Design-led publishing futures explored at art book fair

The 2016 Melbourne Art Book Fair at the National Gallery of Victoria will feature some of the world’s most creative emerging and established publishers, artists and writers over a three-day program of free talks, book launches and performances.

RMIT Communication Design staff, students and researchers are involved in a number of special events, and students will display work at a stand at the fair. 

Associate Professor Brad Haylock, program manager of the Master of Communication Design and a member of the Design Futures Lab will convene one of the fair’s keynote events, the International Symposium on the Future of Design for Publishing. 

“This is the second international symposium on design and independent publishing that RMIT Design Futures Lab has presented in collaboration with the NGV Melbourne Art Book Fair,” Haylock said.

“Last year’s event revealed fantastic insights into the future of this increasingly important sector, and this year’s symposium is bigger and better, so the audience will see the best contemporary discourse around new genres of books and publishing from leading international and local speakers.” 

The fair will also feature the launch of Some Posters from the NGV, an important new book co-edited by designer and RMIT Industry Fellow Stuart Geddes and NGV Senior Publications Coordinator Megan Patty, which celebrates 90 exhibition posters from the NGV's extensive archive in a lavish flat-bound paperback.

Geddes has also led a studio option in the Bachelor of Design (Communication Design), where the outcome for students is to present their work at the art book fair alongside new work from Master of Communication Design students from a studio option led by Melbourne-based book designer Žiga Testen.

In partnership with the RMIT Master of Communication Design, the National Gallery of Victoria will present two public masterclasses on design and publishing throughout the weekend.

These masterclasses have been scheduled with international symposium speakers Na Kim and James Langdon, and have already sold out due to popular demand. 

Neal Haslem, program manager of the Communication Design undergraduate program said that the inclusion of Communication Design students and their work in the Melbourne Art Book Fair presented a great opportunity for these new designers to present experimental publication design work at an industry forum with the best of Australia's art and design practitioners. 

“The move towards hand production and short-run independent publishing presents exciting opportunities that challenge established industry models, open up the means of production and focus the global versus local debate around future models of design practice and how sustainable design-led futures can emerge,” Haslem said.

“This opportunity also showcases the ability for our RMIT Industry Fellows to bring dynamic experiences of contemporary practice at its best into our studio teaching model here at the RMIT School of Media and Communication.” 

The International Symposium on the Future of Design for Publishing runs 10am–6pm, Friday 29 April, followed by a ticketed evening preview party for the fair, 6pm–10pm. 

The Melbourne Art Book Fair is open to the public 10am–8pm, Saturday 30 April, and 10am–5pm, Sunday 1 May. 

Some Posters from the NGV launches 2–3pm, Saturday 30 April, with Megan Patty, Stuart Geddes and contributing author James Langdon in conversation.

The International Symposium on the Future of Design for Publishing is presented by the RMIT Design Futures Lab and generously supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund.