Rick Poynor Uncanny: Surrealism + Graphic Design

26.01.11 -  2:30 Huddersfield University

 Rick Poynor is a british writer and international speaker who studies graphic design, typography and  other visual cultures. At his lecture on Surrealism and Graphic Design, Rick described his commissioned exhibit in the Czech republic and all the research he undertook to complete it. Rick split this talk in to sections he thought were important in the surrealist movement:

permanent revelation
the exhibition
the polymorphous image
the surreal body
cabinet of wonders
the liberated letterform

Rick tracked the surrealist movement through the decades and all across europe, not just with local surrealist designers in Czech Republic but across Poland and in it's high in the art capital of Paris. Rick has a unique enthusiasm for a movement which has always been more shocking than pleasing. The Uncanny, not just the title of the lecture but the theme, the feeling of familiarity yet unknown at the same time and by bringing the subconscious thoughts forward you can get the raw ideas. Rick proved that surrealism has a rich history and is still influencing design today, coming all the way from the early works of Dali, all the way to Ed Fella's pictorial letters of the 90s.