In November 2002, the Lighthouse Media Centre organised the first Hospital Festival in Brighton.
There were eight installations at a number of formal and informal gallery settings, a wide range of sound events and workshops, a day-long series of panel discussions, a day for children and young people entitled Learning to Play the Technology Way, and many screenings. And all in just four days, says Evelyn Wilson.
One of my first tasks was to consider what this new festival might look like in design terms. I chose to focus on a look that would be clean to the extent of being clinical. I think graphic designers find people like myself their biggest nightmare. Very specific ideas about visual iconography, not terribly open to those ideas being radically altered, yet prone to bouts of indecision ? and always later than my own self-imposed deadlines! Aware of my quirks and aware that time was of the essence (a big part of the funding for the project was only confirmed in July 2002), I knew I?d have to find someone who could understand my vision, share my passion for design that errs on the striking side and put up with me popping round at odd times just to make sure things were going to be OK.
My choice of designer was Paul Farrington who runs Studio Tonne. He is someone who does things with great vision and has a style that is on the edge. He?s also calm. It?s amazing how important that quality is. Most importantly, I think he was also excited about the content. He made it feel like a job he really wanted to do. And he understood my intense dislike of snapshots used in brochures. I used to run a photography gallery and care passionately about it as an artform so the gratuitous use of photography that one sees in so many brochures really is something I find quite distasteful. We used silver boxes to evoke that deliberate absence. I chose the broad themes and style which Paul helped me to refine and the overall result was a brochure that stood out, oddly enough, by being understated.
We?d underestimated how many people might pick them up and to our horror after a week discovered they?d all gone. That was in the two weeks before the festival so an extra print run was ordered. The festival was a great success, attracting about 7,000 visitors/participants in all. Contributing to its success was the clean, clear and visually pleasing website that was linked properly to search engines. That, I have no doubt, was responsible for bringing in all those people who came from across the UK; but for local audiences, the positive and prolific press reviews coupled with a brochure that reflected Hospital?s content were of fundamentally importance.
I believe it?s vital to choose a designer who understands your aims, who listens to your needs but isn?t afraid to tell you when things won?t work. It?s also important to think about your audience and not be afraid to speak to them, forcefully if necessary. It?s an image-saturated world out there. Be brave and challenge it.
Evelyn Wilson is Director of Lighthouse Media Centre and Creative Director of Hospital Festival. t: 01273 384223; e: evelyn@lighthouse.org.uk; w: http://www.lighthouse.org.uk