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   Salford designers asked to ‘find the tart hiding in every type’
Tart cards are the means by which many London prostitutes advertise their services. Step into almost any central London phone box and you can contemplate up to 80 cards inviting you to be tied, teased, spanked or massaged. Even if the internet and the increasing use of mobile phones suggest their days are numbered; tart cards are still so pervasive, they are now regarded as items of accidental art, with something of a cult following. Once on the periphery of design, tart cards have influenced the work of many mainstream artists such as Royal Academician, Tom Phillips and Sex Pistols designers, Ray and Nils Stevenson. In among this plethora of brilliant, witty graphic designs, exhibitors would like to highlight the serious issue that lies at the heart of the world of tart cards – the plight of trafficked women in the sex industry. While the exhibition is an ode to the graphic qualities of the tart card phenomena, it is also a pertinent reminder of the sinister world behind them. John Rooney, lecturer at the School of Art and Design in Salford said: “This event is a great opportunity for staff, students and industry to get involved with a unique typographic project here at Media City. The aim of the event is to underline the importance of typography as an expressive and supportive conveyor of language and social content.” The project was originally conceived and organised by Dr Caroline Archer of Birmingham City University. It is a traveling exhibition that invites students and staff from the respective host universities to produce their own type tart cards. Designers – from students to superstars – are asked to ‘find the tart hiding in every type’. The Salford Type Tarts exhibition is part of a School of Art and Design Typography event, which will be held at the new University of Salford MediaCity building from16th to 25th Feb 2012. In addition to the physical cards, students from the BA (Hons) Design for Digital Media course have created an interactive screen based display to present the work. Submissions to the exhibition are still being accepted and the School are actively encouraging the design community to engage with the brief by sending previews of their type tart cards to them on Twitter (@createatsalford) using the hashtag #typetartsalford. Deadline for submissions to the exhibition is Monday 6th February and should be emailed directly to j.rooney@salford.ac.uk. Please see the School blog for further information about spec: http://createatsalford.tumblr.com/post/15563675050/type-tarts-exhibition-call-for-submissions Type Tarts Exhibition 16th to 25th Feb Mon-Fri 10am-5pm The Egg, Media City University of Salford Due to problems with spam only SalfordOnline members can now leave comments. Becoming a member of SalfordOnline only takes a minute, just hit the red Join Us button at the top right hand side of the page to create your Personal account. Got a news story? Need help with publicity for an event in Salford? Send it to newsdesk@salfordonline.com or call the SalfordOnline newsdesk on 0161 789 5377. |
