually open to anyone who wants to attend, not just students, and is part of a series of free 2 hour events a little worryingly billed as ‘expert sessions’. so i’d better deliver something good… part two will take the form of a crit and perhaps some hands-on design and group discussion following a brief set in part 1.

at the college i’ll be talking about design and ethics and whether as designers we have a wider responsibility to society than just turning out the type of work we want to do. the starting point will be unpacking exactly what the designer’s job is and asking what propels some people to become designers - is it a simple career choice or a compulsion from within? hmm, deep. i’ll be showing some of our work and explaining why there are far more factors than just graphic design determining why something ends up the way it does. so folks turning up for that one can expect a design brief with ethical considerations.

at the university i’ve been asked to show our work with particular reference to websites in the content of larger design projects and some of the realities of running a business. inevitably when i talk about electric angel and the sort of work we do the ethics thing will be mentioned so i guess students can expect a bit of my soul-searching too. anyway, i’m really looking forward to both.