Information about the designers in the A+ show at Central Saint Martins, 2016, names A to B

Astrid Stavro (b 1972)

Founding partner and Creative Director of Atlas, and Art Director of Elephant magazine, Astrid is a designer, design writer, editor and curator. After studying at Central Saint Martins from 1997-2000, Astrid went on to study for her MA at the Royal College of Art from 2003-05. Astrid selected three of her projects for inclusion in the A+ exhibition.

The Grid-it! notepads were developed as a final year project at the RCA with Birgit Pfisterer and were an international hit, selling 3000 copies and featuring widely in design press and exhibitions. Based on grids used by famous graphic designers, the notepads come in seven sizes ranging from the David Hillman Berliner Guardian extra large, down to the Jan Tschichold Die Neue Typographie petite.

The Walking Society book tells the story of iconic Spanish shoe brand Camper. Making detours into the cultural history of shoes and facts about feet, the book's content expresses the Camper philosophy that shoes are made for walking, whilst the design acknowledges they are for communicating too. 

Elephant Magazine, purveyor of “new talent and trends in contemporary visual culture” was redesigned by Atlas in 2014. Combining high design and production values with an accessible ‘lifestyle’ visuality, the aim is to appeal to a broad audience. The Girl on Girl issue, included in the A+ show, is concerned with women making images of themselves, with articles on emerging and established female artists.
http://magculture.com/at-work-with-astrid-stavro-elephant/
http://www.grafik.net/category/profiles/passion-play
http://www.grafik.net/category/profile/astrid-stavro
https://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2009/may/astrid-stavro-a-very-bookish-designer/
http://www.frameweb.com/news/there-s-a-new-elephant-in-the-room

Anne Howeson

Working now as an illustrator, artist and RCA tutor, Anne studied illustration at Saint Martins between 1971 and 1974 before gaining her MA from the RCA. Anne worked commercially for many years, with illustrations appearing in European and American publications such as The Independent Review, The Sunday Times Review and The Spectator. A Jerwood drawing prize winner in 2000, she was shortlisted for the Derwent Art Prize and National Open Art Award in 2014. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of London, the Guardian, St George’s Hospital London and Imperial College London.

Anne’s work was frequently exhibited in Association of Illustrators shows from the 1980s onwards, and in other galleries including the Mall Gallery and the Hayward. Work for recent solo exhibitions has been concerned with place, time and communities; for example ‘Present in the Past’ at Collyer Bristow gallery in 2015; and a show at the Guardian in 2009 examined the regeneration in Kings Cross.

The work shown in the A+ exhibition, 'St Pancras Old Church and Fortifications 1642', is from the ‘Present in the Past’ exhibition, which imagined a future King’s Cross while linking it with archival print imagery from history. Appropriating fragments found in archives, and subverting scale, context and content, the work is a mix of fiction and documentary.
http://annehoweson.com/

Alexandra Epps (b 1957)

Graphic designer turned official guide to the City of London, Alex studied graphic design at Saint Martins from 1976-79, and took further study at the then London College of Printing to equip her for a career in graphics that included working at Negus and Negus before setting up her own design consultancy. Alex's portfolio contains some definitive examples of 80s corporate identity design,  but I chose the "Daisy" wrapping paper print for the exhibition because at the time (mid 1990s) it was a new departure for wrap to take a poster layout, and the vibrant colours and extreme scale are visually impactful in the Window Gallery.

http://www.artcity.co.uk/

Anne Magill (b 1962)

Anne moved from Northern Ireland to London in 1981 to study at Saint Martins. Producing illustration and design as a student, Anne drew live in clubs, making images for publications such as The Face magazine. After Saint Martins Anne worked as an illustrator for clients including Penguin and Nike, and found success in national illustration awards during the 1980s, and had an Association of Illustrators solo show in 1992. Throughout this time Anne continued painting, and has had numerous solo shows of her paintings, and been included in many group shows over the past twenty years. Anne's paintings have been widely collected privately.

Anne selected the painting in the A+ show from her personal collection. It won a Benson and Hedges illustration award and led Nike to commission Anne to produce billboard poster illustrations for the London marathon, forming part of the Nike campaign. 

http://www.annemagill.com/
http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/features/visual-arts/my-cultural-life-anne-magill
 

Amelia Noble (b 1973)

Co-founder of Kerr Noble (1997 – 2008) with Frith Kerr, Amelia studied at Central Saint Martins from 1992 – 95, and then at the Royal College of Art until 1997, where she met Frith who had previously studied at Camberwell. Together as Kerr Noble they combined work for cultural clients like the Design Museum with commercial work for clients such as Liberty. Their work was exhibited in the 2005 Barbican exhibition 'Communicate: British Independent Graphic Design since the Sixties'.

Amelia reprinted a dyeline copy of the Channel 4 River Map especially for the A+ exhibition, as the original copies have faded. The technique of creatively mapping information based on a combination of logical information gathering and lateral thinking was a recurring theme in the work of Kerr Noble.

More recently, Amelia designed a tribute road sign as part of the '50th Anniversary of the British Road Sign' project along with other leading designers. The curators of the project, Made North, kindly loaned the sign for the A+ exhibition.

http://design.designmuseum.org/design/kerr-noble
http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/about-us/sounding-board/amelia-noble
http://www.britishroadsignproject.co.uk/about/
http://www.amelianoble.com/

Alexander Boxill 

Jayne Alexander (b. 1969) and Violetta Boxill (b. 1970) founded Alexander Boxill in 1994, directly after they graduated from the Royal College of Art. Jayne had previously studied graphic design at Central Saint Martins, and Violetta at Middlesex. Working for many high profile cultural and commercial clients, their work was reproduced in numerous books on graphic design, and they were a subject of a Design Week profile. The work in the A+ exhibition was part of a self-promotional package, and maps the sound, light and interactions each of the design team experienced during one day. Using one-colour metallic ink printing and unusual folding it reflects the Alexander Boxill fondness for distinctive print processes. 

Violetta continues to run the Alexander Boxill studio today, with recent clients including the V&A Museum and Plumen.

http://www.alexanderboxill.com/
http://artomatic.co.uk/nic-roope-violetta-boxill/
http://www.dandad.org/profiles/person/563586/violetta-boxill
https://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2013/december/alexander-boxills-rapid-response-graphics/

Alessia Mazzarella (b 1986)

A freelance type designer of Latin and Indic scripts, Alessia first studied graphic design in her home country of Italy. Further graphic design study at CSM complemented the more theoretical and architectural Italian approach. Alessia remembers CSM gave her 'the opportunity to meet and learn from wonderful people from all over the world, experiment without the fear of failing and widen my point of view.' After specialising in typeface design at the University of Reading, Alessia's typeface Prakashan was awarded the first prize in the Indic script category of the 2014 Granshan competition. Commercial release for Prakashan is planned for 2018. The pamphlets for the typeface are included in the A+ exhibition and Alessia has kindly allowed Miho Aishima to use Prakashan in her #CelebrateWomen poster designed especially for the A+ show.

Aude Van Ryn (b.1970)

Aude moved from Belgium to London study at Central Saint Martins in 1992, before completing an MA at the Royal College of Art. Represented by Heart agency since 1997, Aude's clients include Penguin, The Guardian, The Royal Mail and The British Heart Foundation. Aude was featured in the book "Hand to Eye: Contemporary Illustration" published by Laurence King in 2004. Aude selected her latest book for the A+ exhibition: "This is Monet" by Sara Pappworth, published by Laurence King.

http://www.heartagency.com/artist/AudeVanRyn/biog
https://www.thenewcraftsmen.com/handmade-craft-makers/aude-van-ryn/

Bianca Wendt (b 1978)

Bianca studied architecture in Australia before moving to London to join the MA Communication Design course at Central Saint Martins in 2003. She set up her own studio in 2007, after working at Phaidon Press in London. Bianca's work has been selected for publication in many books about graphic design, she has judged design awards for YCN and the Art Directors Club, New York and she has spoken about her work at conferences internationally.

http://biancawendt.com/
http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/bianca-wendt-bookshelf
http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/bianca-wendt